Search

…

[German version] I. Greece See Ephebeia. Campbell, J. Brian (Belfast) [German version] II. Rome "Look at the training of legions ( exercitatio legionum)  ... From this comes that courage in battle that makes them ready to face wounds". Cicero here expresses the traditional pride of Romans in their military training (Cic. Tusc. 2,37). In the early Republic rudimentary military training was probably carried on in the Campus Martius. Later, when citizens living further away from Rome were recruited, the Romans recognized the value of more systematic training for soldiers on campaigns or in the military camps. While commanding in Spain in 209 BC P…

[German version] In the Republican Period a centurio primi pili, later described as primipilus or primus pilus, was the highest ranking centurio in a Roman legion. He was in command of the outmost manipulus of the triarii or pilani…

[German version] were auxiliary cavalrymen armed with a heavy lance ( contus) about 3.5m long. They held the lance across the withers of the horse, with both hands either on top of or underneath the lance, and were thus not protected by a shield. This lance was probably adopted from the Sarmatians. From the time of Trajan or Hadrian there were separate units of C., as for example the …

[German version] [1] The term …

[German version] Under the centuriation system, which the historiographical tradition ascribed to king Servius Tullius, the Roman people were divided into classes according to the wealth of individual citizens. It was simultaneously used for political and military purposes. Each class consisted of two groups of citizens: the iuniores (men of 17-46 years), who had to perform military service and fight where and whenever it was demanded of them, whereas it was the duty of the seniores (men of 46-60 years) to defend the town itself against attacks (Pol. 6,1…

Decurio (cf. decuria;  Decurio [4] via decus(s)is f. dec- and as) in general usage refers to a member or representative of a group of ten or tenth-part group (cf. Dig. 50,16,239,5); there is no shared etymology with curialis, a word of partly similar meaning derived from co-viria. In its specialized sense decurio denotes various functionaries: [German version] [1] A member of a curia in municipia and coloniae A membe…

[German version] (κατάφρακτοι; katáphraktoi). The term kataphraktoi refers to the armoured cavalry, which was first encountered by the Romans in 190 BC, in the war against Antiochus III (Liv. 37,40,5). At Carrhae, the army of Crassus was defeated, in 53 BC, by the Parthian cavalry whose men and horses were armoured (Plut. Crassus 24f.). From AD 69 on, the Romans were confronted with the armoured cavalry of the Sarmatians on the lower Danube (Tac. Hist. 1,79). In the Roman army, the first unit of armoured cavalrymen was probably deployed by Hadrian ( ala I Gallorum et Pannoniorum catafr…

[German version] [1] Hasta, hastati In the Roman army of the middle Republic, the hasta served primarily as a thrust lance for close combat although it could also be thrown; it had a wooden shaft and an iron point. The hasta was adapted to th…

[German version] According to Polybius (Pol. 2,22,1; 2,34), the G. were a Gallic tribe, living in the Alps and along the Rhône; G. went into service as mercenaries, hence their name (Pol. 2,22,1). They took part in the Gallic invasion of Italy in 225 BC, but were beaten off, and subsequently defeated in 222 BC. …

[German version] The praetorium  was the tent of the commanding officer of a Roman army in the Republic. The term betrays the fact that the praetor was originally the supreme Roman commander. Once camp was reached on the march, the location of the praetorium …

[German version] In a military context, this term denotes a soldier who has received special training for a certain special tasks or roles. There is epigraphical evidence that among soldiers serving in a legion were some who had received special training to prepare them for service as cavalry (CIL VIII 2882 = ILS 2331), medical orderlies, architects, or to act as standard or eagle bearers ( discens aquiliferu(m) leg(ionis) III Aug(ustae), CIL VIII 2988 = ILS 2344). It is not clear whether the discentes were of the same rank and standing as the immunes, i.e. soldiers who had special resp…

[German version] From the 2nd cent. BC at the latest, Roman commanders had an elite unit composed of mounted troops and foot soldiers, its members drawn from the contingents of the Italian socii, as was the case with the   extraordinarii . Towards the end of the Republic the elite units were recruited from the   auxilia ; it is unknown whether these, too, had a particular name. Similar units appear to have existed at the beginning of the Principate. During the German campaign of Germanicus (AD 11-14), Fabricius Tuscus commanded an ala praetoria, by which is probably meant the commander'…

