organisation and command of the military

• Legion


  The basic unit of the Roman army, in the Imperial Period there were 30 legions, stationed throughout the Empire. A legion was made up of 10 cohorts.
• Cohort


  Made up of 480 men (6 centuries)
• Century


  Made up of 80 men (10 contubernia) and was led by a centurion
• Contubernium


  The smallest unit of the Roman legion, comprising 8 men who fought together, lived together in the same barracks and cooked meals for one another
• Positions of responsibility in the legion

  • Legatus - commander of the whole legion
  • Tribunes - Junior managers
  • Tesserarius - Commander of the watch
  • Centurion - Commander of the century
  • Optio - The centurion's second in command
  • Primi ordines - The centurions of the First Cohort
• Support roles in the legion

  • Cornicen - a horn player
  • Signifer - standard bearer
  • Aquilifer - carried the legion's emblem
  • Equites legionis - the cavalry unit
• The kings were also religious leaders, responsible for performing rituals and sacrifices for the gods, like priests
• Spartan kings

  Did not have absolute authority, the council of elders (gerousia) had greater authority on more matters than the kings, there was also a group of men called ephors who would scrutinise the performance of the kings
• On campaign, the kings

  Would lead from the frontlines, shoulder to shoulder with their men, if they died in battle, they would be honoured a hero, and a senior officer known as a taxiarch would take over
• Princes

  Were exempt from the agoge, we don't know much about their education or training
• Sparta always had two kings, one each from the ruling dynasties: the Eurypontids and the Agliads
• These ruling families were thought to be descended from Herakles, the Greek hero famous for his superhuman strength, who became the god of the gymnasium
• Perioikoi


  Non-Spartans who had been subjugated by Sparta, but allowed to live in their own small self-governed communities, in peacetime they were craftsmen, fishermen and hunters, in war they could be called upon to act as an auxiliary army
• Helots


  The enslaved serf class of Spartan society, in peacetime they were the source of Sparta's manual labour, on campaign they would serve as cooks, equipment carriers and message runners, they could also fight as lightly armoured troops
• Motivation for the Helots


  Fear - the krypteia had terrorized the helot communities, chance to escape their lives - Sparta had a custom of rewarding helots who showed particular bravery in battle with freedom
• Helots who had been judged by the Spartans to be superior in bravery, set wreathes upon their heads in token of their freedom from slavery, and visited the temples of the gods in procession. But a little while afterwards all disappeared, more than two thousand of them, in such a way that no man was able to say how they came to their deaths
• Support Roles in the Spartan Army


  • Soothsayers
  • Surgeons
  • Flute players
• Athenian army


  Divided into 10 regiments, one from each of the 10 tribes, each tribe elected a strategios (general) to lead their regiment, the 10 strategoi would meet to discuss military strategy
• Strategoi


  Elected each year, if a man did a good job, he could be re-elected, it is unlikely that a man who proved himself to be ineffective would be chosen for a second year
• Taxiarch


  Second-in-command in each Athenian regiment, ensuring that commands from the top were carried out
• Trierarch


  Commander of each Athenian trireme, responsible for the upkeep of the ship and the pay of the rowers
• Roman legion


  Divided into 10 cohorts, in the Imperial Period there were 30 legions, stationed throughout the Empire, legions would have numbers and nicknames
• Cohort


  Comprised six centuries, a century contained 80 men (NOT 100!) led by a centurion, a contubernium was make of 8 men who lived together
• First Cohort


  Larger and made of the most experienced soldiers, membership was an honour, rewarded with higher pay and better lodgings
• Legatus


  In charge of the Roman legion, appointed by the Emperor, usually a career politician (senator) in his mid thirties, NOT a career soldier
• Camp Prefect


  Second-in-command and right-hand man of the legatus, a career soldier who worked his way up the ladder
• Centurions


  Each century was led by a centurion, their pay was much higher than for an ordinary legionary soldier, and they had more comfortable living quarters, this position was a reward for those who had served well
• Primi ordines


  Centurions of the First Cohort, the most senior of these was called the primus pilus, a very senior position who would join the legatus and camp prefect in war councils
• Optio


  The centurion's second in command
• Support Roles in the Roman Legion


  • Watch commander (tesserarius)
  • Those with special skills (immunes)
  • Cornicen - horn player
  • Signifer - standard bearer
  • Aquilifer - carried the legion's emblem
• Tribunus laticlavius


  A man from a senatorial family in his early 20s, no military background, probably a friend of the legatus, would spend around 2 or 3 years in this role, before going back to Rome to become a politician, was the legatus' official second in command
• Tribuni angusticlavius


  5 men from equestrian families, usually had some experience in the military, serving in the cavalry, had very little actual authority, though they sometimes commanded detachments of soldiers whilst on campaign
• large regimen of spartan army called

  mora
• each regiment of the spartan army split into

  small subdivisions each with their own commander
• what is the spartan oath

  • "I will not desert my taxiarch or the leader of my enomotia, whether he is alive or dead, and I shall not leave the battlefield unless our king leads us away" (Oath of Plataea)