by Tanya Allan
Primus pilus, literally First File: The Primus Pilus was the commanding centurion of the first century, first cohort and the senior-most centurion of the entire legion. (Unlike other cohorts, the first cohort had only one javelin century, instead of a "front spear" and a "back spear" century). The primus pilus had a chance of later becoming a Praefectus Castrorum. When the primus pilus retired, he would most likely gain entry into the equestrian class. He was paid 60 times the base wage.
Pilus prior: The "front file" centurions were the commanders of the 10 1st centuries within the legion, making them senior centurions of their respective cohorts. While the legion was in battle formation, the Pilus Prior was given command of their entire cohort. The Primus Pilus was also a Pilus Prior, and the most senior of all the centurions within the legion. These positions were usually held by experienced veteran soldiers who had been moved up within the ranks. This rank is subordinate to the Primus Pilus.
Primi ordines: The "ranks of the first [cohort]" were the five centurions of the first cohort, and included the primus pilus. They, excluding the primus pilus, were paid 30 times the base wage. This rank is senior to all other centurions, save the primus pilus and pilus prior.
Other centurions: Each legion had 59 or 60 centurions, one to command each century of the 10 cohorts. They were the backbone of the professional army and were the career soldiers who ran the day to day life of the soldiers and issued commands in the field. They were generally moved up from the ranks, but in some cases could be direct appointments from the emperor or other higher-ranking officials. The cohorts were ranked from the first to the tenth and the century within each cohort ranked from 1 to 6, with only five centuries in the first cohort (for a total of 59 centurions and the primus pilus). The century that each centurion commanded was a direct reflection of his rank: command of the 1st century of the first cohort was the highest, and the 6th century of the 10th cohort was the lowest. Paid ten times the basic wage.
Optio: One for each centurion (59–60), they were appointed by the centurion from within the ranks to act as his second in command and were paid twice the basic wage. Equivalent to a modern Lieutenant
Tesserarius: (Guard commander) One for each century. They acted as seconds to the Optios and were paid one and a half times the basic wage. Keeper of the watchword, administrative assistant to HQ Staff, third in command of a century. Equivalent to a modern First Sergeant or Staff Sergeant.
Decurio: Commanded a cavalry unit (turma) of 10 to 30 eques legionis.
Decanus: Commanded a contubernium or eight man tent party, equivalent to a Sergeant or Corporal.
[ii] The pilum (plural pila) ........was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 millimetres (0.28 in) in diameter and 60 centimetres (24 in) long with pyramidal head. The shank was joined to the wooded shaft by either a socket or a flat tang. The total weight of a pilum was between 2 and 5 kilograms (4.4 and 11.0 lb), with the versions produced during the earlier Republican era being slightly heavier than those produced in the later Empire era.
The iron shank was the key to the function of the pilum. The weapon had a hard pyramidal tip but the shank was made of softer iron. This softness would cause the shank to bend after impact, thus rendering the weapon useless to the enemy who might throw it back. However, there are many cases where the whole shank was hardened, making the pilum more suitable as a close quarters melee weapon, which also made it useful for enemy soldiers to pick it up and throw it back. More importantly, if the pilum struck a shield it might embed itself and thus the bending of the shank would force the enemy to discard it as they might waste time trying to pull it out in the middle of combat. Even if the shank did not bend, the pyramidal tip still made it difficult to pull out.
Most other javelins of the time were unable to penetrate a shield. By contrast, since the pyramidal tip of a pilum was wider than the rest of the shank, once it penetrated a shield, it left behind a hole larger than the rest of the shank, and it could move through the shield with little resistance, stabbing the soldier. The length of the shank and its depth of penetration also made it hard to pull out of a shield even if it failed to bend. If the bearer of the shield was charging and a Pilum penetrated the shield, the end of the heavy shaft of the Pilum would hit the ground, holding the shield in place. On some pila there was a spike on the end of the shaft which made it easier to dig into the ground.
Pila were divided into two models: heavy and light. Pictorial evidence suggests that some versions of the weapon were weighted by a lead ball to increase penetrative power but archaeological specimens of this design variant are not so far known. Recent experiments have shown pila to have a range of approximately 33 metres (100 ft), although the effective range is up to 15–20 m (50–70 ft).
[iii]
[iv] Roman Paper: The best paper was derived from the centre of the papyrus plant - this ‘first quality’ paper was known as ‘Augustus’ by the time of Pliny, although it had earlier been known as ‘hieratic’. Working a little further out from the plant’s centre, ‘second quality’ paper was named ‘Livia’ after Augustus' wife, while ‘third quality’ paper retained the term ‘hieratic’.
Roman paper was priced by quality, hence the need for these distinctions. Pliny notes that the paper maker Fannius had developed a technique for dressing lower quality paper to achieve the same finish as ‘first quality’, no doubt making more money in the process. He doesn’t say how, but it’s possible the paper was smoothed with chalk in the same manner toga’s were treated. From ‘third quality’ Pliny describes progressively cheaper paper such as ‘Taeneotic’ which was sold by weight rather than quality. And lastly he comes to the brown paper of the age – ‘emporitica’ or packing paper. Too coarse for writing, this was used for wrapping parcels and merchandise.
[v] The Latin word vicus was also applied to the smallest administrative unit of a provincial town within the Roman Empire, and to an ad hoc provincial civilian settlement that sprang up close to and because of a nearby official Roman site, usually a military garrison or state-owned mining operation.)
Books by Tanya Allan
Her AMAZON.COM PAGE: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004VTB5OQ
A Chance would be a Fine Thing (Knox Journals Book 1)
A Wedding and Two Wars (Knox Journal Book 2)
A Fairy's Tale
A Girl can but Dream
Amber Alert
A Tale of Two T’s*
Behind The Enemy - Book 1
Beginning's End – Book 2
The Candy Cane Club – Book 1
Dead End – Book 2
Dragons & Stuff!
Emma*
Entirely Blank
Every Little Girl's Dream #
Rise to the Challenge
Extra Special Agent
Fast Forward with a Twist
Flight or Fight
Fortune's Soldier
Gruesome Tuesday*
In Plain Sight*
In The Shadows
It Couldn't Happen, Could it?
Killing Me Slowly*
Marine I: Agent of Time*
Marine 2: A very Different Roman
Marine 3: Island of Dreams
Modern Masquerade
Monique*#
Monique (L’edition francais)
Queen of Hearts*
Ring the Change
Shit Happens - so do Miracles*
Skin*
Tango Golf: Cop with A Difference
The Badger’s Girl
The Hard Way*
The Offer
The Other Side of Dreams
There's No Such Thing as a Super Hero
The Summer Job & Other Stories
The Torc (Book 1 – The Emerging)
To Fight For a Dream*
Twisted Dreams*
TWOC - A Comedy of Errors
Weird Wednesday*
When Fortun
e Smiles - Book 1
Changed Fortune – Book 2
When I Count to Three #
Whispers in the Mind* - Book 1
Whispers in the Soul* - Book 2
*Paperbacks can be found here: http://www.feedaread.com/profiles/368/
# = Published on KOBO.COM