[German version] I. Greece In geometrical and early archaic Greece, mainly nobles and their dependents took part in wars. With the rise of the phalanx in the 7th cent. BC, the Greek polity also levied free farmers, who could provide their weapons themselves. However, details about conscription are first known from the Classical period, especially from Athens and Sparta. In Athens, all citizens - probably with the exception of the thetai until the middle of the 4th cent. BC - were liable for military service between their 18th and 59th year; of these, the first two years, perhaps already from the 5th cent. BC., completed the ephebeia. After a declaration of war by the public assembly, the strategos named by them, was responsible for conscription, by which all those liable for military service were gathered, either according to age (Aristot. Ath. Pol. 53,4; 53,7) or ἐν τοῖς μέρεσιν/ en toîs méresin, probably according to phyles (Aeschin. Leg. 168; phyle [1]). A centrally kept regist…

[German version] During the last two centuries of the Republic, Rome forcibly recruited or enlisted as mercenaries members of non-Italian peoples with particular military skills e.g. Cretan archers, slingers from the Balearics and horsemen from Numidia, Spain or Gaul. After the Battle of Actium, many of these units remained in the service of Rome either voluntarily or as bound by contract, whilst others went on to serve under their own military leaders in their native country or in its vicinity. A…

[German version] The principales of the Roman legions were soldiers who performed special duties, for this were exempted from the usual camp service and received one and a half times or double the pay of common soldiers (Veg. Mil. 2,7); the immunes on the other hand received no increased pay. The  enhanced standing of a principalis is illustrated in a letter by Iulius Appollinaris, a Roman soldier in Egypt: “I give thanks to Serapis and good fortune that while others are working hard all day cutting stones, I am now a principalis and stand around doing nothing” (PMichigan VIII 465,13; AD 107). The term principales appears in inscriptions of the praetorians and the vigiles in Rome (ILS 2078; 2160). Some of the principales performed their dut…

[German version] The manipulus (maniple) was a tactical unit of the Roman legion introduced in the 4th cent. BC (Liv. 8,8,3: et quod antea phalanges similes Macedonicis, hoc postea manipulatim structa acies coepit esse). It enabled troops to be more flexibly deployed for battle than with the phalanx. Soldiers armed with the pilum (throwing spear) were given more room. The legion was deployed for battle in three ranks ( hastati, principes, triarii ), each of the first two ranks comprising ten manipuli, each of 120 men, while the rank of the triarii comprised ten manipuli, each of 60 men. Lightly armed soldiers ( velites ) also formed part of the manipulus. Each manipulus contained two centuriae , and the longest-serving centurio commanded the whole unit. In deploying for battle, an interval was left between the manipuli, which was closed during the battle. It was thus possible to absorb a…

[German version] I. Greece Mercenaries (μισθοφόρος/ misthophóros or μισθωτός/ misthōtós, ξένος/ xénos) - soldiers who foug…

[German version] The extraordinarii were soldiers from allied Italian cities, serving in the army of early Rome as elite units of infantry and cavalry. Twelve prefects appointed by the consuls selected the best soldiers from the contingents of the alliance ─ around a third of the cavalry and a fifth of the infantry ─ in order to make up the …

[German version] In the Roman army, generally, a number of soldiers or specifically, a military unit; as the word lacked a precise definition, it could be used of either the auxilia or of the legions (Tac. Agr. 18,2; CIL III 12257: cohors Lusitanorum). Units lacking their own name were those referred to as numeri, e.g. the equites singulares Augusti (ILS 2182-2184; 2129) or the exploratores (ILS 2631; 2632; 9186; 9187). The same applied to units which had been recruited at the frontiers of the Empire: these numeri were often named after their place …

[German version] In the army of the Roman Republic an optio served under each of the two centuriones of a manipulus . The word derives from the fact that the optio was originally selected by a centurio ( optare, 'choose', 'wish for'; Festus p. 184M; cf. Veg. Mil. 2,7,4). In the Principate, an optio or optio centuriae (ILS 2116) was among the principales in the legiones, who received either pay and a half or double pay (Soldiers' pay) and performed special duties. An optio was ranked between the tesserarius and the signifer (Ensign bearer); he was …

