The first army I ever owned, way back in high school, was that of the Roman Republic. The figures I painted up were crude, but I gamed with them for more than two decades. I suffered my first defeats with them on the tabletop, and tasted my first, elusive victory. Much as the Roman Republic was schooled in the arts of war by a veteran enemy general, Hannibal, I was taught Ancients miniatures gaming by a local veteran, Larry Connor. Historically, he played Carthaginians, while I went down to defeat after defeat with my Romans. However, when I "turned the corner," and was able to start beating him, it was a proud accomplishment -- much as the Romans were doubtless proud when Scipio Africanus began to bring home victories against the armies of Carthage during the 2nd Punic War.
Rome is my favorite nation from history, and the Republican time period is my favorite part of it. The army went from being composed of proud, landed class citizen farmers or town dwellers, to a lower class, but more professional arm of the state (or at least its generals). Republican Rome fought many wars, growing from merely a city on the Italian peninsula to ruler of most of the Mediterranean. This was its time of greatest expansion, and the list of historical opponents goes on and on.
I encourage anyone who would like to get caught up in the romance and drama that was Republican Rome to read the "First Man in Rome" series of historical fiction by Colleen McCullough. One of my favorite miniatures campaigns I've run was inspired by the novels, "Friends, Roman, Countrymen."
The main strength of the Roman armies was its infantry -- the Roman legionaries. In the early part of the Republic, this was divided into troops armed with a long, thrusting spear and those armed with the throwing spear, or pilum (pictured above). Later, all legionaries carried the pilum. Legionaries were armored (usually in chainmail), carried a large shield and wore a bronze helmet. They were usually highly disciplined and were considered the elite of the Roman army.
The legionaries pictured above are the first wave of replacements for my old original figures. They are from Old Glory, and I think the color combination of red shield and tunic, bronze helmet and iron mail looks spectacular. Below, I have showen the long-spear armed Triarii, and a rear view of the legionaries, showing the colors.
Early in the Roman Republic, the Knight or Equites class of Roman society provided the Roman cavalry. As Rome's armies grew, and it was realized that the numbers and effectiveness of the Equites was insufficient, mercenaries from foreign peoples supplemented their numbers. Later in the Republic, mercenary cavalry (especially Gauls) replaced native Roman cavalry altogether. Roman cavalry generally wore chainmail or other similar armor, carried a large shield, and fought with javelins or lighter spears. The miniatures pictured below are also from Old Glory.
Early in the Republic, Roman youths provided the light or skirmish troops. They were known as velites, and fought with javelin and shield. A certain number of these were attached to each legion, and generally preceeded its advance. Later, when the Roman army became more professional and less of a citizen levy divided into types by social class, the velites disappeared and were replaced by mercenaries.