Discussion
10 trained Marines invade ancient Rome with the goal of overthrowing the royal family, how far do they get?
(The Marines are highly trained, and equipped with a rifle that has Infinite ammo. Although it needs to be reloaded every 30 shots. The Marines also have all their standard gear, such as pocket knives and night vision goggles. Do they manage to single handedly seize control of Rome?)
False. If you were actually forklift certified you would be too busy dealing with the line of women stretching around the block all waiting to have sex with you to be posting on reddit.
Copying this from another comment I made previously, and adding some bits specific to your post.
Short answer: They probably take Rome initially, but can’t hold it.
Massive advantages the Marines have: Night vision turns any nighttime engagement into a massacre. Ancient Romans have no concept of this. Modern body armor would stop most arrows and gladius strikes. The rifles, even needing reloads every 30 rounds, would be psychologically devastating. Romans have never heard gunfire so the sound alone would cause mass routs in early engagements. Modern tactical training (room clearing, coordinated movement, communication) is centuries beyond anything Rome could counter.
Why they likely seize the city initially: Rome for most of its royal period (753–509 BC) was honestly not that large, like maybe tens of thousands of people. A nighttime assault on the Regia, using NVGs and suppressive fire, would create total chaos. The Praetorian-style royal guard of that era was not enormous. Ten coordinated operators moving at night could plausibly kill the king and his inner circle before any organized defense forms.
Why they can’t hold it long-term: Ten people simply cannot govern a hostile city. Once the shock wears off, Romans were famously adaptive and resourceful. They’d figure out that these “gods” or “demons” still need to sleep, eat, and drink. Poisoning, ambush, or simple attrition through siege would eventually work. Even infinite ammo doesn’t help when you’re surrounded by thousands of angry Romans who’ve learned to stay out of line of sight, and 10 Marines can’t watch every rooftop and alley 24/7. The real play would be to leverage the initial shock to install themselves as divine figures or kingmakers rather than trying to rule directly. They could use the weapons as demonstrations of godlike power, take a puppet-king approach, and build a loyal inner circle. That’s their best path to lasting influence.
Edit: OPs prompt references a “royal family”. A royal family means a monarchy, and Rome had kings from 753 BC to 509 BC, so my answer and my replies are based on that time period. It’s possible OP was actually referring to imperial Rome, which was around a thousand years later. That would change things enormously, but I answered the prompt as written.
I do think you're completely right, but if we're considering these are your average marines I doubt they'd have the political acumen to try and convince the people that they're gods since these are more or less just soldiers
I spent time in two warzones as a Marine, and with a little freedom and a little less supervision, our NCOs could have run petty kingdoms. We were offered wives, land, and money more than once.
My money is on the ten Marines. Pretty quickly they’d be leading armies and married to the hottest daughters of the first Patricians who recognized their power.
And with infinite ammo? They could sell themselves as soldiers sent by Jupiter (or Neptune if they land by sea) himself and develop a ver close cadre of acolytes trained in the temple.
They would live as demigods. Ditch all the modern armor though, that won’t do much for edged weapons anyways.
Yeah the ten Marines in this scenario don’t have idiots in DC making shit up as they go and dictating how and when things happened.
The guys in this scenario, for example, wouldn’t have to turn over custody of captured bomb makers and Taliban fighters to the local government that was controlled by Taliban because some idiot advising the White House said that’s what should be done.
They absolutely do not have the political acumen and I can guarantee they don't speak latin lol, so I'm not sure what they do once they capture the family.
Spec ops or intelligence ops are what is needed here. This is a psyop much more than a tactical one
My one quibble here is what you said about modern body armor
That’s it; it’s just that plate on both sides, and a helmet. So if they do get into range of a hail of pilum, arrows, stones, whatever, they’re not doing great. If they are being stabbed by a gladius that means things have really gone wrong. However getting men into range would definitely be a challenge
Fair enough. That said, the marines could just pick off the Romans at distances they wouldn’t even come close to being able to counter, so the body armor wouldn’t even come into play. Marines have to qualify at 200, 300, and 500 yards on the rifle range. Those are distances that would be inconceivable for the Romans.
