What it is: A wooden and leather shield used by a Roman soldier in battle Where it is from: Dura-Europos, Syria When it was made: Second century A.D. Related: Babylonian tablet preserves student's ...

An auxiliary was a soldier who was not a Roman citizen. He was only paid a third of a legionary’s wage. Auxiliaries guarded forts and frontiers but also fought in battles, often in the front ...

JULIA: I just found this fragment of rusty metal. It doesn’t look like much but this was once a sword. A sword known as…the gladius! The gladius was part of the Roman soldier’s equipment ...