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D B Campbell The Roman Army in Detail: The Problem of the First Cohort
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(05-24-2017, 12:08 PM)Steven James Wrote: The controversy over the 4 men in each watch so that no more than 8 tents are pitched, or it could be 16 men, I have interpreted to be that of the 10 tents, the centurion has one tent (possibly with the optio), and the 80 soldiers 9 tents. Although this works out that 72 soldiers have tents, I am taking the premise that 8 soldiers per century are always on guard duty, so as 8 men return from guard duty, they occupy the next 8 men’s tent that are relieving them.

The manuscript A from which all versions of Hyginus' text derive does not have any figure for the men on watch. Accordingly '<quaterni>' (as it usually appears in modern editions), meaning 'four each, four at a time', is conjectural. De Voto translates it as simply 'four' but Catherine Gilliver, in her translation in JRMES 4 (1993) has '16'. In this, she follows neither Grillone nor Lenoir but seems to be harking back to Lang in 1848. The logic appears to be that an 80-man century should have ten tents but, as only eight were pitched to make room for the centurion's tent, his tent occupied the space of two ordinary tents and, accordingly, the two displaced contubernia were those on guard. On this basis, therefore, 16 could be the correct figure.
Michael King Macdona

And do as adversaries do in law, -
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
(The Taming of the Shrew: Act 1, Scene 2)
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RE: D B Campbell The Roman Army in Detail: The Problem of the First Cohort - by Renatus - 05-24-2017, 05:05 PM

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