Ranks of the Roman army

Monarchy

August 1st

Republic

After the marianic Reform, the ranks in the Roman Armée are the following

General officers

  • Imperator : victorious general. Titrate granted by acclamations by the army to its chief.

The command of the Roman army is generally entrusted to a Consul, the high-ranking magistrate of the town of Rome.

  • Legatus (Legalization) assistant of the commander of the army, it can be deputy with the command of the cavalry, the reserves or even of a legion.

Legions

  • Tribuni militum (military powerful orators) senior officers who order by bearing a legion. One distinguishes several types of powerful orators:
    • Tribuni militum rufuli powerful orators named by the general and not elected by the Comices.
    • Tribuni militum has rabble powerful orators elected by the comices among young people of the equestrian Ordre.

  • Centuriones (Centurion S) officers sulbalternes ordering a Centurie. They are treated on a hierarchical basis by their place in each Cohorte:

    • Primus pilus (Primipile), first centurion of the first troop
In each troop the centurions are subordinates:
    • Pilu prior ordering the 1st centurie
    • Princep prior ordering the 2nd centurie
    • Hastatu prior ordering the 3rd centurie
    • Pilu posterior ordering the 4th centurie
    • Princep posterior ordering the 5th centurie
    • Hastatu posterior ordering the 6th centurie

  • Principal equivalent of the warrant officers:

    • Optio equivalent of the adjudants
    • Signiferi flag-holder
    • Tesserarius quartermaster-sergeant
    • Campidoctores instructors
    • Pecuarii appointed to the subsistence
    • Architects
    • Army medical officers
    • Band master
    • Musicians

  • Militia caligata troops, individually called miles .

    • Immune soldiers free from any drudgery
    • Munifice soldiers subjected to the drudgery

Wings of cavalries

  • Præfecti (Prefect S) ordering a Tourme cavalry.

  • Decuriones (Décurion S) ordering a Décurie group of ten riders.

  • riding Equities .

Navy

The Triérarque with a rank probably lower than that of the centurion of legion

Artillery

The Praefectus fabrum directed artillery and military engineering.

Honorary rank

Worsen

During the Lower Empire the army is divided by Constantin (306-337) into two principal groups: the limitanei (guards border) and the comitatenses (troops of mobile elites charged with the military campaigns). The ranks of the late Roman chiefs are: the dux , the comes (count), the magister peditum (which orders the infantry), the magister equitum (charged to direct the cavalry), the magister militum (main of the soldiers) which is in fact the généralissime.

During the deliquescence of the Western Empire, the magister militum is in fact the strong man of the empire, the true chief of all the Roman forces. Most famous of them is Flavius Aetius, with which one owes the victory over Huns of Attila with the fields Catalauniques (June 451). The soldiers of the row are graded according to their seniority, most favoured being exempted drudgeries and other heavy work. According to their row, they receive more important rations. Concurrently to that, it is capital of speaking about the foederati , cruel conquerors romanized who in exchange of grounds and money, are installed in the Empire by whole people. They keep their weapons and their military apparatus of origin and is not always highly reliable. Many wars oppose last “Roman truths” to these often avid of new territories and very inclined back-up troops to violate treaties which the Roman central capacity does not manage any more to make respect.

Sources

  • Georges Hacquard, J. Dautry and O. Maisani, ancient Roman Guide , Hatchet education, coll “Roma”, 1952.

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