first cohort

[Quintus Aurelius Lepidus]

you had 10 cohorts of which there were 9 with 6 centuries and one (the first) with 5 double centuries).

is it right that the big first cohort was created during the flavian period?

how did the legion look like prior to this then? just 10 cohorts with 6 centuries of 80 man each?

I've also read that marius disbanded the legionary cavalry. later on 120 cavalry troopers were added to the legion again. this happened during the same period?

Tnx!

[Nathan Ross]

is it right that the big first cohort was created during the flavian period?

Probably. The double first cohort is mentioned by Pseudo-Hyginus and again by Vegetius. The legion fortress at Inchtuthil (c.AD85) appears to show barracks for an enlarged first cohort - earlier fortresses (as far as we can tell, I think) do not. But the double cohort may not have been a constant feature.

just 10 cohorts with 6 centuries of 80 man each?

That would be about right - 4800 men. Actual numbers probably varied considerably though.

120 cavalry troopers were added to the legion again. this happened during the same period?

Josephus is the first dateable reference to the legion cavalry (AD67), and provides the number - 120. We don't know if this was always the number of troopers, or just at that time. Nor do we know when they were introduced - they weren't around in Caesar's day, so could have been an Augustan innovation.

[JeffF]

Caesar mentions 120 picked men from the same century during the battle of Pharsalus. Widely regarded as a mistake by translators this could be the earliest reference to a double sized century and by implication a cohort milliaria.

[Frank]

There is also a theory, that in the 1st half of the 1st century there have been barracks for the veterans. This have been soldiers waiting for dismissal or serving longer by whatever reasons. (Not the reservists conscripted on occasion for a campaign)!

In the 2nd half of the 1st century, these barracks disappear and the larger barracks for the 1st cohort appear. The theory now speculates, that the 1st cohort as a millaria was established by integrating all the usual veterans into the 1st cohort.

There are also hints, that sometimes a legion could have more than 1 millaria. So a 2nd or 3rd cohort could be stronger, too.

I just have read Dobsons book about the Primipilares. He says, that in late republican times, the Primipulus was just the first and most experienced centurio of a legion. He was elected/appointed every year. He could be Primipilus more than once or not. But nothing special is known about his position beyond that. The special role of the primipilate as a separate and well established career-path was established by Augustus and further specified by Claudius. Thats also a hint, that the special 1st cohort is rather a later development.

Regarding the 120 equites legionis, from my understanding, they are primarily dispatch-riders and explorers. It is even unclear, if they fought together with the ala in combat. My understanding was, that they appeared with Augustus military reform.

[Quintus Aurelius Lepidus]

Of which book do you speak? I tried searching on amazon but could only find a dobson writing about the roman frontier systems

[M. Demetrius]

Caesar mentions 120 picked men from the same century

Where is that found? It sounds vaguely familiar, but I don't generally try to decipher the Latin, so perhaps that was lost in the translation. Is that the incident with Ariovistus in Gallic Wars?

[Bryan]

I think the reference is to Bello Civili 3.91, Crastinus' charge.

[M. Demetrius]

Ah yes. Crastinus' last day. At least that probably didn't hurt a lot, getting a gladius through his cervical vertebrae. :-|

[Frank]

Of which book do you speak? I tried searching on amazon but could only find a dobson writing about the roman frontier systems

Brian Dobson
Die Primipilares: Entwicklung u. Bedeutung, Laufbahnen u. Persönlichkeiten eines römischen Offiziersranges.
Rheinland-Verlag, Köln 1978,
ISBN 3-7927-0251-7

I have no clue, if it is available in english.

But if I remember right, he wrote also an article about the primipilares in "Roman officers and frontiers", which is just a collection of articles of Breeze and Dobson; and in english. Actually the first half of this book are great, detailed articles about the roman military in general, and the 2nd half are articles about archaeology in Britain.