Marius' Mule

[Justindo]

I was wondering if the reason Marius went with that stick-over-the-shoulder instead of a better weighted backpack was because the stick is so easy to drop if you get ambushed.  A really heavy pack, especially if you don't have modern quick-release-buckles, hangs onto you and doesn't want to let go!

That's a very interesting observation, Tim.  I hadn't thought of that, but it does seem to make sense.

[playmofire]

Hi Tim,

Rather later than planned here's the photo I said I'd taken with you in mind.

A few weekends ago we went up to Chesters Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall.  It's just over 90 miles there so only about a gentle 2 and a bit hour's drive.  We went up for a conducted tour of the small but very well-stocked museum there by the curator as well as a walk round the extensive remains of the fort itself.  However, the walk was shortened by torrential rain and hail.

The curator's talk was very interesting and afterwards we had time to look round the musem itself.  There are only two rooms, but they are full of Roman artefacts as the museum was created by the man who first saw the need to protect Hadrian's Wall and the related forts etc.  Some of the items are rated as some of the best, if not the best, finds in the whole of the Roman Empire.  Anyway, at the back of one of the cases were a Roman pickaxe and a Roman entrenching tool, and I thought of you and Marius's mule, so here's a photo.  The pickaxe is the larger piece at the back of the case with the entrenching tool in front of it, not that that is really necessary as they are immediately recognisable for what they are, even though the "blade" of the pickaxe is all in one plane and with out the non-pointed end at right-angles to the pointed end.

[Martin Milner]

Tim's quick-drop idea is I'm sure spot on. Anyone who's carried a big rucksack knows what a difficult job it is getting it on and off, especially if trying to leave oneself any modicum of grace and dignity. Plus the sack itself add some weight to the burden, especially in the absense of modern lightweight strong fabrics.

Another thought is that almost all the equipment is on display, so the officers can immediately see if someone's lost anything.

Did the 90 lbs of equipment include the armour they were wearing? It's a lot easier carrying the weight closer to the body than all lumped in one big sack on one's back. Ideally the weight would be carried at the top of the spine, so all the force is transferred down through your shoulders and bones in a straight line to the ground.

Regardless, all the rubbing, sweating and chafing associated with carrying loads for long distances would be as much a misery then as now, and I'm sure those Romans were far fitter and tougher than a modern roly-poly office worker (i.e. me). 

[Timotheos]

Did the 90 lbs of equipment include the armour they were wearing? It's a lot easier carrying the weight closer to the body than all lumped in one big sack on one's back. Ideally the weight would be carried at the top of the spine, so all the force is transferred down through your shoulders and bones in a straight line to the ground.

Regardless, all the rubbing, sweating and chafing associated with carrying loads for long distances would be as much a misery then as now, and I'm sure those Romans were far fitter and tougher than a modern roly-poly office worker (i.e. me). 

Hi Gordon thanks for posting the pictures!

To Martin: it's disputed how much the Romans actually carried.  There are estimates as low as 45 lbs and as high as 90 lbs.  One scholar opts for the average, 65 pounds. 

The crucial bit is they carried a change of clothes and three days of food (probably flour for bread but maybe dried meat).

This allowed the legions to march faster than their baggage train in an emergency and survive until the baggage caught up.

-Tim