From this explanation, it is easy to see why, in the
constitution of the centuries by Servius Tullius, the first class were
perfectly covered with mail, the second had helmets and breast-plates
but no protection for the body, the third, neither a coat of mail, nor
greaves. 6. The defects of this system are sufficiently obvious; an
unexpected attack on the flanks, the breaking of the line by rugged
and uneven ground, and a thousand similar accidents exposed the
unprotected portions of the army to destruction besides, a line with
files ten deep was necessarily slow in its movements and evolutions.
Another and not less important defect was, that the whole should act
together; and consequently, there were few opportunities for the
display of individual bravery.
7. It is not certainly known who was the great commander that
substituted the living body of the Roman legion for this inanimate
mass; but there is some reason to believe that this wondrous
improvement was effected by Camil'lus. Every legion was in itself an
army, combining the advantages of every variety of weapon, with the
absolute perfection of a military division.
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