The discipline of the Roman army was very severe. Every soldier was compelled to “endure hardness.” The weapons were heavy, and in addition to them the ordinary foot soldier was compelled to carry a saw, a basket, a pick-ax, an ax, a thong of leather, and a hook, together with three days’ rations. He was treated more like a beast of burden than a man. See Josephus, Wars of the Jews, book 3, chap. 5.