【喜看】·羅馬百科 羅馬百科：羅馬軍團的軍官與軍銜（中字）

Roman legions are often seen as simply large units of soldiers with no purpose other than to kill and conquer, but this is very much untrue. They were highly organized communities of people of all sorts of skills and trades. The legions could oftentimes function independently, from winning wars in enemy territory to constructing bridges and roads, and even managing the exploitation of mines throughout ancient Europe. These are just a few examples of what these military units were able to achieve, but the credit for their success and efficiency is often misplaced. The backbone of these legions was their wide range of specialized positions, each with their own tasks, responsibilities, and ranks. As the oldest units in the Roman army, the legions had the most complicated internal organization and structure, which had evolved since republican times to consist of at least 150 unique ranks. Many of these were lost to time altogether, while others are to this day overshadowed by ones deemed more glorious in the eyes of the public. Despite being just as fundamental to the success of the Roman army, in this video we will go over these positions along with their relationship to each other in terms of rank. This will be presented from the point of view of a legionary recruit, in continuation of our previous video featuring the recruitment and training of the legions. The reason the legions had such a wide range of ranks and positions was because each senior position, from centurion all the way to the legate and even governor, had their own staff drawn from the ranks of the legion. Now let's examine this hierarchy from the eyes of a recruit, who recently completed his 4 months trial and became a legionary. If he happens to be illiterate or possesses no talent for any craft, he will be subjected to the hardships of other legionaries. This would include digging trenches, collecting wood, and other physical labors. This was the most common outcome for most soldiers upon recruitment. Professions in this category included engineers, armorers, medics, veterinarians, musicians, and more. But as you could probably guess, for an army heavily dependent on administration, literacy was the highest asset. Literate recruits could be given clerical positions, and despite still being in the immunes category, they would have the largest career growth potential. The clerical positions included but were not limited to the following. The exacti, the archivists or bookkeepers, cararii, supervisors of the wax supply needed for the clerical tablets, or the librarii, managers of records and account books. After achieving these posts, one could expect a promotion to the category of principales, which could be broken down into two sections. The sesquiplicarii, officers that received one and a half pay, and the duplicarii, those who received double pay. Keep in mind that all these positions are still under the rank of centurio, or centurion, which was considered a very respectable post and one in charge of a whole century, which in the time of the empire consisted of about 80 men. The sesquiplicarii consisted of staff that worked in each century, helping the centurion keep track of the men and equipment. These consisted of the armorum custos, the one responsible for the safeguard and maintenance of the weapons and armor of a century, and the teserarius, the one who served as chief of the watch in the century and was in charge of the camp's security. The optiones were the second in command of the centurions, performing a wide variety of tasks. During the republican times, Polybius tells us that centurions would handpick their own optio. Whether this tradition continued to the empire is unknown, but it tells us how close this rank was meant to be to the centurion. They would be the highest ranking staff under their personal command to help them lead the 80 men. The frumentarii were men tasked with the management of the grain supply lines of the legion and the dealings with local contractors. Later on, they evolved to couriers and internal surveillance officers. The beneficiarii translates to soldiers who could be trusted, and their rank was known to serve under much higher commanders, either a prefect, legate, or governor. All we know about them is that they performed a wide variety of tasks, from administration and supply to special assignments, such as the maintenance of public order in distant regions. The aquilifer was the man in charge of carrying the legion's unique eagle standard. These men too were in charge with heavy administrative duties and responsibilities. The speculatores were men who oversaw the gathering of intelligence, arrests, and executions. The commentarienses were men responsible for managing the correspondence and the resolutions adopted by the staff and the judicial secretaries of the governor. After them were the cornicolarii. These men were heads of the office and the highest ranking staff that served either tribunes, legates, or governors. There were also the optio ad spem ordinis, those who were currently an optio but soon to surely receive a promotion to centurion. We know for sure that all these categories were in this order of authority, and from examining tombstones we can see that in their careers, legionaries rarely skipped a step in this hierarchy. This means that normally, centurions were selected from the ranks of the officers receiving double pay. But what would be more interesting to know is whether there was a further hierarchy within each of these three categories. Unfortunately, very little evidence survives regarding their structure, but we do have evidence of its existence. Thankfully, the Romans not only loved to show off their last rank held on their gravestones, but also the ones they held before it. From reference to dozens of such careers, we can construct a hierarchy of all the known ranks and promotions across the 1st and 2nd centuries, in increasing order of rank and status. This gives a fairly accurate understanding of the Roman hierarchy below the centurion, as it works for all the known legionary careers. What we can take from all of this is that the ranking system of the Romans did not have a set chain of ranks one must hold in order to become a senior officer, and it seemed to always depend or vary. But we must remember that for our species, this was one of the first ever attempts at a professional ranking system, and it cannot be compared to the clear hierarchy of our militaries today. Regardless, this system was very effective for the Romans, and unlike our militaries today, the legions were also involved in complex civil affairs, like the construction of roads and amphitheaters, and the transportation of wheat throughout a province, and even serving in the office of provincial governors as we saw. In fact, from the evidence we have, the offices of the governor would consist of over a hundred staff from each legion stationed there. So the governor of Pannonia, for example, had over 200 legion staff, and those of Britain and Syria had over 300 each. The system isn't without any pattern, however, as the rank of aquilifer was only promoted from the signiferi, which indicates this was a separate branch in the army. But even so, we have found an interesting career of a soldier that in a way bypassed this. Legionary Samius Severus enlisted in the army in 37 AD, and then was promoted in the same year to aquilifer, which was very unusual as it skipped a lot of ranks. This could have been because of a very good