Roman soldiers were
trained in such a way as to have a strategic advantage over their enemies. The
typical military unit in the Roman army was called a legion, which consisted of
about 6,000 soldiers at full strength. When approaching an enemy in battle, the
infantry would create three lines of soldiers, each with gaps between the
lines; in front of these gaps would be a solid line of soldiers called velites.
As they neared their enemy, these velites would throw their javelins and
retreat through the gaps in the lines of their fellow soldiers. The first line
would then fill in the gaps to create a solid line. When the enemy came closer,
this solid line of soldiers would charge. Once this initial skirmishing
occurred, the heavy infantry would engage the enemy. They would throw their
pila (javelin-like weapons), then pull their swords and attack. Because the
army was set up in lines, one line would attack at a time. If it was being
defeated, it would fall back and another would take its place, so that the
attacking was consistent. This tactic is said to have been an important reason
for success in battle. They also had heavier armor, better training, and were
expected to endure strong discipline.
At different points in history, governments have devoted men, women, and resources to try to persuade others to their side. One significant example of this occurred in Germany under Adolf Hitler. Hitler knew how important it was to make sure the German people were on his side as leader of the country. One way he did this was by controlling what people heard. Specifically, near the beginning of World War II, Hitler made it a crime for anyone in Germany to listen to foreign radio broadcasts. These were called the “extraordinary radio measures.” He did this to ensure that Germans weren’t being persuaded by enemy countries to question their loyalty to Hitler. He knew that a German listening to a radio broadcast from Britain might persuade that German to believe that Great Britain was the good guy and Hitler the bad guy. This was so important, in fact, that two people in Germany were actually executed because they had either listened to or planned to listen to a foreign radio broadcast (one...
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