05-02-2018, 02:48 AM
I've been looking at various YouTube videos to find one to send to a friend in order to show the structure of the 1st Century AD Legion. Several times I have run across the concept that a contubernium had 2 extra slaves or helpers. From what I can discern this is done by the writers of the video or article in order to bring up the count of a century to 100 men. Witness the Wikipedia article:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contubernium. I guess it bothers some people that a century had only 80 men, although it may have had 100 in early republican times. I understand that the century was not named for the number of men in it, but from where it where taken in the organization of Rome. It make no sense to me from a logistical perspective to have two extra mouths to feed as well.
Can anyone shed light on this?
Can anyone shed light on this?
Roger