07-02-2012, 12:11 AM
Quite a big subject, but I'll try for a few concise answers at least 
mile:
There are some anomalies - one Trajanic officer transferred from a post as tribune to centurion, which seems like a step backwards... And from the earlier decades there are inscriptions that show a legion tribunate being held by former centurions, after the primipilate. Vettius Valens, Neronian, could have been one of the last known of these men. (Incidentally, the command of legions in Egypt seems to have been the preserve of primipilaris ex centurions, rather than the equestrian officers of the tres militiae)
Why an equestrian would chose to serve as an auxiliary prefect rather than a centurion is, I think, unknown - the future emperor Pertinax tried for a centurion position, but had to settle for cohort prefect. We do know that a centurion (at least, a directly-commissioned one) and a cohort prefect were pretty much on par in terms of seniority, prestige and pay.
So, yes, there were some very young prefects (and some equally young centurions too!). The youngest recorded is Saturius Secundus, son of a Primus Pilus, who died in command of Coh II Asturum aged only 19 (CIL 11, 01437). Several other men died as young prefects: Tiberius Claudius Antoninus (CIL 14, 00162), or Exomnius Mansuetus (AE 1988, 00854), both aged 21, for example. Two men (CIL 06, 01615 and CIL 14, 02429) died aged 24 while applying for or having just been accepted for equestrian military service.
These might seem very young men to be given independent command - but we should remember that Roman equestrians had been bred to command from birth, and may have undergone a sort of military training, albeit more like team sport, in their earlier youth.
But not all equestrian officers started so young. Quintus Atilianus (AE 1979, 00684) died at 31, while Julia Lucilla's husband (CIL 07, 01054) died as tribune of a milliary cohort in Britain aged 48, suggesting he started his tres militiae quite late. Many of these older men probably came to military service after a civil career in provincial or municipal government.
The recorded ages of Military Tribunes jumps considerably - the youngest I could find are C Julius Pudens, who died aged 30 in his second tribunate (CIL 03, 06758), and Titius Proculus (AE 2003, 01530), also 30 and previously a cohort prefect. It's hard to judge with the higher age group whether the man in question was still in active service at the time of death or not - a number of retirees probably distorts the statistics - but there are a couple of tribunes who fell in battle aged around 40, and the oldest recorded legion tribune died aged 53.
As the praefectus alae was the top rung of the officer career (exceeded only by the later militiae quarta, command of a milliary ala), ages at death of recorded cavalry prefects don't tell us much, and none I could find appear to have fallen in battle. Aside from one (Augustan?) 19-year old, cavalry prefects are men in their late thirties right up until their late sixties. This does at least suggest that it was possible for the able or well connected to rise right through the tres militiae before the age of forty, while latecomers could linger on in their (presumably not very strenuous) positions for considerably longer!
- Nathan
mile: Quote:A Patrician... would gain a position as the Tribunus Laticlavii in a legion... A Plebeian would join as a soldier and, if suitable and with some education, could hope to advance into the CenturionateAfter the middle Republic, patrician and plebian were rather arcane distinctions. The big divide was between the aristocracy (senators and equestrians) and everyone else. Senators served as laticlavius tribunes and legates, equestrians as officers in the tres militiae or as directly-commissioned centurions.
Quote:My overall question is simple - is it credible that a young man of perhaps 20 years of age, with no experience whatsoever, be assigned independent unit command?It may seem incredible to us - but it did indeed happen! The tres militiae was established, probably, by Claudius, and its course is described in a large number of career inscriptions. There were some differences at first - the military tribunate was held after the cavalry position - but by Nero or thereabouts the progressions was set in stone, so to speak: first cohort prefect, then legion tribune, then cavalry prefect.
There are some anomalies - one Trajanic officer transferred from a post as tribune to centurion, which seems like a step backwards... And from the earlier decades there are inscriptions that show a legion tribunate being held by former centurions, after the primipilate. Vettius Valens, Neronian, could have been one of the last known of these men. (Incidentally, the command of legions in Egypt seems to have been the preserve of primipilaris ex centurions, rather than the equestrian officers of the tres militiae)
Why an equestrian would chose to serve as an auxiliary prefect rather than a centurion is, I think, unknown - the future emperor Pertinax tried for a centurion position, but had to settle for cohort prefect. We do know that a centurion (at least, a directly-commissioned one) and a cohort prefect were pretty much on par in terms of seniority, prestige and pay.
So, yes, there were some very young prefects (and some equally young centurions too!). The youngest recorded is Saturius Secundus, son of a Primus Pilus, who died in command of Coh II Asturum aged only 19 (CIL 11, 01437). Several other men died as young prefects: Tiberius Claudius Antoninus (CIL 14, 00162), or Exomnius Mansuetus (AE 1988, 00854), both aged 21, for example. Two men (CIL 06, 01615 and CIL 14, 02429) died aged 24 while applying for or having just been accepted for equestrian military service.
These might seem very young men to be given independent command - but we should remember that Roman equestrians had been bred to command from birth, and may have undergone a sort of military training, albeit more like team sport, in their earlier youth.
But not all equestrian officers started so young. Quintus Atilianus (AE 1979, 00684) died at 31, while Julia Lucilla's husband (CIL 07, 01054) died as tribune of a milliary cohort in Britain aged 48, suggesting he started his tres militiae quite late. Many of these older men probably came to military service after a civil career in provincial or municipal government.
The recorded ages of Military Tribunes jumps considerably - the youngest I could find are C Julius Pudens, who died aged 30 in his second tribunate (CIL 03, 06758), and Titius Proculus (AE 2003, 01530), also 30 and previously a cohort prefect. It's hard to judge with the higher age group whether the man in question was still in active service at the time of death or not - a number of retirees probably distorts the statistics - but there are a couple of tribunes who fell in battle aged around 40, and the oldest recorded legion tribune died aged 53.
As the praefectus alae was the top rung of the officer career (exceeded only by the later militiae quarta, command of a milliary ala), ages at death of recorded cavalry prefects don't tell us much, and none I could find appear to have fallen in battle. Aside from one (Augustan?) 19-year old, cavalry prefects are men in their late thirties right up until their late sixties. This does at least suggest that it was possible for the able or well connected to rise right through the tres militiae before the age of forty, while latecomers could linger on in their (presumably not very strenuous) positions for considerably longer!
- Nathan
Nathan Ross
