10-23-2013, 05:18 PM
To me, messing around with the 'Centurions Mess' would be analogous today with trying to re-organise the WO's & Sgts Mess! Dangerous stuff. :wink:
For that reason, and with, afaik no particular sources that really suggest otherwise (that I have seen so far, but it's not an area I've particularly studied) I would be more inclined to suggest that there were 60 centurions in a 'full' legion at all times.
In the Polybian construct they seem to be clear - each segment/maniple (including the Triarii) has its pair of centurions and their ranks are most likely synonymous with the ranks quoted 300+years later in the Imperial construct; with the change from triarii to pilus happening when the cohort structure was permanently established.
When the legion was supplemented in the post-Augustan period and the first cohort enlarged, however, I strongly suspect this is why the 10-century construct of the First Cohort became commanded by the slightly different ranks seen in the primi ordines (ordo itself referring to the century-pairing). At this point the '60th Centurion' became the Praefectus Castrorum.
This is by far the simplest interpretation and is a change that slightly awards the senior centurions of a legion, whilst not messing around with the careers of the majority and promises that the most senior even has a new 'higher' step possible; let alone providing an experienced military specialist of Equestrian status to advise the legion's commander.
It's the work of a clever and experienced military administrator - and I think both Augustus or Tiberius could fit that bill.
For that reason, and with, afaik no particular sources that really suggest otherwise (that I have seen so far, but it's not an area I've particularly studied) I would be more inclined to suggest that there were 60 centurions in a 'full' legion at all times.
In the Polybian construct they seem to be clear - each segment/maniple (including the Triarii) has its pair of centurions and their ranks are most likely synonymous with the ranks quoted 300+years later in the Imperial construct; with the change from triarii to pilus happening when the cohort structure was permanently established.
When the legion was supplemented in the post-Augustan period and the first cohort enlarged, however, I strongly suspect this is why the 10-century construct of the First Cohort became commanded by the slightly different ranks seen in the primi ordines (ordo itself referring to the century-pairing). At this point the '60th Centurion' became the Praefectus Castrorum.
This is by far the simplest interpretation and is a change that slightly awards the senior centurions of a legion, whilst not messing around with the careers of the majority and promises that the most senior even has a new 'higher' step possible; let alone providing an experienced military specialist of Equestrian status to advise the legion's commander.
It's the work of a clever and experienced military administrator - and I think both Augustus or Tiberius could fit that bill.
