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Aquilifer - rank?
#1
What was the relative rank of the Aquilifer within the legion? He was a principale, and thus theoretically subordinate to all 59/60 centurions in the legion, but there was only one such place available.<br>
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Within the century it's quite easy to see the progression tessarius - optio - signifer - centurion (perhaps missing out the signifer). So where were the Aquilifers drawn from? A particularly able optio or signifer could be made eagle-bearer for the legion, but this would mean remaining a principale rather than gaining the extra pay of the centuriate - surely not a prize prospect, unless for the glory alone.<br>
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Could the Aquilifer have been in effect the signifer of the first century, first cohort? This would mean that none of the other centuries were missing a man, as they would be if he were drawn from elsewhere. <p></p><i></i>
Nathan Ross
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#2
Good questions. I wish someone knowledgeable had responded. Seems to me he would have received additional pay (since, coincidentally, he was caretaker of the the soldiers' savings, as I recall). I have read that he received double the pay of a regular legionary, but I would not be surprised to learn that he received even more.
Robert Stroud
The New Scriptorium
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#3
they could be brought up from the signifer rank of cohorts, or from promising legionaries, or im sure a tesserarius wouldnt mind the pay increase, they were payed the same as an optio (duplicarius). Im sure they could extort money from enlisted men as well. It was a higher position, and commanded more respect, I dont think an optio would normally have been moved to the aquilifer rank since he was supposed to be second in line for a centurion.
aka., John Shook
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#4
oh, also, the progression doesnt go as smoothly as we might like to see it, it is different from modern rank structures, and it distorts our view if we try to equate it to that.
aka., John Shook
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#5
Thanks. It's good to be reminded that promotion in the Roman military did not parallel what we know today. Too often we unthinkingly transfer our own contemporary paradigms to the ancient world.
Robert Stroud
The New Scriptorium
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#6
Yes, he's a duplicarius (at least, from the moment such pay-scales were introduced in the late 1st C AD) with the highest prestige non-officer job in the legion.
Greets!

Jasper Oorthuys
Webmaster & Editor, Ancient Warfare magazine
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#7
I do think he might have been selected for his bravery most often, it was from most accounts a dangerous job in a large action.
aka., John Shook
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#8
for the Republic and the Augustan period, I'm sure bravery played a major role. Later, I'm not so sure that was necessary, at least. After the reign of Augustus, how likely *was* a full-legion action that actually put the aquila in peril?

That said, it is quite possible that the post went to the most respected signifer. These guys needed to be brave *and* numerate, so it would still have been a criterion. IIRC, the soldiers who bear the flag in modern British regiments are still selected from the decorated and respected men.
Der Kessel ist voll Bärks!

Volker Bach
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#9
Quote:...it is quite possible that the post went to the most respected signifer. These guys needed to be brave *and* numerate, so it would still have been a criterion. IIRC, the soldiers who bear the flag in modern British regiments are still selected from the decorated and respected men.
During America's war between the states, it was certainly an honor and a position of great trust. Only the most courageous could be among the "color guard" and in battle the colors they protected were a focal point of enemy attention. Many perished defending their flags, when they may well have survived if they had simply been in the ranks.
Robert Stroud
The New Scriptorium
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#10
Quote:
Carlton Bach:600r0jdi Wrote:...it is quite possible that the post went to the most respected signifer. These guys needed to be brave *and* numerate, so it would still have been a criterion. IIRC, the soldiers who bear the flag in modern British regiments are still selected from the decorated and respected men.
During America's war between the states, it was certainly an honor and a position of great trust. Only the most courageous could be among the "color guard" and in battle the colors they protected were a focal point of enemy attention. Many perished defending their flags, when they may well have survived if they had simply been in the ranks.

Yes, but at this time regimental action was a common occurrence, and the loss of a regimental ensign a real danger. That is why I would say it compares tpo the republic or Augustan period, where, too, legions were often engaged in battle as entire units. But after Tiberius, how often did that actually happen?
Der Kessel ist voll Bärks!

Volker Bach
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