03-13-2010, 04:09 PM
I'll be interested to hear the answer to this question.
For whom was this war college intended? Men of centurion rank or above? Legionary commanders above centurion rank? Aristocrats? Commoners? Was it geared towards men of a specific geographical area, or would soldiers from across the empire have been sent there?
I had always assumed that centurions came from the rank and file and were trained on the job and that a lot of the upper echelon types were political appointments with minimal training and experience. In fact, I wasn't even aware that there was a real distinction between company grade and field grade commanders in the Roman army, as I thought centurions fulfilled both functions to one extent or another depending on their placement in the legion. Obviously the legionary "flag" officers were the political appointment, but I guess I sort of assumed that the modern distinction between field and company grade was at least partially a result of the nature of modern warfare. What with the mobility of modern armies and the range of modern weapons, a regiment's colonels/lt. colonels at their battalion HQs are not necessarily engaged on the front in the same way the senior centurions of a legion would have been. There's a real distinction between battalion level operations and company operations in modern armies, hence the field/company distinction.
At where in the process of promotion would soldiers have been sent off to war college? Or was it for political appointments before they took the field?
For whom was this war college intended? Men of centurion rank or above? Legionary commanders above centurion rank? Aristocrats? Commoners? Was it geared towards men of a specific geographical area, or would soldiers from across the empire have been sent there?
I had always assumed that centurions came from the rank and file and were trained on the job and that a lot of the upper echelon types were political appointments with minimal training and experience. In fact, I wasn't even aware that there was a real distinction between company grade and field grade commanders in the Roman army, as I thought centurions fulfilled both functions to one extent or another depending on their placement in the legion. Obviously the legionary "flag" officers were the political appointment, but I guess I sort of assumed that the modern distinction between field and company grade was at least partially a result of the nature of modern warfare. What with the mobility of modern armies and the range of modern weapons, a regiment's colonels/lt. colonels at their battalion HQs are not necessarily engaged on the front in the same way the senior centurions of a legion would have been. There's a real distinction between battalion level operations and company operations in modern armies, hence the field/company distinction.
At where in the process of promotion would soldiers have been sent off to war college? Or was it for political appointments before they took the field?
David J. Lohnes
Upper School English and Latin
Southside Christian School
Officium nos vocat!
Upper School English and Latin
Southside Christian School
Officium nos vocat!