…

( seditio militum). …

[German version] RM are first mentioned (in the form ripenses) in a decision of Constantine I in AD 325 (Cod. Theod. 7,20,4), where they are distinguished from the comitatenses , the field army. Ripenses ranked just below the comitatenses, but above the soldiers of the alae and cohorts, who made up the auxiliary troops (Auxilia). They obtained exemption from the poll tax for themselves and their wives after twenty-four years' service, but were less privileged than the comitatenses in the case of a medical discharge. It is possible that the ripenses…

[German version] General designation for the units of the late Roman army that had fixed garrisons in the border regions ( limites; see limes ) of the Roman Empire. They were under the command of a dux limitis, who was responsible for a section of the border, which often stretched over several territorial provinces. The term limitanei is first recorded in an official document in AD 363 (Cod. Theod. 12,1,56); it was used to distinguish the territorial troops from the soldiers of the field army ( comitatenses ), which was not bound to a specific territory. The cre…

[German version] With the exception of the senators and the equites, the centurio was the most important officer in the Roman army. In the 1st cent. BC, a cohort (  cohors ) contained six centuriones, each commanding a   centuria of 80 men, and bearing titles reflecting the former mode of organization by maniples: pilus prior, pilus posterior, princeps prior, princeps posterior, hastatus prior, hastatus posterior. By the Flavian period at the latest, there were only five centuriones in the first cohort, which was, however, the highest ranking cohort in the legion ( primi ordines). There were four levels of promotion below the highest ranking centurio, the …

[German version] In the 2nd cent. BC, Roman soldiers had to serve in the military for up to six years, followed by a further 16 years, during which as evocati they had to be available to be called up again. During the civil wars in the final years of the Roman Republic, military leaders frequently tried to talk experienced soldiers into returning to their units. Troops recruited in that manner were referred to as evocati. In rank, evocati stood above simple soldiers, but below the centuriones. They either formed a special unit, or they were integrated into existing units. Frequ…

I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. History With the development of the skill of driving teams of horses in the 1st half of the 2nd millennium BC, the methodological foundations of riding also were in place ( Horse III,  Horsemanship). Although there is definite evidence of mounted messengers and scouts from as early as the 14th/13th cents. BC onwards (Akkadogram LÚPETḪALLUM ‘rider’ in Hittite texts…

[German version] During early Republican times, the  allies placed units of 500 men under the command of the Roman army, which were later called cohortes and came under the command of a prefect of the relevant town. It remains unclear when the cohortes were integrated into the army as tactical units. Polybius called a cohort a unit consisting of three  maniples (Pol. 11,23; Battle of Ilipa 206 BC), but in his famous description of the Roman army, cohortes are not mentioned. Livy mentions …

[German version] A. Republic In early times, the Roman military contingent probably consisted of 3,000 soldiers in total, each of the three tribus of the royal era providing 1,000 men (Varro, Ling. 5,89) - a military force described as ‘the levy’ ( legio). The division of the Roman people into six classes of wealth, ascribed by historiographical tradition to Servius Tullius (Liv. 1,42,4-43,13; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 4,15-18) also had a military purpose: a citizen's assets dictated with which weapons he was to equip himself. Those without property ( capite censi) were excluded from military service; service in the Roman army was thus seen as a privilege as well as a duty of citizenship. The Roman army at first fought as a Greek phalanx; by the late 4th cent. BC, how…

[German version] In late antiquity, bucellarii described groups of barbarian soldiers in the service of respected warriors, who from time to time deployed them in the interest of Rome. Eventually, the term bucellarii developed a particular meaning: an armed retinue, who served large landowners as bodyguards, a practice which -- despite being banned by Leo -- was frequently encountered. Bucellarii could also be found around high-ranking officials, mostly officers; they swore an oath of allegiance to both their lord and the emperor, which seems to indicat…

[German version] Exploratores were the scouts of the Roman army. They reconnoitred the movements and deployments of the enemy as well as the terrain and positions of camps. In the early years of the Principate, soldiers selected from the   auxilia were commandeered from their units for a certain length of time to act as scouts. In the Dacian War (AD 105-106), Ti. Claudius Maximus, then serving in an ala, was selected by Trajan himself as a scout and brought the princeps the head of King Decebalus. I…

[German version] Since the Roman senate in the Republican Period was unwilling to support the soldiers after they left the army with provisions of land or money ( praemia), certain commanders took care of it on their own account. This contributed to the development of armies that owed personal allegiance to an individual leader and helped to undermine political stability, beginning with the dictatorship of Cornelius [I 90] Sulla. When the younger Augustus (C. Octavius) established himself against his adversaries in the civ…

