Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The size of a typical legion varied throughout the history of ancient Rome, with complements ranging from 4,200 legionaries and 300 equites (drawn from the wealthier classes – in early Rome all troops provided their own equipment) in the Republic, [1] to 5,500 in the Imperial period, when most legions were led by a Roman Imperial Legate.
Nero, Sestertius with countermark "X" of Legio X Gemina. Obv: Laureate bust right. Rev: Nero riding horse right, holding spear, DECVRSIO in exergue; S C across fields. This is a list of Roman legions, including key facts about each legion, primarily focusing on the Principate (early Empire, 27 BC – 284 AD) legions, for which there exists substantial literary, epigraphic and archaeological ...
This, coinciding with the continued expansion of the Roman army, meant recruits of more dubious standards joined the legions, decreasing the quality of the Roman legionary further. [ 20 ] During the 3rd Century Crisis , a more mobile army became necessary, as threats arose across the long borders of the Roman Empire.
Likewise, whereas Republican legions had been recruited almost exclusively in Italy, early Imperial legions drew most of their recruits from Roman colonies in the provinces from 68 AD onwards. One estimate places the proportion of Italian troops at 65% under Augustus in c. 1 AD, falling to around 49% by the end of Nero's reign.
At the time of the Pyrrhic War, the Roman army in the field consisted of four armies, [7] each of which contained two legions of Roman citizens and two units of allies. Each legion consisted of 4,200–5,000 infantry [8] and 300 cavalry, [8] while the allied units had an equal number of infantry but three times as many cavalry (900 cavalry per ...
The legion was levied by Deiotarus, king of the Celtic tribe of the Tolistobogii, who lived in Galatia, modern Turkey.Deiotarus became an ally of the Roman Republic's general Pompey in 63 BC, who named him king of all the Celtic tribes of Asia minor, which were collectively known as Galatians (hence the name Galatia for the region).
In a Roman legion, centuries were grouped into cohorts and commanded by a senior centurion. The prestigious first cohort (a formation of five double-strength centuries of 160 men each) [ 1 ] was led by the primus pilus , who commanded the primi ordines who were the centurions of the first cohort.
The commander of the first cohort's first century was known as the primus pilus or primipilus, [4] a legion's most senior centurion. The primus pilus was eligible for promotion to praefectus castrorum or camp prefect, the third most senior officer in a legion, responsible for the day-to-day administration of a legion.