Hellenestic-Roman Interactions in Warfare in the Second Century BC to the First Century AD

Abstract

This article addresses the Roman-Hellenistic mutual military borrowings, in particular the change in armaments carried by Roman horsemen in the Polybius era (the mid-second century BC), and the formation of units armed with Roman equipment by Hellenistic monarchs in the second century BC to the first century AD. While Roman cavalry adopted some Greek-inspired armaments, which improved the fighting capacity of the horsemen, the organization of the Roman cavalry largely remained as it had been. By comparison, the Hellenistic states borrowed the organization and armament for some infantry units from Rome. These units were organized into legions like the Roman infantry and into cohorts like Italian units. The Italian and Roman military specialists and instructors trained these units. Overall, the Hellenistic states` borrowings were more significant given that Rome was the more victorious power in waging wars.

Keywords

• borrowings
• warfare
• armament
• hellenismus
• rome
• second century bc
• first century ad