[German version] ( cohortes praetoriae). In the Roman Republic, the cohors praetoria was a small military unit which guarded the praetorium and acted as an escort for the commander. According to Festus (Fest. 223M.), Cornelius [I 71] Scipio Africanus was the first to have selected 'the bravest' for his protection. Freed from other duties, they also drew higher pay. …

[German version] were Roman soldiers specially selected to serve as aides or orderlies to high-ranking officers (P. Oxy. 7.1022; CIL III 7334). Singulares are found serving in the officia of the praefectus praetorio , the …

[English version] Die c. waren die Einheiten, die das Feldheer des spätant. röm. Reiches ausmachten. Ihr Name leitet sich von dem comitatus ab, dem Verwaltungsapparat, der dem Princeps diente und ihn auf seinen Reisen begleitete. Die c. waren an kein bestimmtes Territorium gebunden und konnten Territorialtruppen, die ständig in bestimmten Prov. standen ( limitanei oder ripenses), zugefügt werden. Es ist wahrscheinlich, daß Diocletianus ein Feldheer aufgestellt hat, das allerdings nur eine begrenzte Größe hatte. Doch Constantinus vergrößerte die …

[English version] Nach Polybios (Pol. 2,22,1; 2,34) waren die G. ein gallischer Stamm, der in den Alpen und an der Rhône lebte; die G. verdingten sich als Söldner, worauf ihr Name zurückzuführen ist (Pol. 2,22,1). Sie nahmen an der gallischen Invasion in Italien 225 v.Chr. teil, wurden jedoch zurückgeschlagen und schließlich 222 v.Chr. erneut besiegt. …

[English version] Die e. waren Soldaten aus verbündeten ital. Städten; sie dienten im frühen röm. Heer als Eliteeinheiten von Fußtruppen und Reiterei. Zwölf von den consules ernannte Präfekten wählten die besten Soldaten aus den Kontingenten der Bundesgenossen - etwa ein Drittel der Reiterei und ein Fünftel der Fußtruppen - aus, um so die e. zu bilden (Pol. 6,26,6). Einige e. hatten die wichtige Aufgabe, die consules zu begleiten und als deren Leibwache zu fungieren. Sie nahmen allerdings auch als reguläre Truppen an Schlachten teil; so kämpften sie 209 v.Chr…

[English version] Der c. war abgesehen von den Senatoren und den equites der wichtigste Offizier in der röm. Armee. Im 1.Jh. v.Chr. gab es in einer Cohorte ( cohors ) sechs c., die jeweils eine centuria von 80 Mann befehligten und Titel trugen, die die alte Manipelordnung widerspiegelten: pilus prior, pilus posterior, princeps prior, princeps posterior, hastatus prior, hastatus posterior. Spätestens seit der flavischen Zeit befanden sich nur fünf c. in der ersten Cohorte, die jedoch die ran…

[English version] R.m. werden zuerst in einem Edikt des Constantinus I. von 325 n. Chr. (Cod. Theod. 7,20,4) erwähnt: Hier werden sie als ripenses bezeichnet und von den comitatenses , dem Feldheer, unterschieden; sie standen in der Rangordnung unmittelbar unter den comitatenses, aber über den Soldaten der alae und cohortes, der Einheiten der Auxiliartruppen ( auxilia ). Nach 24 Dienstjahren wurden die r.m. von der Kopfsteuer für die eigene Person und für ihre Ehefrau befreit, waren aber bei einer Entlassung aus gesundheitlichen Gründen weniger privilegiert als die comitatenses. E…

[English version] ( cohortes praetoriae). In der röm. Republik war die cohors praetoria ( c. p.) eine kleine mil. Einheit, die das praetorium bewachte und als Eskorte des Feldherrn fungierte. Nach Festus (Fest. 223M.) soll Cornelius [I 71] Scipio Africanus als erster zu seinem Schutz “die tapfersten Männer” ausgewählt haben, die von anderen Dienstpflichten befreit waren und einen höheren Sold bezogen. In der späten Republik besaßen mächtige Feldherren starke Leibwachen; so stellte M. Antonius [I 9] 44 v. Chr. aus seinen Veteranen eine Leibwache von 6000 Mann auf. 27 v. Chr. schuf Augustus eine stehende Truppe von P., die durch eine bessere Besoldung und kürzere Dienstzeit (schließlich 16 Jahre) Elitestatus besaßen. 14 n. Chr. existierten mindestens neun c. p. wahrscheinlich mit einer Stärke von je 500 Mann (Vespasianus 76 n. Chr.: ILS 1993). Drei dieser c. p. waren in Rom, die übrigen in Nachbarstädten stationiert; möglicherweise hatten einige ihre Basis zeitweise in Aquileia. Im Dienst trugen diese Truppen in Rom Zivilkleidung mit Seitenwaffen und Schilden; vielleicht sollte damit auf die Vorbehalte …

