08-02-2002, 12:25 PM
From what I recall, carolingian armies worked on a "double draft" system: you had the ban, which consisted mainly of the nobility and their retinues, and the heriban, which consisted of a levy "en masse" of the general population. Figures between the ban and the heriban should then vary considerably.<br>
The heriban was rarely, if ever used.<br>
In french the coined expression "appeler le ban et l'arrière ban" still mean gathering everyone available.<br>
Each member of the ban had to present himself at regular intervals in full armour and on horseback and heavy fines were levied on those who didn't show up with the proper equipment or at all.<br>
Again this is a recollection and needs checking, but this system was the basis of became in France the basic medieval tactical unit: the "lance", composed of a knight, his shire and between six and ten "gens de pied" (foot soldiers) armed with various implements of destruction such as spears, bills, axes, war scythes, assorted cutlasses, bows and later crossbows. When the medieval texts tell us about "five lances", it means ten horsemen (5 knights and 5 shires) and about 50 foot soldiers.<br>
As for the question of how long before post roman armies caught up first we have to determine what they were trying to catch up with.<br>
I think that if we are talking about the heyday of the Roman Empire, from the 1st to the 3rd centuries AD, a similar degree of logisitic and tactical organisation was not attained before the 17th/18th centuries. <p></p><i></i>
The heriban was rarely, if ever used.<br>
In french the coined expression "appeler le ban et l'arrière ban" still mean gathering everyone available.<br>
Each member of the ban had to present himself at regular intervals in full armour and on horseback and heavy fines were levied on those who didn't show up with the proper equipment or at all.<br>
Again this is a recollection and needs checking, but this system was the basis of became in France the basic medieval tactical unit: the "lance", composed of a knight, his shire and between six and ten "gens de pied" (foot soldiers) armed with various implements of destruction such as spears, bills, axes, war scythes, assorted cutlasses, bows and later crossbows. When the medieval texts tell us about "five lances", it means ten horsemen (5 knights and 5 shires) and about 50 foot soldiers.<br>
As for the question of how long before post roman armies caught up first we have to determine what they were trying to catch up with.<br>
I think that if we are talking about the heyday of the Roman Empire, from the 1st to the 3rd centuries AD, a similar degree of logisitic and tactical organisation was not attained before the 17th/18th centuries. <p></p><i></i>
