Practice Field

As well as teaching combat skills, Roman army instructors focused on fitness, discipline and moral strength. Running, athletics, swimming and forced marches increased their fitness and mental toughness until a foot soldier was capable of travelling twenty Roman miles with a full pack in under five hours. Learning to march also prepared him for keeping formation under pressure on the battlefield. According to the historian Vegetius, marching was the most important part of a legionary’s training. To march at great speed in a disciplined fashion while keeping formation allowed the army to cover enormous distances and instilled qualities of teamwork and endurance. All of this, however, needed practice, practice and more practice under the watchful eye of the centurions.