Late Roman ranks

[Nathan Ross]

I too was somewhat confused since it is vague about how different officers were described in the book.

Late Roman ranks can seem a bit vague - I think AHM Jones mentions that 'tribune' was widely used to describe officers of varying positions. The crossover into Greek terminology only makes things vaguer...

The full quote from Eusebius, by the way, is this (in Richardson's 1890 translation): "To each [of his sons] moreover was granted a truly royal retinue, consisting of infantry, spearmen, and body guards, with every other kind of military force; commanded respectively by captains, tribunes, and generals of whose warlike skill and devotion to his sons the emperor had had previous experience."

So the point is more that the various officers were experienced military men known to Constantine, rather than their actual rank in the military hierarchy. In this context, the Greek terms could mean nothing more specific than 'junior officers, generals and commanders'.

As for the 'classes' of troops, (h)oplitai, doryphoroi and somatofylakes mean just infantry, spearmen and bodyguards. This could refer to legionarii, lanciarii and protectores, who would be indeed found in the comitatus, but again Eusebius (not a military man, I think) could just mean that all sorts of soldiers were placed under the command of the Caesars.

Regarding strategoi - this too seems to be a vague term. Zosimus (III,8,2) mentions the strategos Lucillianus defending Nisibis against the Persians in 350 - this is the same man that turns up as magister equitum (probably) under Julian, so he could have been something like Dux Mesopotamiae at the time. But MacMullen (Soldier & Civilian) mentions a strategos commanding the city militia at Olbia. Clearly the term meant little more specific than 'commander'.

Later titles of centurions, meanwhile: the first mention of an ordinarius I can find is an inscription from El-Meshkuk dated to c.350, mentioning the ordinarius Bassus having inspected a watchtower. Biarchus (a subordinate rank) is mentioned in an inscription of 327, however (Flavius Iovianus, biarchus draconarius), so the 'new' rank titles could have been in place by then.