What was the life of a Roman soldier like?
It was a life of discipline and hard work. According to the Roman constitution, every free-born citizen was a soldier and must serve, if necessary, in the armies of the state from the age of 17 to 46. Marriage for Roman soldiers, or legionary, was either discouraged or forbidden and a soldier's pay was only one denarius daily. They were trained to march twenty miles a day while wearing eighty pounds of armor and would build walls, forts, and roads. Roman Soldiers actually built over 250,000 miles of roads located mostly in Western Europe. They also built numerous forts which were supposed to act as fortified bases of defense. Wooden stockades were surrounded by ditches and raised wherever the Roman soldiers camped. Organization among the soldiers enabled them to build the forts so efficiently. They were able to take on any task, such as climb mountains, swim rivers, penetrate forests, and combat every kind of danger.