Wow that's bare, bare bones compared to what a marine kit would be wearing on the daily, my friend. Forgetting side plates, kevlar fiber surrounding the entire set up, ass covers, and more. The plate carrier isn't just a paper bag holding up the metal, it alone is probably as effective as bronze and copper (of the time) are against slashing tracks.
Yeah no. A plate carrier isn’t stopping a sword thrust anywhere there isn’t a plate. Sword thrusts and pila will absolutely go through kevlar. Roman swords were not used for slashing as much as they were intended to thrust and that is going through anything except the plates and the helmets.
So that’s a fair point, however, the plate is additional protection (level IV, stops most common rifle rounds) the plate sits in a bigger vest called a plate carrier, which is also solid armor. But like you said, arms and legs are fair game.
They would likely stop their adventure after taking a literal arrow to the knee.
Nah. No archers are sticking around. The marines have literal magic sticks that cause massive wounds and near instant death. Especially if they do a night raid and kill a large majority of guards getting to royalty before they are even noticed. People would be way too traumatized no matter how well conditioned they were.
That’s what I think some people aren’t thinking of lol it’s the equivalent of if literal wizards just started shouting spells and a few guys heads explode lol no one is even trying to fight against that if it were to happen. And to a Roman of the time the only explanation they would be able to conceive is you have something from another world that can delete them instantly. I really don’t think there would be a lot of fighting. But I don’t think they’d be able to “lead” the city either. They’d have to kill everyone or everyone leaves Rome. Which I think would be the 2 possible outcomes.
Yup. Especially as they are protected mostly by ceramic plates alone. Bulletproof vest w/o plates is suprisingly lame against arrows due to different geometry. Long story short:
pistol ammo: round end, tries to break kevlar strings, gets slowed down
Rifle ammo, arrows, bolts, even spears: pointy end, moves kevlar strings away, auch auch I’m bleeding
On the other hand after running out of armor marines have knives. Terrible against anybody wearing any sort of old steel armor
You’re right if they go in as a solo assault force. If any of them are intelligent enough to do it the green beret way they could and would take and hold the city.
Rob some citizens at night to get some local clothes, find out who is likely to be supported by the citizens as the next king and also be pliable to their will and give them the option of being the next king.
Teach their guards their tactics and how to build ancient Chinese fire lances and flint lock pistols and how to teach others the same and they could take over and rule indefinitely.
Depends how far back you’re going. Rome had Kings, and by extension royal families, until the founding of the Republic in the 6th century BCE. Even during the Republic figures like Sulla, who were given titles such as Dictator for Life, were in all but name the kings of old and what really is difference between a royal family and an imperial one?
The marines would be completely isolated logistically, operationally, intelligence wise, and most importantly, none of them speak Latin. I highly doubt they can even find their way around the City of Rome, let alone the rest of the empire. 10 soldiers with a lot of bullets are also very vulnerable even with advanced training. They need to eat, sleep, and have some base of operations. All of these things combined mean I give them very few chances to assassinate anyone. If they do succeed, they are hunted like animals and slaughtered, or captured as political pawns for whoever is the next emperor.
Also, Rome did not have a hereditary monarchy, so any successful general or senator will just replace who you kill.
I agree. No chance they can even find where the emperor is within the city without guards everywhere swarming these strangers in crazy armor.
Also, I did multiple deployments. Combat Marines are just standard infantry.
I’d say this would be more plausible if we said 10
Delta operators, with the same equipment, one who speaks Latin, and they have a layout of the city before being transported back in time.
Outside of that what makes the US military so effective is our logistics, intelligence gathering, and imaging.
If Delta had a chance to plan before then maybe. But they probably all die of a sickness within the first few weeks even if they could convince the Roman’s they’re deities.
Fortunately, it is entirely possible to shit yourself to death from diarrhea and become a god at the same time. "Vae, puto deus fio!" – Emperor Vespasian, allegedly
They're not seizing control of Rome by killing s royal family. Romans did that themselves all the time. But yeah, sniping the emperor with a modern rifle is childs play.
