Evocati were soldiers in the Roman army, who had served out their time and obtained their discharge (missio), but had voluntarily enlisted again at the invitation of the consul or other commander[1]. There appears always to have been a considerable number of evocati in every army of importance; and when the general was a favourite among the soldiers, the number of veterans who joined his standard would of course be increased. The evocati were, doubtless, released, like the vexillarii, from the common military duties of fortifying the camp, making roads, et cetera[2], and held a higher rank in the army than the common legionary soldiers. They are sometimes spoken of in conjunction with the equites Romani[3], and sometimes classed with the centurions[4]. They appear to have been frequently promoted to the rank of centurions. Thus Pompey induced a great many of the veterans, who had served under him in former years, to join his standard at the outbreak of the civil war, with the promise of rewards and the command of centuries[5]. All the evocati could not, however, have held the rank of centurions[6], nor could they belong to certain cohorts in the army. Cicero[7] speaks of a Praefectus evocatorum[8].

The name of evocati was also given to a select body of young men of the equestrian order, who were appointed by Domitian to guard his bedchamber[9]. This body is supposed by some writers to have existed under the succeeding emperors, and to have been the same as those who are called Evocati Augusti[10].

1. Dio Cassius, xlv.12

2. Tacitus, Annals, i.36

3. Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, vii.65

4. Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Civile, i.17

5. ordinum, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Civile, i.3

6. Ib. iii.88

7. Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, iii.6 §5

8. Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xv.4 §3; Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Civile, iii.91; Suetonius, The Lives of the Caesars: The Life of Augustus 56; Lipsius, De Milit. Rom. i.8

9. Suetonius, The Lives of the Caesars: The Life of Domitian, 10

10. Hyginus, de Lim. p209; Johann Caspar Orelli, Inscript. No. 3495, 153

Source: Wikipedia. This article incorporates public domain text from A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities by William Smith, 1875.

Repel Cavalry! (Equitatum repellite!)

The order to repel cavalry by Roman army officers brought about a defensive formation, in which the front rank formed a tight wall of shields with their pila protruding to form a line of spearheads ahead of the wall. Undoubtedly it would be very hard to bring a horse to break into that formation. The most likely occurrence would be that it would come to a halt of its own will ahead of the spearheads. It was at that moment that horse and rider would be at their most vulnerable against the ranks behind the first line of infantry which would then hurl their spears at them. Given the short distance and the training legionaries received, it is likely such halted cavalry, frantically trying to turn their horses around to retreat, whilst colliding with horses following in the charge, would prove very easy targets. If one further considers the likely possibility of archers being present, as is the case on the photo above, the effect of this formation could indeed be devastating.

(source: www.roman-empire.net)

Some Roman Military Command Orders:

FORMATION ORDERS:

Forma - Ad signa: Formation- Fall in

Forma - Unus finis: Formation- one line

Dirige Frontem - Dexter: Dress ranks - Right

Redi! Front face!

Silentium! Silence!

Ordinem servate! Keep your position!

MARCHING ORDERS:

Ad agmen! Form marching column!

Accelera! Speed up!

Tarda! Slow down!

Consistite! Halt!

Source: Roman Military Command Orders (http://home.surewest.net/fifi/index21.htm). For more of these, see the url. Please, take into consideration, that the Latin on this page is quite poor and that some of the commands have probably been invented in the Roman legion re-enactment atmosphere. They are probably not original. I have adapted a few that I tend to follow in the legion I serve in the way they are given above.

Roman Artillery: Catapulta

Links:

Think Quest: The Roman Army

Roman Army Life: Diseases

VRoma: Roman Army Life, Part I

VRoma: Roman Army Life, Part II

Think Quest: Res Militaris

Roman Army: a Bibliography

The Roman Empire: the Army

Roman Army Glossary

Roman Military Command Orders

The Roman Army Page

The Imperial Roman Army Illustrated

Archaeological Re-enactment: Romanarmy.com

Tanaquil Sergius: Pullo and Vorenus (Caesar, Bell. Gall. V, 44)

The Roman Army Museum of Vindolanda

Military History of Ancient Rome

Ancient History Sourcebook: Josephus (37- after 93 CE): The Roman Army in the First Century CE

The Roman Republican Army

Military Establishment of the Roman Republic

Simon Scarrow's Books: Novels on Ancient Roman Army Life

Books:

Grant, M., 1974, The Army of the Caesars, London

Maxfield, V.A., 1981, The Military Decorations of the Roman Army, London

Gilliam, J.F., 1986, Roman Army Papers, Amsterdam

Birley, E., 1988, The Roman Army: papers 1929-1986, Amsterdam

Davies, R.W., 1989, Service in the Roman Army, Edinburgh

Goldsworthy, A.K., 1996, The Roman Army at War, 100 BC-AD 200, Oxford

Roth, J.P., 1999, The Logistics of the Roman Army at War (264 BC-AD 235), Leiden

Roman Army outfit during the commands of Marius and Caesar.

Left: Republican legionary wearing the "lorica hamata" or mail chain vest; Right: 1st century CE soldier wearing a "lorica segmentata" or segment plated vest

Images of the Roman Republican/Early Imperial Army.

Look at the last picture: it's Vorenus at the Battle of Alesia. I'm there too, one of the soldiers to the very right of the picture...the tall one, remember!

Here you can see ol' RL me. To the left, it's my head without any cover and Roman clothes and to the right, it's me, wearing a signifer's outfit on a re-enactment event in Belgium a few years ago...