08-07-2014, 09:52 AM
Quote:I have an ordinarii as a senior decani
I don't think there's much doubt that the ordinarius was a centurion - the phrase centurio ordinarius is relatively common in inscriptions, usually with the "7" centurial sign but sometimes with the word spelled out. The question is what sort of centurion this was.
The only non-centurion ordinarius I can find appears in the very long list of men of 5th Cohort of Vigiles dating to the Severan era. A ordinario praefecti - presumably a kind of aide or servant to the prefects? This might at least suggest that the word ordinarius did not necessarily refer to a centurion at this date, and the usage started later in the third century. Are there others?
Nathan Ross
