traits of a Roman legionary

[John M McDermott]

I wouldn't worry too much about the height since it's an ideal. Nero's so-called 'phalanx of Alexander' may have started off with taller recruits (Suet. Nero 19) but whether the army ever actually imposed the height regulations Vegetius (1.5) or the Theodosian Code (7.13.3) mentions is another matter.

As for what soldiers looked like, I'm with Carlton and Matthew. Some soldiers probably looked like a 21st century perception of what a Roman soldier should have looked like; some probably looked like a 21st century perception of what a Roman clerk should have looked like.

Uhhhhh! This could stimulate quite a discussion. I believe there is a sound proposition that Roman soldiers would have been a picked lot, not just a cross section of Roman society. After all, they were well paid and there were relatively few of them demographically speaking.