What Were the Entry Requirements for the Roman Army?

In this video, we explore the entry requirements for recruits into the Roman army. All would-be Roman soldiers would need to pass a test called probatio, which involved an intense physical examination and legal background check. Both legionaries and auxiliaries would need also need to pass basic training.

[BobfromSydney]

"Sir, this recruit has three testicles!"
"Promote him to centurion!"

[rain]

"too much intelligence were frowned upon"
And thus the concept of the marines is born.

[bobbuilder]

is crazy how modern military recruitment or enlistment can be said to come from the roman empire. God damn though you all have beautiful armor

[murkypuddle]

No, having too much intelligence wasn't frowned upon. According to Vegetius, in his passage "What region should recruits be raised?", he writes "On the other hand the peoples of the North (septentrionales populi), remote from the sun's heat, are less intelligent, but having a superabundance of blood are readiest for wars. Recruits should therefore be raised from [these] temperate climates. Their abundance of blood gives them a contempt for wounds and death, and intelligence cannot be lacking either, for it preserves discipline in camp and is of some assistance with consul in battle."

[stalinbeballin]

"What's 2+2?"
"4."
"You aren't cut out for this army. Go home."

[donvicienz]

"Their drills are bloodless battles and their battles bloody drills"

Jospehus

[SaintJames]

Too much intelligence? What happened if they thought you were too smart? Weird qualification

[bobross]

I’m only commenting on the short, so I don’t know if the longer video covers it, but regarding conscription and press gangs: although the Roman Army of the Principate was a volunteer organization, later on conscription and mandatory enlistment of soldiers’ sons was definitely the law of the land. There were extraordinarily brutal punishments for avoiding service under the Dominate, and it became extremely hard to recruit sufficient soldiery despite the empire’s gigantic population and universal citizenship following Caracalla.

[Liango-dzkn]

„why can’t I be a soldier? I have all testicles i need sir“

„Because gladius testiculus, you are too smart“

[Dawgside]

Reminded me of the etymology of left versus right ... sin, sinister and so forth.

[Narrenwache]

Woah that commander has beautiful lorica sqamata (forgot how to spell it) where do yall get your gear from?

[jonbong]

Imagine being rejected from the army for being too smart. I'm so glad that's something that would only happen in ancient

[kylewilliams]

People here thinking the Roman empire was a meritocracy, like somehow if you were intelligent you'd get drafted up to be an officer or engineer. There was no ASVAB or placement for advanced roles. Those roles were filled with the aristocracy's sons, not the rabble.

Legionnaires need to follow orders, commands, and nothing else. Building a road requires 1 engineer and 200 ditch diggers, stop acting like somehow you need to be a genius to be able to be told, "dig here, put rocks there, cut down those trees and put the logs here".

[da]

Left left left right left?
Really?
This is my javelin, this is my spear

[funkychunkgaming]

Imagine just walking through a park and you just see a load of roman soldiers

[DANKFPV]

What happened to the men deemed unsuitable after the 4 month basic training period?✌️

[haveswordwilltravel]

Where can I do this? Are there Legion training camps?

[michaeldemel]

I can see how much the Roman's gave us in our modern methods, For the Glory of the Empire!!!😊😊😊

[juanzulu]

Wait, too much intelligence was unwanted? That sounds very strange. Is this an translation issue?

[maunz]

Too much intelligence? Why would that be an issue? 🤔😂