Decurion

[Matthew Amt]

A decurion was a cavalry officer in command of a troop or turma of thirty soldiers in the army of the Roman Empire. A Decurion was also in the first century AD a commander of a Decuria; an eight man group sleeping in the same tent.

There were 120 cavalry in an Ala (auxiliary cohort) of a legion. There were four decurions, each commanding thirty men.

In the infantry, the rank carried less prestige — a 'decurion' only led a squad called a contubernium or "tent group" of eight men — but they were still allowed to carry a pugio or dagger as a sign of their rank

Um, you really need to go back to the first page of this discussion, of which the first post is an exact quote of what you just said--quoted directly from Wikipedia! And then we spent 2 pages of good research and discussion tearing the statement apart. The bit about the pugio is especially ridiculous...

I'm not sure why most of your posts seem to be Wikipedia quotes, but someone has to point out to you that the vast majority of Wikipedia's information on the Roman Army is deeply flawed and filled with errors. You are really not going to learn anything there. We'll be happy to answer questions that you have on most any (Roman) subject, but it will help if you READ what we say. Most of us would recommend getting a few good books and reading them, too--they may still have errors here and there, but they are much better sources of information.

Bottom line, many of us here on RAT have MUCH better information already than you will ever find on Wikipedia, so there isn't much point in quoting that to debate with us.

Thanks!

Matthew