Greetings,
This was something of a bit of a joke with some of my friends two years ago (I know that I had watched all of the Sharpes series (Napoleonic War made for TV movies) and some of my mates had watched Zulu (bear with me it gets to a point soon). On our way to a second lecture on the Roman Legions we started having a chat about the recent films, and then one of my mates said 'What would the Legions do with rifles.' My reply was 'First Maniple, Fire. Second Maniple, Fire. Don't you point those bloody spears at me!' (and yes it was a very bad Michael Caine impression before you ask).
So what would happen if the Romans had discovered the use of gunpowder? In the fianl year of Trajans' second Dacian campaign, the Auxiliary archers of the XXX VLPIA VICTRIX were equipped with the NOVVS APPARATVS BELLA SAGITTARIVS (new archers armarment).
This was a arablaest that was very primative but effective upon enemy formations.
What would the Romans do with this new weapon? Would they be able to hold onto their Empire or would it be torn by Civil War? How would the Romans understanding of this technology improve (i.e. would they have muskets in a couple of hundred years or what?
Regards,
Khib Yusa
This was something of a bit of a joke with some of my friends two years ago (I know that I had watched all of the Sharpes series (Napoleonic War made for TV movies) and some of my mates had watched Zulu (bear with me it gets to a point soon). On our way to a second lecture on the Roman Legions we started having a chat about the recent films, and then one of my mates said 'What would the Legions do with rifles.' My reply was 'First Maniple, Fire. Second Maniple, Fire. Don't you point those bloody spears at me!' (and yes it was a very bad Michael Caine impression before you ask).
So what would happen if the Romans had discovered the use of gunpowder? In the fianl year of Trajans' second Dacian campaign, the Auxiliary archers of the XXX VLPIA VICTRIX were equipped with the NOVVS APPARATVS BELLA SAGITTARIVS (new archers armarment).
This was a arablaest that was very primative but effective upon enemy formations.
What would the Romans do with this new weapon? Would they be able to hold onto their Empire or would it be torn by Civil War? How would the Romans understanding of this technology improve (i.e. would they have muskets in a couple of hundred years or what?
Regards,
Khib Yusa