Army of the Early Roman Empire Quiz

Answer: Legatus legionis

The legion under the empire was commanded by a legatus legionis. Under the Republic a legate could be of almost any age, background or seniority. But under the more nepotistic system of the empire, most appointees had already worked their way through the Roman magisterial ranks and had been praetors (senior magistrates).

This kind of background became the norm, thus making the legateship of a legion a definite step forward in the Roman hierarchy. The post of legate was held for about three years and generally led, at the end of tenure, to the governorship of a small province.

Answer: A senior tribune

The rank immediately below that of the legate was that of the military tribune. There would be six tribunes assigned to the legate, but only one of these, the tribunas laticlavius, would be recognised as second in command. The tribunus laticlavius would be of senatorial rank (toga with broad stripe) and the other five tribunes would be equestrians and known as tribuni angusticlavii (narrow stripe tribunes). The senatorial tribune would normally be in his late teens or early twenties and setting out on his first taste of military life.

He would be constantly under the grooming eye of the legate and, despite his youth and inexperience, he would rank next to the legate in the chain of command by virtue of his noble birth.

Answer: False

The military prefect 'praefectus castrorum' (a post unheard of in the army of the Republic) was an important man in the legion and in fact held responsibilities second only to the legate himself. As the name praefectus castrorum implies, he had general charge of the camp and such an individual would have to have a complete knowledge of the legion and all its functions. Often he would be a former chief centurion (primi pili) and by the time of the Julio-Claudians the post was invariably awarded to a 'primus pilus'.

This was normally, but not always, the newly promoted former centurion's last post before retirement.

Answer: They held no definite military command

In so far as can be ascertained, the tribunes (tribuni angusticlavii) held no definite command but acted in an administrative and advisory capacity to the legate. That is not to say that the legate would not at some time designate a tribune for a command role, simply that the tribune had no defined command role, such as, say, commander of an individual cohort, within the legion.

Answer: First century of the first cohort

The post of chief centurion (primus pilus) was one that that all centurions aspired to; for a Roman soldier it was the pinnacle of achievement. All centurions would have worked with devilish fury to reach the 'first cohort' of the legion (the primi ordines), and once within it to attain the rank of chief centurion.

The first century of the first cohort invariably had almost double the strength of an ordinary century, giving it the numerical strength of a maniple (180-200). The primus pilus also had charge of the legion's eagle.

However, this rank only had a tenure of one year. When his term as primus pilus expired the holder of that post could, if he did not wish to retire, return to the legion as an centurion. However, the post of primus pilus automatically elevated the holder (under the empire) into the Equestrian Order and, for the most able candidates, the post of praefectus castrorum (prefect) was open.

The most able and efficient of these men were able to advance as far as the tribunate and possibly to a procuratorship.

Answer: False

Although most centurions were enlisted men, a small number were directly commissioned 'ex equite Romano' (from among men of equestrian status). The fact that men from such a background even considered the post shows how highly it was regarded, and it is likely that they would be intended as fast-stream entrants headed for rapid promotion, perhaps rather like a University graduate entering a modern police force.

Answer: alae

As the infantry, both legionary and auxiliary, were organised into cohorts, so the cavalry were organised into 'alae'. In the days of the Republic the term alae had applied to both infantry and cavalry but under the empire it was restricted purely to cavalry.

Originally numbering between 480-500 it had evolved from the time of Nero into 'alae milliariae' (thousand strong) and contained between 800 and 1,000 soldiers.

Answer: The Praetorian Guard

The foremost military force in Rome was the Praetorian Guard. Augustus set its numbers at at nine cohorts, each of 500 men. Its duties were the protection of the emperor - one cohort at a time stood guard at the palace. The Guard would be commanded by an equestrian prefect, sometimes two (as under Augustus) and the post could be extremely influential, as demonstrated by Aelius Sejanus who, as sole prefect in 23 AD, persuaded emperor Tiberius to authorize the concentration of the Praetorian cohorts in a new camp in the eastern section of the city; it is quite likely that Sejanus was also responsible for increasing the Guard numbers from nine to twelve cohorts. Under the emperor Vitellius (AD69) the number of cohorts was raised to 16 and the strength of each cohort to 1,000 men.

It would seem that Vespasian (precise information not available) reduced the number of cohorts to nine, the original number, whilst keeping the strength at 1,000 men. Later in the first century, Domitian brought the number of cohorts up to ten. From here on in the Praetorian guard resembled a legion in its organisation, but with much more power (twice the numbers).

Answer: Civilian dress

Various movies have portrayed the Praetorians stomping about the imperial palace in full armour, polished breastplate, greaves and shiny horsehair plumed helmets, but such was not the case in reality. The cohort guarding the palace, and therefore the emperor, carried weapons but were dressed in civilian clothes.

Answer: 17 years of age

The lower legal age limit for entry into the legions was 17 years of age. It is known, though, that younger men, perhaps in a time of crisis, or deceiving the recruiting officer about their true age, managed to join the legions. It was a dangerous life and only about half (50%) of recruits survived their 25 or more years of service to final discharge.
Those soldiers that did survive generally preferred to stay in the province in which they had been stationed and had come to know well, sometimes having established families and even business connections there.
Sometimes the emperors established 'veteran colonies' in the provinces and a discharged soldier could accept a plot of land in lieu of his gratuity.