Calculating the INSANE cost of raising a Legion | Food, Salaries, Equipment (Not AI)

When most people think about a standing Roman legion, they often don't even imagine the sheer quantity of resources needed to maintain one. Our viewers will know we have a soft spot when it comes to the Roman army and its logistics, because maintaining a standing professional army could not have been cheap. Well in this video, we finally did the math and were absolutely blown away by the quantities of resources needed to maintain a legion, and I'm sure you will be too. These resources are not just for the creation of weapons and armor, but things you wouldn't even immediately consider. Like how much food did the army need to survive, how many tons of precious metals would you need to pay its salary, and how many animals needed to be slaughtered for the creation of its equipment. Some of these quantities were in the millions, putting an enormous strain on local communities. This really emphasizes why ancient and even medieval kingdoms almost never fielded standing armies, and makes it mind-boggling how the Romans fielded about 300,000 professional soldiers. This is perhaps just one of the many advantages of having a large empire spanning three continents. Assembling a Roman combat unit was a logistical nightmare. But thankfully, today we have games to allow us to do this a little easier. And this game is offering our viewers an exclusive bonus to break it. Some of its best players recently broke the record for fastest free-to-play progression, virtually speedrunning the game. And for the first time, you can get their exact team of legendary champions for free. The first of these is Pelops the Victor, who looks to be strongly inspired by ancient Greek mythology. His high survivability makes him a powerful tank to absorb any damage. The other favorite, Mavara the Web Diviner, is one of the best support heroes to heal and revive Pelops, and you can get them both for free today. What I like about Raid Shadow Legends are the AAA graphics and endless amount of content that they keep adding, which always makes the game feel new. Moreover, its PvE mode is rated by players to be among the most advanced. Download the game through this QR code or the special link in the description to unlock Mavara. Then use promo code SUPERVICTORY to get Pelops. And finally, reach level 10 to get the epic champion, Creoden the Blue. With them, you can speedrun your progress and literally break the game. It is also a great way to support the channel while having some fun. So I'll see you in Raid. One particular resource needed in substantial quantities was animal hide, which was present in much of a legion's equipment. Archaeological findings of hides have allowed us to identify the exact types used. Calf and cowhide were used for the creation of the army's shoes, which would wear out at an astonishing rate given the rigorous marching drills its soldiers were required to perform even when garrisoned. Considering that each soldier would require three pairs of shoes per year, with a safe amount kept for emergencies, Driel Murray estimated that a standing legion would require no less than 18,000 pairs of shoes per year. This would create an annual demand of 1,500 cowhides per legion. But shoes were by far not the only leather goods. Tents and shield covers were also made, but this time from goatskin, which was much lighter than cowhide but still comparable in strength and durability. It was estimated that for a single legion, 67,500 goatskins were needed for tents, and 12,000 for shield covers. These immense quantities are made even more shocking by the fact that these items are not even absolutely vital for an army. Sheepskin shield covers are of course phenomenal at protecting the paint, wood and glue of a scutum from moisture, which extended its lifespan by many years. But it was thus more of a luxury rather than an absolute necessity, which ensured the Romans had colorful and battle-ready shields at all times. Tents were also not an absolute necessity for troops on the march, as not all armies in history would use them. That being said, there were some key advantages to having them. For one, they helped troops rest a lot better, shielding them from bad weather and thus cumulative exhaustion. Secondly, they helped to further preserve valuable equipment from weathering, like military standards, composite bows and artillery. And lastly, the setting up and disassembling of hundreds of tents was inherent to the discipline of a Roman legion on campaigns, which allowed them to maintain cohesion with the army. After the fall of the Romans, a similar level of camping discipline in western warfare would not be seen until the 17th century. More essential equipment included a kit bag for every infantryman to carry his equipment, and a saddle for every cavalryman. These too would be made from goatskin. If we create a table with all the required equipment, the unit size, and the quantities of hides needed for a full