Points of View 1

Following received from a Probationary Blogger posing under a pseudonym. I am willing to stretch the publishing rules in this case because (a) You know who he is; and (b) he makes a sound argument. We are to a certain extent "wimps", but then we are wimps with an average age of around 55-60, which is considerably higher than that of a Roman Legionary, whose life expectancy was probably in the mid-twenties!! Now when I was a lad......


Dear Chief Blogger,

In the course of some research on another matter I used the Internet to check on Roman Army marching speeds. Herewith a summary of what I found.
"The Roman Army was constantly on the march, sometimes going at unheard of speeds. Could you imagine marching all day carrying over 50 pounds of extra weight on your back?
Keep up! You might want to stop walking and start jogging, the Roman Army was expecting its soldiers to march 25 miles a day. An example of this would be the Magna Iterna. This marching mode set a pace that forced entire legions to travel 25 miles a day. While marching, each soldier had to carry his own sarcina, a soldier's pack carried over the shoulder, along with other baggage. Fast moving groups like scouts would be considered Expeditus, because they are light armed soldiers that can move quickly."

Cor, what a lot of wimps we must be! We are knackered after two days Round-the-Corner (bend) when we only walk about 17 miles (27 km) each day. At least we do carry 'sarcinas', even if by another name. And you can bet that the Roman sandals weren't made by Gortex.

Micus Aurelius