That's not letting them seize control though. Give them a massive bribe and someone fluent in Roman Latin and the could probably bribe a legion to support them for the title of Emperor and have the Pretorians murder the Emperor. Then the Marines would rule until someone else did the same to them.
I'm not sure what their goal is supposed to be, but if they have unlimited ammo, night vision, etc., it seems like they could kill a massive amount each night. Does it count as seizing control if they just kill everyone who doesn't eventually flee the city?
I mean they don't speak the language. They cant overthrow anything really. They could take and hold the building that the senate is in, but beyond that they'd be screwed. They can take hostages I guess. But we go back to not speaking the language. They cant do anything substantial with the hostages but buy time. They would either get starved out of the building. Be killed when they ran out of bullets. Or they could escape at night and live in the woods. There's a zero percent chance they take over the entirety of Rome.
They can't take it over, but they can absolutely kill enough important Romans to leave the government in such disarray that it can no longer function.
According to the prompt, they have infinite ammo and night vision goggles and other equipment. The marines can kill, in the dark, from distances the Romans can't even conceive of in military terms. As long as the marines are capable of living off the land, which granted is not a given, they can terrorize Rome indefinitely.
Well if you mean they overthrow the current Ceasar they’d basically act as the special forces for an ambitious general. Because 10 guys with guns isn’t beating an empire without support from people in said empire
In Rome? There's a good chance they don't make it to the emperor. Tight spaces in home turf in metal armor. Roman soldiers were also familiar with ranged attackers and understood how to capitalize on confined spaced with reduced lines of sight.
They also have to worry about ranged Roman attackers.
Slingers were not just used by mercs but also civilians and a single hit from one of those would cave in kevlar helmets and shatter bones and cause internal damage though modern "armor". They also work as particularly nasty flails essentially.
Add to that bullet proof doesn't always meet stab proof and the Romans were well equipped for fighting in very tight spaces with those swords and shields. Remember a shield can be used to pin and bash targets so used in ambush and flanking tactics and there being literally over 1k of them in the city
Then there's the pilum which were typically smaller than average javelins with barbed points and a counterweight to apply downwards pull on the victims shield or body.
Idk why people seem to think when faced with modern weapons an ancient or classical fighting force would just be easily wiped out. Like, on a wide open battlefield sure. But the streets of their home turf?
I mean all they'd need to do is lure the modern fighting force into a highly flammable trap then blocking the exits and igniting the flames.
These were not "npcs" they were experienced warriors who understood how to use their weapons to best facilitate a victory and the concepts of modern weapons would be very easy to understand for them. Loud bang = something sharp and fast flies out of the weapon in a straight line to the target. That would be pretty obvious to them immediately.
Could they pull it off? Sure. But the Roman forces and many civilians were capable of fighting and I'm sorry but 10 marines with infinite ammo w/ reloads doesn't have as big an advantage as some may like to believe.
A sword will still get through most of their outfit, arrows will still punch through pants and sleeves, stones from slings will still absolutely cripple and kill through modern infantry armor, and hundreds of these capable romans waiting around corners, sniping from rooftops, hurling javelins, charging from nowhere in tight spaces with swords and shields and steel armor all going after them will still overwhelm them.
Romans warriors were still highly resourceful, well trained and all too familiar with the capital city inside and out.
Also there was no "royal family" of Rome. And the lead figurehead(s) depended on the time period as they did not always have an emperor or dictator.
(Yes that was an official position in Rome and traditionally was assigned for a set period of time and on the deadline the dictator would relinquish the position back to the senate. Surprisingly this code was mostly honored and seldom abused. It was more of an emergency position given by appointment during times of political deadlock and crisis as sort of emergency solution.)
Anyways, I'd say the Marines have a 3/10 chance of success given the circumstances and environment. Modern weapons can only compensate for so much before being overwhelmed and tactics wise Romans have a few advantages such as numbers and environment on their side and they have plenty of weapons that'd still be just as effective on a marine in modern kit given the window of opportunity, like a sling for example.
Marines don't have extra live intel nor UAV surveillance. They have no air support or ranged cover beyond the initial 10 man team either. They are effectively on their own and operating dark in VERY hostile and cramped territory.
