09-02-2018, 12:49 AM
That's a bit of a broad ranging question. The Republic lasted over 400 years and the army changed several times in that period. Strictly speaking, the army wasn't paid at all. Serving in the army was the civic duty of all Roman males with the ability to outfit themselves for battle. This was technically true up to the "Marian Reforms," when the state began outfitting and paying poorer citizens to serve in the army. Of course, all that is an over simplification of a complex subject, but I wont go into that here.
Now what was considered the lowest ranking troop type, there are several options, again depending on the era. In your Maniple legion, you had the Hastati, Principes and Triarii, of which the Hastati would have been classified as the "lower ranking" unit. But by the time you get to the Macedonian Wars, the difference between Hastati and Principes had blurred considerably. The Velites were the youngest, least experienced men who acted as skirmishers and were lower ranking than the Hastati. Then you have the very early army with the Rorarii and Accensi, who may or may not have been combat troops of lower level then the Velite, but that is a whole other can of worms to open!
Now what was considered the lowest ranking troop type, there are several options, again depending on the era. In your Maniple legion, you had the Hastati, Principes and Triarii, of which the Hastati would have been classified as the "lower ranking" unit. But by the time you get to the Macedonian Wars, the difference between Hastati and Principes had blurred considerably. The Velites were the youngest, least experienced men who acted as skirmishers and were lower ranking than the Hastati. Then you have the very early army with the Rorarii and Accensi, who may or may not have been combat troops of lower level then the Velite, but that is a whole other can of worms to open!
Daniel DeVargas
