the century - fighting unit

[D B Campbell]

The nominal number of 80 could also be very much less in practice. For example, a papyrus from Egypt of the late 1st Century AD, probably AD87,(or rather part of it) shows that the original number was estimated at something like 60 ( missing bit), and the remainder after detachments, men despatched on escort duty, on leave, in hospital etc reads REMAINDER 40, and then lists 9 as 'free from duty' ( keeper of weapons, clerks , orderlies, bookeepers etc) leaving just 31 available for 'general duties', increasing to 36 later in the month - the men are all individually named.

Reference?

Of course, 80 is a red herring. You can cite papyri showing that centuriae were smaller than that. I can cite others showing that centuriae were larger than that (e.g. Tab. Vind. 2.154 from AD 80/90s; P. Dura 82 from AD 220s).

It's an interesting thought that, without the explicit statement of "Hyginus", we'd be happy to reckon a centuria at 100 men. And we'd make the same special pleading for why some are smaller than that and some are larger!