ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Political history of the Roman military

Alright kiddo, let's talk about the political history of the Roman military!

Back in ancient Rome, the military was really important. People had to be ready to fight for their country at any moment because there were lots of enemies around borders. The Roman military was made up of soldiers who were called legionaries.

Now, when Rome was first starting out as a city-state, it had a king who was in charge of everything. But later on, the people got tired of having a king and they wanted to have more say in how the country was run. So they created a new type of government called a Republic where the people got to elect their leaders.

Even though the government changed, the military stayed the same. The Roman army was always very organized and disciplined. The soldiers had to follow strict rules and they had a really strong sense of loyalty to their country.

Eventually, the Roman Republic grew really big and powerful. But there were some people who weren't happy with how things were going. One of those people was Julius Caesar. He was a general in the army and he thought that he could do a better job leading the country than the people in charge. So he started a civil war and eventually became the leader of Rome.

After Julius Caesar died, there was another period of civil war until a man named Augustus became the Emperor of Rome. He made lots of changes to the military and turned it into a really powerful force. He even created a new type of soldier called the Praetorian Guard who were really good at protecting the emperor.

The Roman military continued to be really important for many years under different emperors. They conquered lots of other countries and expanded the Roman Empire. But eventually, things started to fall apart and the military became weaker.

So that's the political history of the Roman military! It was always really important to the people of Rome and played a big role in their government and society.