Generalship and Knowledge in the Middle Roman Republic

This chapter examines generalship in the Middle Roman Republic, from roughly 300-100 BC, largely based on the evidence of Polybius and Livy. It ponders the seeming paradox of the political system and military organization in that the armies of the Roman Republic were devastatingly effective, crushing opponents on three continents, yet generals in the Roman Republic were elected officials, inexperienced politicians who served short terms before they stepped down and were replaced by a freshly elected, untested replacements. It is argued here that while Republican magistrates had limited experience in high command, they possessed enough military and administrative experience to prove largely competent, if not necessarily inspired generals. Furthermore, the Roman military system of the Republic effectively decentralized military authority, so that the failures of a general might be compensated by the efforts of separately elected military tribunes, centurions and Italian prefects, as well as a set of standard operating procedures that guided the conduct and deployment of manipular legions regardless of the general placed over them.