The Roman legions were the greatest killing machine of their era, conquering and garrisoning an area of some 1,700,000 sq miles. They offered paradoxically an increased life expectancy for their recruits who hailed from the peasantry in the Italian hinterland and the destitute in the Roman slums. Now they lived in clean quarters and had 3 proper meals per day. This course also examines how in learning from the peoples they conquered they transformed Rome from being just a small town built on 7 hills to one where reputedly all roads led. It also compares with today the psychiatric issues they faced in retirement and how veterans were provided for by the government.