 They were deployed in a screen in front of the main army, covering its approach and masking its manoeuvres.Men without property, who were thereby excluded from the qualifying social classes of the "adsidui", were exempted from military service on the grounds that they were too poor to provide themselves with any arms whatsoever.However, in the most pressing circumstances, even these "proletarii" were pressed into service, though their military worth was probably questionable.