paper strength legion, We get a total requirement of 1,500 cowhides and about 84,000 goatskins. These numbers are only dwarfed if we consider the size of the entire Roman army. Taking 28 standing legions and 120,000 auxiliaries, assuming 75,000 of which were cavalry, we get a colossal demand of 2,692,000 goatskins. Keep in mind that these still do not include the Roman navy. These are also only the initial quantities needed to raise the field army. If we talk of maintaining these units, we must also consider the hide's lifespan, after which it would become too damaged to use. Assuming a lifespan of 10 years, which is about the same for a Mongolian yurt or modern saddle, we can assume an additional yearly demand of about 269,000 goatskins, along with of course a yearly 75,000 cowhides for shoes. When it comes to rations, the numbers get even more bizarre. For each legion, we now also have to include its servants and spare cavalry mounts, who all didn't need to be equipped but definitely needed to be fed. So for the calculation of rations, we can assume a Roman legion consisted of at least 6,250 men and 150 warhorses. Each man would require about 0.9 kilograms of grain daily, while a horse would require 5 kilograms of grain or fodder. This would mean that a full-standing legion would require no less than 6.38 tons of grain daily. Now, considering that ancient yield figures were not as high as today, given the absence of modern chemicals and fertilizers and pesticides, this number is even more impressive. Where today 1 acre or 0.4 hectares has an average yield of 3 tons of grain, the Roman province of Britannia would yield less than 1 ton, and Britannia was considered a fairly fertile land. In less fertile areas, these yield values would further drop. The only thing consistent would be the amount of grain that every legion and auxiliary unit would require, no matter where they're stationed, which was the responsibility for their home provinces to acquire, either by taxing or purchasing from farmers. If we take our ancient yield value and a legion's grain requirement, we can deduce that the grain from about 8 acres or 6 football fields of land would be needed to feed a legion for This may be unimpressive in the harvest seasons, but we also need to remember that a province had to feed its local legion all throughout winter and until the next spring harvest, implying they would need to stockpile a colossal amount of grain in September's harvest. But let's calculate just how much. This six-month period between harvests would require 1,148 tons of grain in excess to to feed a single wintering legion, that is, the area of 868 football fields. Now keep in mind that this is only if 100%, of the harvested grain from this land would be given to the legion, which would not be the case. Only in emergencies would the provincial administrators outright purchase all the grain from farmers to feed the legion. But if a province is to comfortably and sustainably feed a legion, let's say with a moderate 10% tax on all their grain yields, then at least 11 and a half thousand tons of grain needs to be gathered before winter. In less fertile areas, you would of course need more farmland, and they of course had to also account for years of bad harvest, which would need yet again more farmland. In absolute emergencies, it would be the responsibility of the provincial governor to spend a portion of his provincial tax to outsource grain from more fertile provinces. Most notable, Rome's grain baskets, being Africa and Egypt, were quoted by Pliny the Elder to produce a hundredfold and more in their most Most Fertile Areas Though likely an exaggeration, Egypt alone had three stationed legions to feed. On top of this, they were still able to export grain and feed multiple provinces, including Italy. Their legions, in turn, made sure that Egypt was one of the most stable and peaceful provinces of the empire. The province of Syria also had three stationed legions, and though probably not being able to feed them with local grain, they would have to import a portion of their grain needs from neighboring provinces. As a result of this heavy demand, we can start to understand why massive Roman armies were almost always broken up into parts, so as to reduce the strain on any one province or region. In the winter of 53 BC, for example, Julius Caesar broke up his 10 legion-strong army in Gaul among the territories of the Treveri, Linones, and Senones. This was just as much a logistical strategy as it was a tactical one, as any army of that size would have easily caused famine and revolt in any local area. Likewise, Emperor Trajan's famous invasion of Dacia, made up of multiple detachments from over 16 different legions, was always split up into at least four columns, and was never combined. Apart from grain, legionaries also ate a wide range of other foods. Analyses of bone remains suggest that Roman soldiers ate more meat than their native populations, probably as a result of their higher pay. On a relevant