Romans actually DID fight Egyptians, jut not the kind of Egyptians you’re probably thinking of. I assume you’re talking about the Old Kingdom Egyptians, bronze weapons with the curved Kopeck swords. They are over a thousand years out of sync with Rome. The Romans however DID fight and conquer an Egyptian kingdom, largely through a rather complicated bit of political nonsense involving succession. But the point I was trying to make is that that kingdom was the Egyptian Ptolemaic kingdom which fought the Romans, which where more in line with Macedonia in terms of military and fighting style.

As for Spartans, while there weren’t really any mention of Spartans fighting Romans, the Spartan fighting style of the Hoplite Phalanx was still the popular way of fighting in Greece for a long time, up to and including the era of the Romans, so you did have those Phalanxes fighting the Romans. And while Sparta was shadow of its former self by the time the Romans showed up, they where still around so it isn’t that hard to see Spartans having fought Romans.

GAH!!! Talk about the old roman fighting styles!!! Must also be part.

In the days of the Early Republic, the Roman army’s first sight as a “Recognizably Roman” army, ie. Gladius short sword, big shield and Javelin. The Roman army was actually a levy, any Roman who owned land could, and would, be called to war in the Legion, which at that time was pretty much their name for an army. These people would be divided into about five groups depending on a mix of wealth, age and experience, and the levy had to pay for their own gear.

The Velites where the poorest and youngest, they where Javelin Skirmishers mostly with pretty much no armour, maybe a shield, sword and some Javelins or Slings, they where the forward Skirmish line, for harassment and such.

Next you had the Hastati, who where the first Heavy infantry, these guys had the Big shield, a Gladius and some Javelins, they weren’t as armoured as the later Legionairy’s, usually having a helmet, some greaves and a small square chest piece.

Next where the Principes, these where the closest to the proper Legionaries before the Marius Reforms (get to that later), same as Hastati in gear, except they usually had better armour, most often some form of Chainmail. They and the Hastatii where the main bulk of the Early Republic forces.

The Oldest folk tended to be the Triarii, they where even better armoured than the Principes, With the Same Big Shield except they where usually armed with just one big Spear of the stabbing variety, not Javelins and Gladius.

The Richest roman Levy’s where usually the Cavalry, the early Romans didn’t have much light Cavalry and even the cavalry they had was pretty much just there to support the Infantry and cover the flanks.

This army would be made into three “lines” for battle, the first Line being the Hastatii, the next line being the Principes, and the Final line being the Triarii, with a forward screen of Velites and the Cavalry on the Flanks. Tactics wise they where a meatgrinder, first the Hastatii would charge in, tire the enemy, then they’d fall back and be replaced with the Principes, who would either beat or further tire the opponents, and then they’d be replaced by the Triarii, ensuring the best troops hit last. These line where made up of Cohorts which where blocks of Men and these cohorts where arranged in a Checkerboard style, the idea was that the Cohorts would support one another, the Cohorts at the front being pulled back and replaced with the Cohorts behind. It was a bit more complicated than that but that was the general gist of it.

The Marius reforms are what resulted in the proper legionary we most usually think of when we think Rome, which is part of why they where also known as Marius’s Mules (the other being the large number of actual Mules the new Legions employed to carry gear). The Marius Reforms created a standing army of permanent soldiers as opposed to the old levy, which also meant that the state paid for the soldiers gear. It also made it so that any Roman citizen could join the army, not just those that owned land. These Legionaries would serve for twenty years and at the end of those years of service (assuming they lived that long) they would be given some land by the state, which was also part of how Romans culture spread so rapidly into conquered lands.

Most of these Legionaries where infantry men with the shield, javelin and gladius, there where cavalry Legionaries and supporting staff as well (Engineers and “munitions” people mostly). These Legions where about four to six thousand men strong, and divided into cohorts like the Early republic armies, except these cohorts where more permanent divisions as well as battlefield placements, and their greater discipline made them much better at that whole supporting part of their job.

These Legionaries did a lot more that the old levy, they where drilled for marching, battlefield formations (Testudo and Wedge being the most famous), they carried most of their own gear including shovels, picks and axes for when the Legion made camp. Roman camps when the legion was on campaign or just out of friendly territory where all pretty much small wooden forts from that point on, every camp involving about an hour or two of building a wooden Palisades, digging trenches and small towers to defend the camp, which would then be taken down again every morning.

The Auxiliary was any one in the Roman army who wasn’t a citizen of Rome, they where most often people from very different cultures and performed tasks the normal Legionaries could not, skirmishers, light infantry and cavalry, and archers, that stuff. Their reward for service of twenty years was that they and their families became Roman citizens.

That’s pretty much the Roman Legions of the late Republic/Early empire period, late Empire Legions where a whole another affair that I won’t go too much into detail off, but the general gist of them was more but smaller legions, different gear and a lot more Auxilliery.

Anyway that’s the Romans from the Early republic to Early Empire period, well the general overview of it, I’m sure I got some parts wrong but that should cover most of what you wanted to know.