Chapter 11 Voluntarii at the Gates: Irregular Recruitment and the Siege of Veii
In: Brill's Companion to Sieges in the Ancient MediterraneanSearch for other papers by James Crooks in
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Abstract
The siege of Veii represents Rome’s first attempt to capture a major, fortified city; at the time, the siege was unprecedented in terms of scale and long-term investment. The Roman army in the fifth century BC was primarily focused around short-term campaigns and small-scale raiding. This kind of warfare typified the conflicts between Rome and neighbouring peoples such as the Sabines, the Volscians, and the Aequians. The siege of Veii required a yearlong military presence around the city; this would have severely tested the limits of the Roman military system, which was not designed to conduct a long-term campaign let alone the prolonged investment of a city. In order to address this manpower shortage, the Romans opted to look outside of their traditional military system. With the newly instituted stipendium as an incentive, ‘voluntarii’ presented themselves for service, giving the Roman military access to a manpower reserve outside the formal system.