All Roman soldiers were trained to endure the difficulties and dangers of wartime campaigning, including forced marches, camp building, and of course fighting battles. The truth is, though, that many of the men who enlisted and trained for these duties never experienced an actual military campaign. This was because there were periods of several years or more when there were few or no military emergencies or wars. And even when a war broke out, more often than not only a small part of Rome's total forces were needed to fight it. The rest of the troops on the military rolls continued to man the various bases, often in frontier areas, to which they had been assigned after the completion of their training. Indeed, it was not unusual for a soldier to spend his whole career and retirement living in and...