physique and character, or perhaps a result of higher connections. He remained an aquilifer for 13 years after which he was promoted to centurion. For a further understanding of the Roman system, we can take a look at the hopes of promotion from each rank below the centurion. Shown here is the number of soldiers that held the rank at any given time, and the amount that retired with it, receiving no further promotion. This gives us some vital information regarding how likely it is for a specific post to receive a promotion or an advancement in their career. We can immediately see that the post of Tesserarius, for example, had a rather high chance of promotion, as out of the 60 men in the legion, 55 received promotions, while only 5 remained in the same rank until discharge. The rank of Signifer, on the other hand, was far more competitive, as 39 of them never advanced further. It could also be interpreted that it was already a respectable rank to hold for the common soldier, and that future promotions were rarely expected. Perhaps the highest promotion rate came from the speculatores, which guaranteed a 100% promotion in time. With this new information, we can see that the hierarchy of ranks in the legion was more complicated than it seems, as for example the ranks of Armorum Custos and Tesserarius are on the same level and had the same number of men, but the Tesserarius position seems much more favorable, as it boasts a promotion rate of up to 5 times higher. As for the amount of time each rank was held, it remains unknown, and it is likely to have also varied, although the average years of service it took to become a centurion was between 13 and 20 years from the point of view of a recruit. This tells us that the rank of centurion was very difficult to reach, and many principales never attained it in their lifetime. But we could think of several reasons why this was useful for the discipline of the legions. First of all, years of experience in various tasks is needed to effectively lead men. From keeping track of all records of the men in the unit to understanding the general strategy during a battle, the centurion had to be well learned and experienced. Secondly, the more distinguished an officer is, the more respect they command. This is very important for a centurion to ensure their men follow orders without question. Combine this with the fact that centurions also commanded from the front, often sharing the same wounds as their men, and you get highly respectable characters, after whom 80 men are likely to follow unquestionably. The third reason is that centurions were known to be called up by generals or governors for service and advice, so they also had to be very familiar working with senior officers and conducting research or presenting the overall condition of their unit. In other words, they had to be developed in all spheres, not just combat. If we take a look back at the chart, the hierarchy provided the centurion with all of these needed skills. From the higher ranks, they learned to work with senior officers and take on big responsibilities. From the middle ranks, they learned of heavy administrative functions, and even the lower ranks gave unique experience, as the rank of optio, for example, was the only rank which gave them experience in commanding and leading men. And all the categories together taught them constantly to follow orders and to follow them exceptionally, if they are to get promoted. What's interesting to me in this whole system is how future centurions were expected to go from subtle roles, like managing supply lines or admin tasks, to fighting in the front lines alongside the most fit legionaries. This tells us that the centurion was expected to be a very well-rounded soldier, one that the lower ranks would surely look up to. He had to be intelligent, physically fit, and highly capable in combat throughout his military career, which could be longer than half a lifetime. We have records of centurions like Aelius Silvanus who served as a centurion in the second legion for 61 years and died at the age of 86. This is what is meant to be a centurion in the Roman army. You had to try to be in the best shape of your life every day. It's no wonder that Julius Caesar always thought of his centurions to be the backbone of his army. In my last video, many of you showed interest in the part where I mentioned the gradual lowering of requirements to become a centurion, so I decided to expand on that here as well. Towards the 3rd century AD, we can see promotions to centurion coming from ranks as low as Beneficiari Legati and even Optio. This serves as proof of the lowering of standards for promotion to centurion in this century, and the effort of creating a well-rounded centurion seems to be left out. This was most probably due to the lack of candidates because of the crisis of the 3rd century. Towards the late Roman Empire, the requirements seemed to drop even further, and literate soldiers were in a much higher demand and could be placed in respected positions right away. Now, let's talk about the higher positions of the legion. As a recruit hailing from even the poorest of families in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd centuries, it was possible to attain the rank of centurion, but through immense displays of skill, intelligence, and character. After this, they could be given the additional honor of leading a century in the 1st cohort, which included 5 centuries of the most experienced and elite soldiers in the legion. Centuries of the 1st cohort were also double the size of the other 55 centuries in the legion, often holding around 160 men each. The centurions that led these centuries were rightly seen in a higher regard than centurions of the other cohorts. The next highest rank would be the centurion of the 2nd century of the 1st cohort. He was known as the centurio princeps, and 2nd centurion in the legion. Outranking him would be the centurion of the 1st century of the 1st cohort. He was known as the primus pilus, the 1st centurion of the legion, and he would have the most experienced legionaries under his command, as well as the aquilifer, who carried the distinctive eagle standard of the legion. These two highest centurions both had extra responsibilities on top of those of the other centurions, and their salaries would be effectively higher. The 2nd centurion was in charge of the management of orders for the whole legion, and the 1st centurion was in charge of administrative tasks relating to supplies for his unit, and after the 3rd century, for the whole legion. Both of them were assisted by large teams of immunes, who would also be of a higher status than those working under other centurions. The next rank from here is Praefectus Castrorum, the prefect of the camp, in charge of camp management and logistics. As far as we know, this was the highest position that a regular recruit could achieve in his lifetime. The higher ranks of the tribunes and legates were all reserves for people from the highest Roman families, like those part of the senate and equestrian order. Overall, the prefect of the camp would be perhaps the most experienced soldier in the legion, and his salary would correspond to this honor. This is it regarding the ranks and hierarchy of the Roman legions. Unfortunately, even the tasks and responsibilities of many of these are left unknown, but hopefully this gave you a much deeper understanding of how the legions operated, and how one could move up the ranks and advance his military career.