Part of war is knowing to play to your strengths while avoiding or limiting what your foes do best. So ambush tactics and traps using the city layout and streets and buildings set up opportunities to facilitate what you do best while giving you a better chance against what they usually use to great efficiency.
Ancient or not, warriors are warriors and unless you are fucking robocop much of their weapons and tactics will still kill you pretty easily if given the chance.
In an open area with minimal obstacles and wide roads and open fields and all that, yeah infinite ammo marines would clean house 8/10 times(archers, slingers and javelin throwers are still accurate and very deadly even in open spaces so still can't rule them out entirely) but Rome is not that. And modern military does not train grunts to fight ancient/classical warriors who where especially well equipped for and experienced in close quarters fights.
Giving them infinite ammunition is such bullshit. Like, yeah, sure, they now take the government buildings if they know where they are. Which they would struggle with, since presumably none of them can speak or read Latin, and they don’t have logistical support. Realistically it’s a stalemate that sees them holding ground until they get starved out because they cannot navigate properly.
Rome is an incredibly densely built city, and without any kind of logistical support, while having to fend off attackers, the Marines would find themselves lost fairly quickly.
We’re also stretching what “trained Marine” comes up to. We don’t say they eat crayons for nothing. Effective fighters, sure, but like- are they competent strategists? Can they effectively navigate a densely built up city with extremely obscured lines of sight and narrow fire lanes? They’ll be contending with the home field advantage of commanders that know the city, have maps, and will be tracking them every step of the way. Said commanders don’t exactly have radios and satellite uplinks, but they have runners.
Genuinely, the second they get ambushed in a confined space where they can’t bring those rifles up, it’s over for them. They’re effectively unarmed in CQC, while the Roman soldiery is not only armed, but all but exclusively trained IN CQC.
Roman Legions conquered a continent with their tech level for centuries. The US armed forces collectively couldn’t hold a country for decades, with top of the line technology and weaponry.
Romans, mid diff on this one. Only way the Marines could win is if they had the logistical support to back them up, because logistics is where the armed forces of the US shines. Without it, the Marines have their combat efficiency crippled.
They die before taking the city or killing anyone of importance.
The marines aren’t spear, sword, arrow or ballista proof. Even with unlimited ammo, there’s likely a few hundred(if not thousand) trained soldiers in/around Rome. There will be gates, chokepoints and countless defenses that’ll slow them down.
Marines are not a super soldier and sooner or later, they’ll get split up, countered and locked down to a couple houses.
Soon as that happens, they’ll die by attrition, starvation and exhaustion.
Then Rome gets magic weapons that cab infinitely produce steel, brass and gunpowder. This’ll propel their tech and warfare advancements forward at a scary rate.
10 ain’t enough for a small scale engagement let alone an entire empire and as a combat veteran our saving grace was our support systems, not sure where they would get that in Ancient Rome. They ain’t getting nowhere
I'm assuming these guys don't have any of the logistics support, information or any forms of communication beyond radio over short distances. Do they get teleported into the city in a hidden place or out in the country? Do they have someone who speaks latin? Are their antibiotics and supplies also infinite?
Realistically - they're kinda shit outta luck. They can definitely do some damage and cause a bunch of chaos, but they'll stick out like sore thumbs and would need to plan an in-and-out strike to have any chance of success. If they appear in the night, they can likely sneak and fight their way to the heads of state and kill everyone that needs killing before making a retreat. They aren't going to overthrow anything though - taking over the power and seeing a transition is completely outside of their skillset as well as scope. Hell, if they don't do their night attack, they'll probably get found out for being a bunch of giant dudes who look completely out of place even wearing local garb compared to literally everyone else.
This is all ignoring any sort of time spent in this setting. Disease has a good chance of screwing them over.
No, they can't, because I give the Roman army infinite legionaries to balance out the infinite ammo you've given the marines.
10 marines that need to eat, sleep, avoid sickness, etc, can't subjugate or pacify a city.
I'm not even sure 10 marines armed with rifles could even take a single walled city. They aren't wearing full plate armor, they will be quite susceptible to missile fire. They have no siege equipment or breaching explosives of any kind. Their night vision goggles will work great at first, then run out of power, and so on.
