Centurion Rank

[Renatus]

Another way of interpreting it is to assume that Caesar is explicitly indicating the First Cohort by using the term primus. In this case, he is calling Fulginius the hastatus of the prima cohors (First Cohort), which must mean that he was hastatus prior.

That is how I interpreted it, following M.P.Speidel, 'The Centurions' Titles', Epigr. Studien 13 (1983), 43-61. If this is correct, Caesar's description of Fulginius as 'ex primo hastato' would seem to mean 'from the hastatus of the First Cohort', where hastatus signifies the century or maniple (if we can still speak of maniples), rather than the centurion himself. This slightly puzzles me. Is this a customary way of describing a senior centurion or might it suggest that, at the time of writing, Caesar did not recall whether Fulginius was hastatus prior or hastatus posterior?