Centurion Rank

[Nathan Ross]

It has been though that the Ordinarius was possibly a "primus pilus" of the Centenarii.

Hmm, would that work?

Bearing in mind we're talking about late Roman ranks here (i.e. a long way from Caesar!), the two theories I've heard about the ordinarii suggest either that they were synonymous with the primi ordines of the principiate - the leading centurions of the legion (this is Mommsen's theory I think), or that the term simply means a ranking centurion commanding a century, as opposed to a centurion doing something else (which sounds vague, but that's what I recall of Frank Gilliam's Ordinarii and Ordinati essay of 1940...).

The primus pilus, however, disappeared decades before, so this doesn't help any discussions about him!