[English version] Der m. (Manipel) wurde als taktische Einheit der röm. Legion im 4. Jh.v.Chr. eingeführt (Liv. 8,8,3: et quod antea phalanges similes Macedonicis, hoc postea manipulatim structa acies coepit esse); auf diese Weise konnten die Truppen für die Schlacht flexibler aufgestellt werden als in der Formation der Phalanx. Die Soldaten, die mit dem pilum (Wurfspeer) ausgerüstet waren, erhielten so mehr Raum für ihre Operationen. Die Legion wurde in drei Reihen zur Schlacht aufgestellt ( hastati, principes, triarii ), wobei jede der ersten beiden Reihen aus zehn manipuli mit…

[English version] Im röm. Militärwesen allg. eine Anzahl von Soldaten oder speziell eine mil. Einheit; da dem Wort eine präzise Bed. fehlt, konnte es sowohl auf die auxilia als auch auf die Legionen angewendet werden (Tac. Agr. 18,2; CIL III 12257: cohors Lusitanorum). Gerade Einheiten, die keinen eigenen Namen trugen, wurden n. genannt, so etwa die equites singulares Augusti (ILS 2182-2184; 2129) oder die exp…

[English version] I. Griechenland s. Ephebeia Campbell, J. Brian (Belfast) …

[English version] [1] Titel im 2. Jh. Der Begriff d., der bereits in der Zeit der Republik allg. in der Bed. “Führer einer Aktion oder einer militärischen Gruppe” (vgl. etwa Cic. dom. 12: seditionis duces) erscheint, wurde im 2. Jh.n. Chr. bisweilen halboffiziell als Titel für den Befehlshaber einer für einen bestimmten Zweck aufgestellten mil. Einheit verwendet, die nicht unbedingt dem Statthalter einer Provinz unterstand. So war Ti. Claudius Candidus dux exercitus Illyrici…

…

[English version] waren mit einer schweren, etwa 3,5m langen Lanze ( contus) bewaffnete Reiter der Auxiliartruppen. Sie hielten die Lanze quer über dem Widerrist des Pferdes entweder von unten oder von oben in beiden Händen, wobei sie nicht von einem Schild geschützt waren. Diese Lanze ist wahrscheinlich von den Sarmaten übernommen worden. Seit der Zeit des Traianus oder des Hadrianus gab es eigene Einheiten der c., wie beispielsweise die ala I Ulpia contariorum milliaria. Obwohl die c. zunächst keine schwere Rüstung trugen, haben sie wohl zur Entwicklung der gepanzerten Reiterei beigetragen. Campbell, J. Brian (Belfast) Bibliography 1  J.W. Eadie, The development of Roman mailed cavalry, in: JRS 57, 1961, 167-73. …

[English version] Während der frühen Republik unterstellten die Bundesgenossen der röm. Armee 500 Mann starke Einheiten, die später cohortes genannt wurden und dem Befehl eines Praefekten aus der betreffenden Stadt unterstanden. Es bleibt unklar, wann die c. als taktische Einheit in das Heer integriert wurde. Polybios bezeichnet eine c. als eine aus drei Manipeln bestehende Einheit (Pol. 11,23; Schlacht von Ilipa 206 v.Chr.)…

( seditio militum). [English version] I. Militärdienst und Disziplin Die Disziplin der röm. Armee hat selbst Autoren wie Polybios und Flavios Iosephos [4], die nicht aus Rom stammten, beeindruckt; sie rühmten die durch eine gezielte Ausbildung erreichte Überlegenheit der röm. Soldaten, ‘die durch ihre Körperkraft und ihren Mut nahezu die gesamte Welt beherrschten’ (Ios. bell. Iud. 2,580). In der frühen Republik…

…