Q&A: So just how good was the Roman army compared to armies of the other empires?

Question by Studious Ambition.: So just how good was the Roman army compared to armies of the other empires?
I was taught in school that the Roman army was powerful and one of the best armies in history but on the contrary, when I see History channel I see that Attila the Hun and Hannibal had no problems defeating the Roman army and either one of those people could have easily taken Rome had it not been for pure luck. So here are my questions

1. Was the Roman Army really all that powerful?

2. What armies (or empires) in history would have an easy time defeating the Roman Empire in a war?

Best answer:

Answer by tham153
The problem is you are talking about a 600 year block of history. There were times when the Roman army could have beaten the blazes out of just about anyone, and other times when they were weak, corrupt, and incapable of beating much more than a sackful of kittens. Hannibal used a new weapon against Rome, his elephants. Unfortunately for him, the elephants mostly died trying to cross the Alps in winter, and he faced a superior general in Scipio Africanus.
Attila showed up when Rome was weak and declining. Its army was no longer made up of Roman men fighting for their citizenship and city, but rather barbarians hired to fight for Rome.
Of course Rome had individual generals who were good, bad and indifferent. Varus probably was foolish. Generals during the later empire had an unfortunate tendency to see themselves as Emperor, devoting their efforts to civil insurrections rather than to guarding or expanding the borders. And when an honest and devoted general like Bellasarius showed up, the Emperor did not trust him. China during most of its history managed to avoid too much of this, but when it happened, their empire would also suffer a collapse.

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Tags: armies, army, compared, empires, good, just, Roman.

Filed under army by admin on Jul 25th, 2010.