04-02-2008, 04:00 AM
I would have to agree with Quintius Clavus and others who think that the term 'century' probably had more to do with politics (at least originally) than with the number of men in a Roman unit.
For instance, Dionysus of Halicarnassus states, when referring to the Roman army after the reforms of Servius Tullius:
“For instance, whenever [Servius Tullius] had occasion to raise ten thousand men, or, if it should so happen, twenty thousand, he would divide that number among the hundred and ninety-three centuries and then order each century to furnish the number of men that fell to its shareâ€
For instance, Dionysus of Halicarnassus states, when referring to the Roman army after the reforms of Servius Tullius:
“For instance, whenever [Servius Tullius] had occasion to raise ten thousand men, or, if it should so happen, twenty thousand, he would divide that number among the hundred and ninety-three centuries and then order each century to furnish the number of men that fell to its shareâ€
