Roman Military Logistics

Modern concepts of logistic functions

  Mosaic of various Roman food items from North Africa 3rd c. CE.  Found at Sousse, Tunisia.

A limiting factor in ancient warfare

Who were the logisticians of ancient times?

  Frieze of a Roman cart.  Photo by John Nicols.

  Reconstructed Roman carriage in Roemisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne, Germany.  Photo by Jenny Cline.

  Greek plate showing field medical care of battle wounds.  Photo courtesy VRoma.

  Roman army medici tend wounded legionaries on the battlefields of Dacia, 1st c. CE.  (Trajan's Column, Rome).  Photo courtesy VRoma.

How logistics affected Roman tactics

Units of Money, Weight & Measure

  Denominations of Roman coinage.  Courtesy VRoma. 

Greek Monetary Units

Attic talent                = 60 minae (26.196 kg = 57.8 lb)
    mina                    = 100 drachmae (436.6 gr = 15.5 oz)
    stater                   = 2 drachmae
    drachma              = 6 obols
    obol                     = 12 chalcia  

Egyptian drachma    = 1/4 Attic drachma
1 Attic drachma        = 1 Roman denarius

Roman Monetary Units

libra (pound)            = 12 unciae (about 327.5 gr = 11.5 oz)
aureus (gold piece)  =  25 denarii
denarius (10 as pc)  = 4 sesterces
sestertius (HS)        = 4 asses (originally 2.5 asses)

Greek Weights & Measures

artabe (Persian)       = about 1 medimnos (about 52 liters; a dry measure 
                                  equal to a Roman medimnus)
pechus (cubit)          = 1.5 podes (44.4 cm = 17.48 inches)
pous (foot)               = 16 daktuloi (29.6 cm = 11.6 inches)
daktulos (finger)       = 18.5 mm = .728 inches
aroura (in Egypt)      = about 1 Roman iugerum (land area)

Roman Weights & Measures

modius                    = 1/6 medimnus (about 8.6 liters = 15.17 pints)
pes (foot)                 = 29.57 cm (11.6 inches)
mille passus (mile)    = about 1500m (1618 yards)
iugerum                    = 28,800 sq Roman feet (.252 ha)

References & Sources

The food mosaic was taken from www.tunisiaonline.com/mosaics/mosaics.html. 

The cart image above is (c) John Nicols, 1999, taken from the OSSHE Historical and Cultural Atlas Resource.

Units of money, weight and measure from B. Campbell, The Roman Army: a Sourcebook.  London: Routledge, 1996.

You're Visitor Number

Link to Us!

Text credited to individual authors and photographers remain the intellectual property of those contributors. 
This website is © 2000, 2001 by RomanArmy.com.  
Wherever possible, non-original material on this site has been credited to its source and is considered free use/fair use for educational purposes.  We are not a commercial site.
Soldier images in the banner above are of the Ermine Street Guard, one of the oldest Roman re-enactor groups in existence. 

Keep the Web free -- support a ban on Internet taxation and regulation by government.