note, the final substantial resource strain was gold and silver. But just how much of these precious metals, which had to be mined and processed by hand, had to be given to the army? Well, we happen to know the exact ranks and salaries of the Roman legions during the Augustan period. Apart from legionary cavalry, there were regular infantrymen and those who were promoted to receive double pay. For the sake of simplicity, I assumed there were three per century, but there was almost always more. I also didn't include those who would receive one and a half pay, who would vastly outnumber them. I also won't even include the higher commanders and generals. But even so, this very conservative estimate already gives us staggering values. Keep in mind these values are in denarii, pure silver coins weighing 3.8 grams each. The combined yearly salary for a single Roman legion would be over 1.4 million denarii, equivalent to 5.4 tons in weight. The annual salary for the entire Roman army, including auxiliaries and the navy, would easily be upwards of 290 tons of silver. Now, of course, other denominations did exist. Some silver denarii would have been paid in the form of four brass sestertii instead. Made up of only copper and zinc, they would be far easier to obtain and process. But some salaries could have also been partly paid in aurei, pure gold coins. And we can assume that most military salaries were paid in gold and silver, because the largest and most important cut of the imperial treasury went to the army, and paying salaries with heavier brass sestertii would increase the weight of shipments by more than five. Speaking of shipments, all the stated resources will need to be transported to remote military fortresses, which is another aspect of logistics entirely. Hidden behind the scenes of the successes of the Roman army would be thousands of non-combatants, ranging from camp followers to local businessmen and contractors to high-level administrators working under provincial governors. These civilians would also, by extension, have to be paid by the imperial treasury to ensure the army remains fully operational. Working alongside them would be tens of thousands of pack animals to physically transport goods and services. Horses were used for their speed in carrying messages and people, mules were used for their endurance in pulling carts, and large oxen were prized for their strength in pulling heavy freight wagons. Feeding all these animals would be yet another aspect of logistics. The latter were the slowest but less picky in their choice of food, and can easily be fed with locally available fodder. Healthy working horses and mules, however, also required large amounts of grain to stay healthy. As for the some 75,000 warhorses of the Roman army, they would have grazed in special military pastures called Pratae, which would have been present in almost every Roman fort. The exact accuracy of all the values presented in this video doesn't really matter too much, as the already astonishing numbers from these very conservative estimates give us an idea of just how draining a standing army would be on the Empire's provinces, but it was nevertheless vital for their operation and existence. After all, a fair amount of a province's administration, construction, and transportation was done by their legions themselves. In essence, they were not only professional soldiers, but also professional administrators working under the governors, engineers and builders who would complete massive civil projects like building cities from scratch, and then they were also the bodyguards and police forces for said cities, who would also do everything in between. Fully paid by the state, these legions would be a professional workforce ready to do everything that was needed. Impressively, even a huge chunk of a legion's maintenance would be fulfilled by the legion itself, including crafting and repairing its own equipment, hunting, transporting its own food and water, and even some agriculture. The droppings from thousands of warhorses, for example, would have provided a big supply of fertilizers, which would have to be collected daily and likely spread across the military pastures to grow hay for the horses in winter. This level of self-sustenance greatly minimized the costs of maintaining the army, but we still need to address the largest and most important supply, that of weapons and armor. This portion of Roman logistics was so vast and interesting that it had to be covered in a separate video entirely. Make sure to check it out to get a complete overview of the crazy logistics of the Roman army. And let me know in the comments if all of this makes sense to you. Was this colossal expense of funding a professional army worth it to maintain the empire? Or could Rome have thrived with a levy army like those of the ancient Greeks, medieval kingdoms, and even the themata of the Eastern Romans, which would have saved them a lot of effort? 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