You get used to it. The military was pretty much its own parallel society. Legionary bases and forts developed into whole little towns with civilian hangers-on etc. Plus for most of the principate at least, the empire was pretty peaceful and most legionaries could go their entire careers without fighting a serious battle.
Not to mention, after about the midpoint of the first century, most recruits came from the hinterlands of the regions they were stationed in, not Rome or even Italy proper (i.e recruits to legions stationed in Syria would mostly be Syrian, recruits in Britain would mostly be Britons, etc.), so you wouldn't even necessarily be leaving home and could probably stay in touch with your friends and family.
this
It is a meme also that they didn't have wives, there would be camp followers and women following them everywhere they went. Further they were far wealthier than the average person, they were in the top 5% at least. Many came from large prestigious, if common, families, having brothers and cousins in the legions gave them status in society, they could be sure their mother and sisters were well cared for, whatever property they had would be protected and they would not face extortionate rents and fall into debt.
They didn't need to cope at all, imagine raping, stealing and burning random villages for the glory of the empire. A lot more interesting than being a farmer and plowing the dirt for most of your life. After that you get wealthy and you get a small plot you can build a house on or move into the city after becoming someone more important
being a legionary meant for the most part a stable supply of food and housing, and even if there were case of the state nickle and diming them they would still get money from beign in the army so that helped out a lot, that and if you had the skills being in the legion (hell even in the Aquilla) allowed you the chance to gain connections for even more benefits for you and your descendents in the longrun, but most of all they would just bound with their fellow legionaries which always makes it easier to cope
Don't forget that there was a (theoretically) guaranteed pension of a large enough plot of farm land to set themselves up as comfortably middle class after they demobilised.
you got a pretty decent spot of money and land after your service and their life would be more or less on easy street, so i assume that was what they thought about. Also a combo of the money and vet status meant they would probably be swimming in Gaul pussy
You get used to shitty situations. Like WW1 soldiers getting used to how horrible life in the trench was when recruits getting there thought it was horrible. Also, especially in the Later Empire. There were people who were just broken by the unending warfare they were subjected to. Ammianus refers to a man named Severus who was a master of the Horse, he was known for being a brave and talented commander but later in his military career Ammianus accounts that he later on became a coward who wanted to take the least risky and easiest way out of situations. The eternal warfare broke a man like him so it isn't hard to assume that many other men ended up the same way
>You get used to shitty situations. Like WW1 soldiers getting used to how horrible life in the trench was when recruits getting there thought it was horrible
This would be a large part of it, people in terrible situations either adapt to it or they get crushed and break
>he later on became a coward who wanted to take the least risky
ironically the best soldiers are often these sorts of people. good enough to get by but not "heroes" who martyr themselves at every opportunity. just keeping there heads down and only sticking out when its a life or death situation
>get assured meals, good pay, distraction for half of your life. >retire in your early-mid 20s with 13 years of salary and some land >live your last 15-20 years (on average) without having to work at all and recognition
This is so much better than your subsistance peasant
Most of the time you don't fight. You march around, practice building camp, get to stand around whenever the local governor wants to show his power, you prostitute around in town or go hunting in the countryside, and of course military training. A lot more comfy than being a farmoid or an urban cuck for a patrician patron.
What other occupations do you think pre-modern people had? If you weren't a noble and weren't smart and resourceful enough to achieve some higher status in life, your choices were being a soldier or various forms of labor work. At least after your soldier life was done, you would get a few acres of land you could raise your family on and leave to your descendants.
>Plus for most of the principate at least, the empire was pretty peaceful and most legionaries could go their entire careers without fighting a serious battle.
This doesn't sound terribly different from how modern militaries are
You get used to it. The military was pretty much its own parallel society. Legionary bases and forts developed into whole little towns with civilian hangers-on etc. Plus for most of the principate at least, the empire was pretty peaceful and most legionaries could go their entire careers without fighting a serious battle.
