Structure of the Imperial Roman Army

"The greatest military machine in the history of the universe."

"What is? The daleks?"

"No, no no no no no. The Romans!"

-The Doctor and Amy Pond, ¨The Pandorica Opens,¨ Doctor Who


     For this project, I researched the structure of the jobs in a Roman legion. My product can be found here. As well as the legions, which were composed of Roman citizens, the Roman army included auxiliary troops from the empire's various territories. A legion was structured into ten cohorts, each of which consisted of five or six centuries. A century contained either 80 or 160 men. The commanding officer of a century was known as a centurion. Although life in the army was hard and the death rate was moderately high, there was rarely a shortage of men willing to enlist. The prospect of earning wages was appealing to poor citizens who had grown up on farms that produced only enough to feed one family. Additionally, soldiers who completed their service would receive generous payment in money and land, and there was always a possibility of a promotion, bringing increased money and honor.


     For an ordinary soldier though, the chances of promotion were slim. The ranks to which he might advance included cornicen, signifer, tesserarius, optio, and centurion. One of each of these posts was available per century. For information on these positions, go here. There was also a system of rank in place among the centurions. Every centurion of the first cohort, and the first centurion of the second through tenth cohorts, held the position of primi ordines. They functioned as commanding officers for their cohort, in addition to their own centuries. The first centurion of the first cohort was known as the primus pilus, and was the most senior centurion in the legion. After serving for one year, he would join the class of Roman knights, a huge step upward in the social system. He would usually go on to be a praefectus castrorum, the commander of the camp, the highest position a commoner could attain in the legion.

This reenactment shows a century, including a cornicen and a signifer at the front

     The career of one who was already a knight upon joining the army would be utterly different. A young man would spend a few years as a tribunus, one of the legion's six staff officers, as a step in his political career. If he was a member of the senatorial class, he would hold the title of tribunus laticlavius, the tribune with the broad stripe. After he became a senator himself, he might return as legatus, the commanding officer of the entire legion. Although the legatus was in charge of the legion with the tribunus laticlavius as his nominal second-in-command, they both had to rely heavily on the praefectus castrorum, the member of the legion with the most actual military experience.


Bibliography:

     "Imperial Roman Army." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 22 Dec. 2014.

     Lawson, Russell M. "The Roman Marching Camp." Calliope 8.4 (1997): 30. MasterFILE Premier. Print. 22 Dec. 2014.

     McGill, Sara Ann. "Roman Imperial Military." Roman Imperial Military (2009): 1-2. History Reference Center. Print. 22 Dec. 2014.

    "Roman Social Class and Public Display." Roman Social Class and Public Display. 1 Jan. 2009. Web. 22 Dec. 2014.

     "Structure of the Legion." Structure of the Legion | Strategy & Tactics | The Roman Military. Web. 22 Dec. 2014.