Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Duty Roster for a Century in Legio III
#1
Hi all,
Having had a look at the duty roster for a Century in Legio III, I noticed that one of the duties was ‘Boots’ ...’on detachment with Ainius for boots’, all the other duties were self explanatory, things like camp market duty, gate guard and latrines but what did boot duty entail, was it repairing boots, making boots or purchasing boots? 
Many Thanks
Dave.
Dave..Stug50
Reply
#2
(11-22-2018, 07:04 PM)Stug50 Wrote: the duty roster for a Century in Legio III

Do you mean RMR 9, for Legio III Cyrenaica in Egypt, c.AD90-97? This roster is given in full (with suggested expansions) near the bottom of this page here.

I don't think anyone really knows what 'boots' means! One entry is for 'Helius's boots' (expanded from cal hel, apparently) - Helius seems to be a centurion, judging by some of the other entries. Interestingly, Aemilius Valens has the duty 'batman to Helius' - I'd like to know what word or abbreviation is translated as 'batman'! But this suggests that 'boots' was not, as some have suggested, a sort of servant for a superior officer.

I was wondering the other day why there have been so many finds of Roman boots and shoes at Vindolanda - but then considered that each man might get through a pair a year, and with c.1000 men or so that's a lot of old pairs... So the roster entries might just mean that these men were given the task of repairing old or damaged caligae, or perhaps making new ones - think of all those hobnails that needed hammering into place!
Nathan Ross
Reply
#3
(11-22-2018, 08:34 PM)Nathan Ross Wrote:
(11-22-2018, 07:04 PM)Stug50 Wrote: the duty roster for a Century in Legio III

Do you mean RMR 9, for Legio III Cyrenaica in Egypt, c.AD90-97? This roster is given in full (with suggested expansions) near the bottom of this page here.

I don't think anyone really knows what 'boots' means! One entry is for 'Helius's boots' (expanded from cal hel, apparently) - Helius seems to be a centurion, judging by some of the other entries. Interestingly, Aemilius Valens has the duty 'batman to Helius' - I'd like to know what word or abbreviation is translated as 'batman'! But this suggests that 'boots' was not, as some have suggested, a sort of servant for a superior officer.

I was wondering the other day why there have been so many finds of Roman boots and shoes at Vindolanda - but then considered that each man might get through a pair a year, and with c.1000 men or so that's a lot of old pairs... So the roster entries might just mean that these men were given the task of repairing old or damaged caligae, or perhaps making new ones - think of all those hobnails that needed hammering into place!

Hello Nathan.
Yes the duty roster for Legio III in Cyrenaica. It’s the every day details of military life that I find facinating, there are so many similarities to life in the modern army. I’ve been lucky enough to visit most of the Roman forts here in Britain and a few of them ( Hardknott Pass) being one of my favourites are located in areas where it seems to be constantly raining, I’m surprised that boots and equipment  lasted more than a few months. Repairing and maintaining equipment was probably something that occupied a great deal of their time. I’d always believed that the men ‘depending on their rank and job’ would have probably got through several pairs of boots per year but I guess guess that all depends on the environment that they find themselves in.
If boots meant repairing boots then I’d imagine that would have been one of the least popular jobs to find yourself having to do, like you have said ‘hobnails’ what a nightmare and how boring would that have been.
Reply
#4
Repairing boots and scandals probably would have been a boring and very unpopular job in the army if there was a job such as that.
I wonder how the Legionaries assigned to such a task would have done it.
Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Legio III Italica pars inferior, Castra Regina, 5th Century Restitvtvs 35 11,375 06-02-2013, 07:13 PM
Last Post: Severinus
  Leg. III Cyrenaica Duty Roster A_Volpe 2 1,632 02-15-2006, 12:16 AM
Last Post: A_Volpe

Forum Jump: