pre-Marian units after Marian Reform

[Vorenus81]

Hi Guys,

I've noticed that I still have some pre-Marian units like Velites, Alae, after Marian Reforms. Shouldn't they be replaced by some Auxilia ?

[PDiFolco]

Hi Guys,

I've noticed that I still have some pre-Marian units like Velites, Alae, after Marian Reforms. Shouldn't they be replaced by some Auxilia ?

No this happens on the second "imperial" reform.
Indeed it's not really historical...

[LDiCesare]

I think they all get promoted after a while if you pick the first choice.

[loki100]

no the velites hang around till the Imperial reform when they become Alae.

agree its not historical but its pragmatic. Till Rome has expanded, the Velites are the only light infantry available, so you need to take some provinces with skirmishers so that you can build them once you have the imperial legions.

[Vorenus81]

I read that after Marian reforms the lack of skirmishers in the legions was solved by chosen legionaries who fought "expediti", which meant without armor and using light javelins instead of heavy pila. This seem plausible to me. In video games we are used to view some formations as trained to fight in only one given way (for the sake of simplicty). Meanwhile some formations were in fact quite flexible in the way they fight, depending on the circumstances, and roman legionaries are one of the best examples of this. A legionary was not glued to his armor. Anyway, just my loose thoughts on the subject