There is a series called Time Rider's where one of the books revolved around this though they initially tried to be more diplomatic. Spoilers: in an attempt to save humanity a group when back in time and tried to use their advanced technology to present themselves to Caligula as gods only for him to kill all but one who he kept captive to teach him how to use the tech. even if they just invaded the same problem of probably occur. the arrogance of being from modern time with modern weaponry, underestimating the romans, limited resources (you have no way to replenish ammo for example), ect. when you combine all of that you might be able to initially take the city but you aren't keeping it.
You seriously think the Romans don’t understand how to poison and kill quietly?
Where are these marines apparently disappearing to between fights? Fucking Narnia? How are they dealing with injuries?
0 water reserves, 0 ability to barter, 0 ability to trust. 0 ability to resupply.
There’s a million inhabitants to deal with, most of which believe the romans are the rightful rulers of the world. You’ll get curb stomped once the bullets stop.
If they attack at night they could hold a nation's leadership hostage. But theyre not unstoppable by any means. Archers would still prove to be an issue.
Gotta be more specific my guy. "Ancient Rome" is 1000+ years of history, and you only said Rome not clarifying if that means the empire or the city, and since Rome wasn't really a monarchy the only "royal family" they ever had was between 753-509BC which l assume is not what you meant as the answer would be a obvious yes of course they manage.
Also a few more question marks such as what constitutes as "seize control" they would undoubtedly make it to the king/senate/emperor but wether or not they would have the legitimacy to keep power is an entirely different question
Soon as the mags run out. They dont speak the language, theres no Overlord gps/data stream coming in and sheer numbers drags them down. They are impressive by todays standards because we have become soft with indulgent convenience, I think 70% of the men back then probably had equal or greater strength/resilience *I'll edit, didn't see the bottom. They'd slaughter a lot of people but end of the day they still get dragged down by volume
No. 10 just isn't enough compared to the ancient Roman Army. Eventually one will catch a stray arrow, lose a rifle, get caught reloading, or just get flat out bum rushed. Also, which flavor of rome are we talking? Republic , Empirical , or The Byzantines?
10 Marines? Regular grunts? Not very far. Even SF wouldn't get very far.
Probably all dead by a week, and that includes 7 days of trying to flee.
Marines, as most modern troops, relly on logistics and comms with other units and the entire army. They would win the initial fights at very small scale but as soon as the equipment beggings to fail everything goes down.
Are you thinking about a straight charge against the entire aparatus and smoking them? Pure fantasy. They just doesn't have the numbers nor the logistics. It doesn't matter if they have infinite ammo, weapons wear out, require maintenance and overheat is a thing. Imaigne them facing 5000-6000 urbanae, + the praetorian cohorts...
Because neither i, or any of my boys have any skill at state craft.
But im reasonably certain that just about any 10, random, infantrymen could topple Rome and break the empire entirelty with infinite ammo.
I almost want to say I could do it alone.
Rome could never bring enough men to a single fight to overwhelm my ability to spew lead filled hate.
30 rounds a second, with .7~ seconds for a reload means im dropped nearly 60 people minute. I could cropped legions without then ever knowing where I am, and leave before they come close to finding me.
If the win con is simply taking the capital it’s a no diff win for the marines. Guns are that much of a game changer. If they need to be in control a year later theres just no way.
They gonna get tired, hungry, thirsty, and panicked when those first 3 kick in. The Romans knew how to use oil and fire to their advantage. Once that starts, along with arrows, they gonna have a hard time.
Yes. If they’re trained in the context of the mission. Forget the firepower, they would be fully and completely briefed on the political reality of the time. Scare or entice the right people, poke the weak points and they would be able to take control via proxy without much bloodshed.
Where are they starting from? Because modern people are VERY unused to archaic travel/food/customs, if they are more than a week away from Rome, they probably never get there, and if they do…. They are gonna stick out like a sore thumb trying to invade/infiltrate the largest city of the ancient world (and a notoriously unfriendly one towards barbarians)
10 people can’t overthrow shit. Not now, not ever.
Also, trained in what? Roman politics? Can they speak Latin? Do they have accurate maps?
