3.1 Training the Roman army

The Roman army was a well-fed and healthy group of men. Their uniform and equipment varied between types of soldier and also across time, but what they ate and what they wore is known from finds at Roman military sites as well as from literary texts.

Now watch Video 5. In this video, filmed at Caerleon, Helen King and Dr Patty Baker investigate the armour the Roman army wore and the conditions in which they lived, including what happened when they were ill or injured. As you learned in Healing the eyes from Week 2, not all those who were listed as sick were suffering from battle wounds, and most of the time soldiers were in camp or building roads and military structures rather than fighting.