Not to mention, after about the midpoint of the first century, most recruits came from the hinterlands of the regions they were stationed in, not Rome or even Italy proper (i.e recruits to legions stationed in Syria would mostly be Syrian, recruits in Britain would mostly be Britons, etc.), so you wouldn't even necessarily be leaving home and could probably stay in touch with your friends and family.
this
It is a meme also that they didn't have wives, there would be camp followers and women following them everywhere they went. Further they were far wealthier than the average person, they were in the top 5% at least. Many came from large prestigious, if common, families, having brothers and cousins in the legions gave them status in society, they could be sure their mother and sisters were well cared for, whatever property they had would be protected and they would not face extortionate rents and fall into debt.
by getting tons of gold and fricking b***hes
farmer can whiff a gold coin every 10 years while a soldier could get it in a few months.
just like the nba, winning fixes everything, and they did a lot of winning
how do you cope with not being a Roman soldier for 25 years?
They didn't need to cope at all, imagine raping, stealing and burning random villages for the glory of the empire. A lot more interesting than being a farmer and plowing the dirt for most of your life. After that you get wealthy and you get a small plot you can build a house on or move into the city after becoming someone more important
>A lot more interesting
Ottoman, Napoleonic and Nazis basically.
Modern France in a nutshell
being a legionary meant for the most part a stable supply of food and housing, and even if there were case of the state nickle and diming them they would still get money from beign in the army so that helped out a lot, that and if you had the skills being in the legion (hell even in the Aquilla) allowed you the chance to gain connections for even more benefits for you and your descendents in the longrun, but most of all they would just bound with their fellow legionaries which always makes it easier to cope
Don't forget that there was a (theoretically) guaranteed pension of a large enough plot of farm land to set themselves up as comfortably middle class after they demobilised.
Didn't you become a small landlord at the end of service?
you got a pretty decent spot of money and land after your service and their life would be more or less on easy street, so i assume that was what they thought about. Also a combo of the money and vet status meant they would probably be swimming in Gaul pussy
>17 to 42
It's pretty similar to present career length for soldiers.
How do people cope today?
today usually you only sign up for 3 or 7 years and can choose to re up
You get used to shitty situations. Like WW1 soldiers getting used to how horrible life in the trench was when recruits getting there thought it was horrible. Also, especially in the Later Empire. There were people who were just broken by the unending warfare they were subjected to. Ammianus refers to a man named Severus who was a master of the Horse, he was known for being a brave and talented commander but later in his military career Ammianus accounts that he later on became a coward who wanted to take the least risky and easiest way out of situations. The eternal warfare broke a man like him so it isn't hard to assume that many other men ended up the same way
>You get used to shitty situations. Like WW1 soldiers getting used to how horrible life in the trench was when recruits getting there thought it was horrible
This would be a large part of it, people in terrible situations either adapt to it or they get crushed and break
>he later on became a coward who wanted to take the least risky
ironically the best soldiers are often these sorts of people. good enough to get by but not "heroes" who martyr themselves at every opportunity. just keeping there heads down and only sticking out when its a life or death situation
>get assured meals, good pay, distraction for half of your life.
>retire in your early-mid 20s with 13 years of salary and some land
>live your last 15-20 years (on average) without having to work at all and recognition
This is so much better than your subsistance peasant
>without having to work
Dude what do you think they did with the land they got? Mow the lawn and grill?
They had to work that land themselves.
Because all the land owning patricians worked the land themselves.
Rent the land out to be worked by someone else or get slaves.
what else are you gonna do?
Most of the time you don't fight. You march around, practice building camp, get to stand around whenever the local governor wants to show his power, you prostitute around in town or go hunting in the countryside, and of course military training. A lot more comfy than being a farmoid or an urban cuck for a patrician patron.
What other occupations do you think pre-modern people had? If you weren't a noble and weren't smart and resourceful enough to achieve some higher status in life, your choices were being a soldier or various forms of labor work. At least after your soldier life was done, you would get a few acres of land you could raise your family on and leave to your descendants.
>Plus for most of the principate at least, the empire was pretty peaceful and most legionaries could go their entire careers without fighting a serious battle.
This doesn't sound terribly different from how modern militaries are
They're one of the few wage paying jobs of the premodern period, can benefit from booty and pillage, and can boss people around.
Also free food and house.
Except they had a real problem paying them on time, and keeping them fed on campaign, hence all the rebellions.
probably cause they couldn't plunder anything or make any cash fighting homeless people in germany.
>How did they cope with being a soldier for 25 years?
Die in the first 5
They were mostly fighting against moronic cavemen...
Cope? It sounds like a fricking great life, especially considering what else was available at the time.
25 years on paper, 25 days in reality before getting murdered by a germanic hobo.