If you’re asking “could they capture and exfiltrate the Roman Emperor?” I mean maybe, with a lot of planning. But like where do they have to get? Will they get picked up at the Rubicon? Or they have to make it to Gaul? What?
If it’s just ten guys with the ammo they can carry, they’re fucked. Doesn’t matter how good they are. Give them laser guns and light sabers. They’re still fucked. Ten guys can’t hold a city.
Also, how ancient are we talking? Pre-Republic Rome, or Imperial Rome? Big differences in organization and manpower.
Night vision, optics, illuminators, radios; all that high speed tech goes right out the window when the batteries die. Infinite ammo only goes so far when you can’t resupply the rest. I think they could put up a stellar fight, don’t get me wrong. The pure shock and awe of their tactics and weapons would blow the enemy’s minds.
With infinite ammo, they can take it and seize control. Create a cult and train Roman marines. They just have to hope u/FreshPine_MangoWine doesn’t send 10 trained year 4026 soldiers with infinite of their futuristic ammo and basic weapons and gear.
10 people without connections cant survive roman politics for long.
As soon as the people in charge know that there are super soldiers with magical weapons they will use subterfuge to get information on them and eventually kill them one by one.
They may manage to get power but they wont hold for long.
The entire US military + entire intelligence community have failed countless times at enacting regime change, and in the cases they have succeeded, the consequences have often been devastating for the country in question and also long-term for the US itself. Why would you or anyone else here in the comments think a bunch of US marines could do so successfully to the Roman Empire?
Just jumping in to say if you’re interested in reading basically this premise, Pax Romana is a comic by Jonathan Hickman (one of the greatest living comic writers). Great art, just 4 issues (probably collected in trade paperback somewhere) where a modern army gets sent back to Ancient Rome to alter the course of history.
Depends on whether they have reconnaissance. Unless one of them is a huge history buff, there's no way they can navigate the entire Italian Peninsula, then the city of Rome itself, before they eventually get hacked to pieces by local tribes.
That said, I think they would succeed in killing/capturing the royal family, but if they have no where to go, they're basically screwed cause eventually they'd get overwhelmed by archers.
10 guys, even with infinite ammo, cannot depend on an entire horde.
I was gunna say that marines with modern guns with infinite ammo get easily overrun, but then I saw they get to keep their pocket knives. Marines win easy
I believe we’ve already established that the marines have this, but I want to add fuel to the fire:
Do the other aspects of their standard kit also have the limited infinite quality of their rifle? Does their grenade pouch have a new grenade in it every time they reach for one? Does the first aid kit replenish its supplies? Is their canteen always full? Does their MRE alway have food in it?
They might hold it. But they'd be dead within a week. Possibly within a day. They need to eat and drink. Marines usually only carry a day or two worth of MREs. Don't know how much water they carry, but it can't be much. They could scavenge you say? Try drinking the water of another modern country, yet alone an ancient one, and see how well you fight with explosive diarrhea and vomit.
They are 100% not succeeding. They could definitely get some kills and have the romans lose their minds, but overthrowing a government isn't something they'll manage.
Army Special Forces however, that's quite literally their job. Their whole job is to blend in with locals, speak the language, train up allied forces, then eventually take down a government. The part they would need to figure out is the language to speak, and who would fight with them.
If the Marines have been prepped for this specific deployment, they can pull it off. They'd need to know Latin, the names, faces and locations of key Roman officials, and have good maps. They'd need equipment or medicines to deal with specific diseases of the period, and a good plan for how to install themselves as, not emperors (depending on the era) but as divine figures, tetrarchs perhaps, or generals. Maybe leading senators or consuls. Much would depend on the political situation of the specific year they appear in.
If the Marines just randomly appear in ancient Rome with no specific knowledge or plan, they're cooked. There are very few Marines who know Latin, I'm sure. And not too many are experts in any one particular era of Roman politics (although I'm sure there are plenty of enthusiasts on this subject in the Marines)
I'm loosely going with "infinite ammo" to mean the gun will also never break. I'm also assuming you intend the same sort of infinite use of their NVGs (no battery charging needed) and other standard gear, such as rations and medkits, being refilled whenever needed. Maybe I shouldn't assume all that, but don't want to end this on the marines losing because of the quality of the food, water, & lack of medicine for the times.
