Over the years, the armies of ancient Rome invaded and conquered much of Europe. For a long time, other civilizations feared them because of their massive and well-trained legions of soldiers. Some people may have read about their exploits in battle elsewhere. Research often focuses exclusively on the strategies and technology employed by Rome in times of battle, but what about the soldiers themselves? People usually think of the Roman army as a well-oiled machine that acted precisely and consistently, but over time there were numerous documented mutinies throughout the Roman army. What kind of training did they undergo after being drafted into the Roman army? Was their training both physical and mental to try to stop such mutinies? What kind of people were drafted into the army? What was the life of soldiers like in ancient Rome? Under what conditions were they forced to feel the need to mutiny? More importantly, how do these things affect the world today? In the early Roman Republic, all male citizens were required to perform military service at some point in their lives. Their service normally began during their youth. Citizens who failed to report for the draft were considered traitors and were commonly sold into slavery, as they were not a true patriot. Training in the Roman Republic normally took place throughout a child's life as they grew up, however training took place in the form of sports and education rather than going through rigorous training sessions. The lack of formal military training was balanced by mixing young recruits with army veterans. The reason they did not have a rigorous training regiment was because the armies of the early Roman Republic… middle of paper… affectionate terms like “contubernales,” meaning tent-mate in English (MacMullen 443). As contubernales, they shared the same food, marched together to positions, and fought side by side. This term does not just apply to the men with whom you share a barracks, but to the entire group to which a person has been assigned for service. Works Cited Lendon, J. E. Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity. Binghamton: Yale University Press, 2005. Web. .MacMullen, Ramsay. “The Legion as a society”. History: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 33.4 (1984): 440-56. JSTOR. Network. 08 March 2014.Stout, SE. "Training Soldiers for the Roman Legion." The Classic Journal 16.7 (1921): 423-31. JSTOR. Network. 08 March. 2014. .