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As Roman armies took the field more and more often to counter further Gallic raids into Italy, they gained valuable experience in fighting on all sorts of terrain and under variable conditions. They were also able to enhance their cohesion with the use of unique institutions that may have been shared by at least some Latin neighbors.
These institutions include, for example, the division or legions into “contubernia” – groups of eight soldiers normally in charge of preparing and cooking their own meals from issued grain, rather than relying on a central kitchen or the alternative Hellenic based on having hoplites purchase their food1.
Romans also perfected the “dilectus” process they used to raise armies quickly and regularly2 and became world-experts in the art of erecting temporary fortifications. This may have been an older ability, born from a habit of fighting hit-and-run raids in Latium: amid tribes unaccustomed to fight large-scale decisive battles in the style preferred by practical Greek poleis, any army on the move was particularly exposed to night attacks. Thus, the Romans became used to building camps on very precise specifications, intended not to thwart a massive siege, but to ensure that Roman troops wouldn’t be killed in their sleep before they noticed.
This later became a much-admired Roman art, and certainly evolved over time. However, there’s every indication that Romans stuck with tried-and-tested methods for camp building. Unlike Greek, Eastern of Celtic armies — who weren’t in the habit of raising fortified camps every night, and only did at times of necessity, normally preferring to set basic protection around their camps — the Romans only very rarely departed from their methods.
The Romans also gained allies: exposed to the new threat from the north, the Veneti Italics along the modern Venetian region became Rome’s staunchest supporters, providing troops and resources that turned the strong but isolated city of the turn of the century into the center of the most powerful confederation in the peninsula. Due to the Gallic threat, even the Etruscans became solidly pro-Roman for a few decades, just enough to give Rome the space it needed to flex its muscles.
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