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As everybody know, during most of the Principate, marriage was barred to active duty soldiers. Obviously there were "unofficial families" which were legalized at the moment of dicharging, granting the Roman citizenship to woman and children. Fine, up to here, but, about kids, I realized that there is a sort of "gray zone" for a few uncommon cases and I was wondering if there is any information about this. Take in account that, in all these examples, the soldier is a Roman citizen already.
1. Both man and woman are Roman citizens. Surely their offspring weren't legitimate but I don't know if this had any effect on citizenship. Even if, being Romans pretty strict about this kind of things, I'm afraid, if any, a bad one.
2. Married people joining the Army were, kind of, divorced by law. What if they had children before enrolling?
3. Our soldier isn't a rank and file but at least a NCO like a tesserarius or, better, a centurion. Any difference?
Thanks for the help in advance.
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IIRC, if your parents are not married by roman law, you are just a roman, if your mother is roman. If you are born as a roman, you will not loose your status, when your father joins the army.
I doubt couples became divorced, if the husband joins the army. Lot of centurions directly promoted ex equite romano or equites starting as prefect, were 30-40 years old. Often experienced decurions in local administration. So their children were romans and all later childrens of this marriage were romans.
If you are a non-roman soldier of an auxiliary unit, your childrens born after dismissal are romans. The children born earlier are not. Same counts for a roman legionary having "illegal" children with a pregerine woman. This caused some serious issues, e.g. these older kids could not inherit by roman law. However, you could file a motion and sometimes these older kids became citizens, too.
Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas
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According to the research done by Sarah Elise Phang, PHD and in her book The Marriage of Roman Soldiers, published in 2001, in a union that was not recognized in Roman Law, like a serving soldier's "marriage" the children's status followed that of the mother. Thus a citizen mother would have citizen children. The children born of such unions were not in their father's power, unlike children born of a legitimate marriage. If the mother was peregrine (a non-citizen) likewise the children's status followed the mother and they were also not citizens (see below with respect to a privilege that auxiliaries had, but which was subsequently taken away). Illegitimacy in Roman law was a legal disability, but not a moral one, unlike what it became later under the Christian Emperors.
Dr. Phang considered that few soldiers would have been married before entering the army due to the "Mediterranean" marriage patterns in that civilian men were not usually marrying until their late 20's at the earliest. Walter Scheidel's demographic research shows that most recruits into the legions and auxiliaries were anywhere between 17 and 25, with an average age on enlistment being 19 or 20, too young to be married ("Marriage, Families and Survival in the Roman Imperial Army: demographic aspects," Stanford University, November 2005). Thus very, very few recruits, if any, would be married prior to entering the army. That may have been an issue only in the early days of Augustus' military reforms, which are considered to have been done around 13 BC.
All of this applies to the rank and file soldiers including the principales (optio, signifer, tesserarius). Centurions may have been permitted legitimate marriage; but it is unclear. Augustus and later Emperors certainly considered them very important; their rate of pay alone indicates that. Keeping them loyal and contented may have meant allowing them to marry. Officers of Equestrian and/or Senatorial rank, whatever their titles during their military careers, were not effected by the "marriage ban". The Augustan marriage laws would have demanded they marry and produce offspring. A provincial official (civilian or military) of Equestrian or Senatorial rank could not marry a woman from the province in which he served during the period he was serving. However, once he was posted elsewhere or went onto another part of his career in Rome, he could marry the woman.
Regarding auxiliaries: They appear to have had a privilege before AD 140 denied to legionaries, in that children born while serving were recognised, made legitimate and citizens - if they married the mother - when they retired as part of the grant of conubium with the first woman they married after retirement. However, that privilege was taken away about AD 140. Dr. Phang wondered if the legionaries had petitioned for the same privilege and upon realizing the discrepancy, the Emperor (Hadrian or Antoninus Pius) took it away from the auxiliaries!
Quinton Johansen
Marcus Quintius Clavus, Optio Secundae Pili Prioris Legionis III Cyrenaicae
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Thanks both for the detailed answers!
By the way, Dr.Phang's book sounded quite interesting. so I did a quick research on Amazon. Unfortunately the cheaper copy is at 120,00€ and there is not a e-book version. Meh.
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