Might of Rome

"The Might of Rome".

The initial figures are based around the fourteenth legion (Legio XIIII * see note) and their time spent in Britannia. They were ordered there by the Emperor Claudius in his 43AD invasion of this far distant island race. Here Legio XIIII (Gemina), Legio XX (Valeria) and Legio IX (Hispana) fought along side each other with mixed results of success. The Iceni tribe and their Queen, Boudicca, wiped out a large part of Legio IX on the march in East Anglia. We won't be making that legion for a while, well that's unless you collect casualty figures!

We have also added some "generic figures" that can cover various legions in other campaigns around about the same period of the mid 1st century AD. In a similar manner to when we first launched our Ancient Greeks; their enemies will follow at a later date!

Figures within the ROME set numbering depict a centurion and also various legionnaires wearing the ingenious "lorica segmenta" armour; which was firstly flexible and well balanced and also presumably able with the new helmet design to give better protection against the taller tribesmen striking the head area with their long swords. Our pila in this range are made from steel with composite detailed parts made in also a robust material to give that extra protection when we ship them to you!

Figures within the ROMS set numbering depict; firstly a Vexillarius carrying a Vexillum with the Capricorn emblem of Legio XIIII, a Singifer and of course a Cornicen to blast the legion on their way to victory.

Figures within the ROMC and ROMX sets are the auxiliary cavalry and infantry attached to the legion. These were often the real work horses of the legion and in border outbreaks in Britannia did most of the actual fighting with the legionnaires mostly held back as reserves. Hence a lot of battles were recorded as having "no Roman casualties!".

Finally in the ROMA set numberings; to bring a little missile support to our valiant army; we have a Scorpio with 2 crew and 2 sets of Eastern Archers. Each century was equipped with a "scorpion" and in addition every cohort had the heavier stone throwing ballista to add to the artillery capabilities of the Roman army, which was significant for the age, laying down battery fire for both sieges and open field conflicts. Also the 2 sets of Eastern archers to add more colour to the later conflicts supporting the Romans army as auxiliaries.

Note: Why is XIV not used for the forteenth legion - The notation of Roman numerals has varied through the centuries. Originally, it was common to use IIII to represent four, because IV represented the Roman god Jupiter, whose Latin name, IVPPITER, begins with IV. The same form of additative notation was used with XIIII opposed to XIV in the case of the fourteenth legion during their service in Britannia. The subtractive notation (which uses IV instead of IIII) has become universally used only in more recent times. For example, Forme of Cury, a manuscript from 1390, uses IX for nine, but still IIII for four.

Scale approximately 54mm tall / 1:32. The same scale as the East of India Ancient Greek range.