Life of a Legionnaire

From the battlegrounds of Gaul,

The Fifth Legion fights.

For Rome,

For Caesar,

For Glory.

The year is

57 BCE

Chapter One
The Long March

"Augustus, have you heard Caesar is gathering an army to head north into Gaul!" His father told him as he cleaned the shop. "This is your opportunity to become a man, to serve Rome and become a hero!" His father continued, "That is why I have talked to the centurion at the Castrum, an old friend, and he has agreed to take you on"
Augustus looked up from his work, "You didn't even ask me?" he said shocked.
"What is done is done!" His father announced and walked out of the room.

It took Augustus an hour to take it all in, "I... I am going to Gaul" is all he could think.

The year was 58 BCE; there was a stir around Arretium. There was word that the Consul Gaius Julius was leading his campaign into Gaul, they were recruiting legionnaires from all major cities in the Roman Republic. Augustus was the son of a prominent merchant and so it was his duty to offer his service to the Republic. It was believed to be a great honour for a household to engage in military service.

As Augustus headed off to the Castrum to start his years of military service his father whispered to him. "Son, bring honour to our household". Those were the last "friendly" words he heard.

Augustus walked through the main gates of the Castrum, they were thick wooden gates reinforced with iron. The whole compound was surrounded by a stone wall and a moat filled with spike traps. He followed a group of other recruits into the Castrum, the centurion was waiting for them.
"MEN!" He shouted, Augustus straightened his back trying to stand tall.
The centurion was a beast of a man, his armour shone in the sunshine and his arms bulged with muscles. Across his chest were different insignias, each from a battle he personally fought in. His gladius hung at his side, the hilt was inlaid with a portrait of Mars, the God of war. To Augustus, the Centurion could have been Mars himself.
Before he spoke again the Centurion walked among the men, he pointed at the smallest and skinniest sending them out the gates. He nodded when he walked past Augustus, the centurion was only an inch taller than him. Around half of the recruits were sent packing. The centurion focused his attention on the ones remaining.
"The most important thing about the Roman Legion is UNITY!" His voice boomed around the stone walls. "Without the man beside you, you will be unprotected". "These men beside you will become your brothers in arms and you will die for them!"
He narrowed his eyes scanning the men standing in front of him, "Each one of you will become a killing machine for the Roman Republic. This is one of the highest honours a citizen can receive."
With his speech finished he barked at the men to get into line.

The first thing they practiced was marching. They started off without armour, Augustus found he could march with ease, but as the hours wore on men started to collapse. His legs started to burn and he ran out of breath quickly.

This training continued for two weeks and by the end of the two weeks everyone that stayed on could march for long distances carrying all their equipment. Then the sword drills began. These consisted of wearing full battle armour and duelling with other men along with practicing sword swings and holding the shield properly. Augustus excelled at the sword fighting but couldn't keep his shield up, it cost him a few duels.

That training lasted two months and sometimes in between the training they would have to pick up their equipment in a hurry and start a march, normally out into the countryside where they would create an encampment and then the next day they would march back. It was all very organised and Augustus never went without food or water, he also had a bunk in the castrum where he kept his stuff.