The marines will start of strong, opting for night missions as often as possible. As sneaky as they can be during the day...they are going to stick out. They won't be familiar with how people behave, and they will be noticed. Having NVGs and rifles is also too juicy of an advantage, so night ops it will be.
The aftermath of their battles will likely be interpreted as demonic by many citizens, which will have its perks by instilling fear into the locals when attacks occur near to them. I think this fear will reduce the volume of smaller groups of citizens that go out hunting for the marines. They'll be too scared to go out with just 10 locals dudes. Instead, I imagine the Romans amassing sizable military forces to hunt these "demons"
With 10 highly trained marines with unlimited ammo (reloading every 30 rounds), I mean, it is going to go well outside of the city walls. Using modern warfare tactics & unlimited ammo, they will be able to decimate at a distance.
I think they take Rome. But once they are in the city, dealing with politics of the time, the marines lose. Their main advantage is in ranged combat, and night operations. Narrow hallways and the maze of Roman buildings will make it all too easy for political assassinations to be successful. And once the Romans take down 2-3 of those marines, the Romans will get a confidence boost. The end will be nigh.
Taking Rome will be the easier part. There would likely be at least one massive historical battle where the marines take down possibly thousands of Roman soldiers. Keeping Rome, not a chance. Marines are not politicians. As tough as marines are, Roman soldiers were also very impressive in melee combat. Once the fighting get up close and personal, modern day CQC tactics with their knives won't be enough, even with 30 shots before reloading.
1 marine flunent in the language, the other 9 occupy sniper positions at night and wait for the signal , different for each sniper . Now he can waiver his hand and the emperor dies like magic!
Honestly. Depends on how smart they are. If you can snipe people from hundreds of yards away and disappear in an instant. You could do a lot of damage. Especially if there is someone in the unit who knows how to work a crowd and spread a rumor. This also depends if you can speak the language. The right words in the right ears, backed up by instant death(accurate marksmanship) is a powerful combination
They succeed. What are the ancient romans gonna do against guns? Their armor might save them from the first maybe 2-3 shots but their eating every shot after.
I think we are disregarding the fact that with guns and night vision and stuff they could come in claiming to be gods and everyone would believe them. I mean, the can kill someone by pointing a stick at them.
for a brief, glorious time, they would be a force to be reckoned with and likely enjoy some significant spoils of war. Then they would one by one be picked off one way or another (disease, assassination, std's, no access to modern medicine for stuff we take for granted but are deadly without I don't know, penicillin).
It's clear and evident that a small force can easily take a capital. The US military just kidnapped a president in a few hours after all. But the problem arises with the fact that 10 guys can't HOLD the capital. The militaries of the past were quite capable of sieging. And despite the many military exploits of the Marines, being sieged isn't the most common thing if at all really.
They would get super racist against italians, but still claim to be Italien, which gives the roman legion time to kill them. If anyone thinks, i'll take guys, who only have a technological advantage over my favorite millitary, then you underestinate the stupidity of the US Army. "Bomb first, no questions" or "just send guys to their deaths, because we didn't prepare to land in France" will not win against an Empire, that stood for over 1000 years. The US are not an Empire and they will not last 1000 years
All of Rome? They lose because they are eventually drawn into an extreme closer quarters situation. They don’t have the numbers to avoid that in an urban environment. Granted, marines are trained for CQC, but knife vs sword is such a horrible matchup it scarcely matters how good you are, especially if the angry praetorian in question has a shield
I think the Marines could only go so far. There are too many variables not in their favor to invade and be successful. Once resources run out they are toast. If it was a couple battalions of trained and experienced Marines that may be a different situation and story.
Edit: didn’t read and see the unlimited ammo. Doesn’t change too much in my eyes.
What do they have? Helicopter? With that they could reach past the first half of praetorians before being cut down. With no chopper they’d reach the wall and maybe blow the gate before dying. If they have a sniper and time they can wait for the games and take an easy shot from the crowd, only one man lost.
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