Roman Titles of Office Quiz

[M. Demetrius]

http://www.sporcle.com/games/popestcyril...and-empire

And I thought I had some idea. Nope, not as much as I thought. Hat tip to Galen Verret for finding this and posting it on the Cohort V yahoo group.

[D B Campbell]

And I thought I had some idea.

Don't be too hard on yourself, David. Some of the definitions are a little odd! :?

[Robert Vermaat]

I scored 21 out of 40. Nice quiz, but some questions are incorrect.

A comes was not a commander of a province. The example given, the comes Britanniae, is commander of the field army of the diocese of the 4 British provinces (lit. 'the Britains).

A dux was not a commander of a legion. The 'dux Moesiae' is the commander of the Moesian frontier region, a regional command. A legion was commanded (at that time) by a tribunus.

The magister Equitum was not the officer in charge of the 'calvary' (ahum), he commanded both infantry as well as cavalry, as did his counterpart the magister peditum. Nor was he equal in rank to a Praefect, who at that time was a unit commander (like the praefectus legionis or the praefectus alae. The praetorian prefect no longer held a military command. (Same mistake with the question about the magister Peditum btw).

The magister equitum praesentalis was not a 'commander of horse close to the emperor', but commander of the central imperial ('praesental') army.

A magister militum was not the commander of the forces in a single province. Apart from being a generic title that was used for any type of magister, the 'magister per X' commanded a military region that was usually larger than a single province.

The praetorian prefect may indeed have been the commander of the 'Paetorian Guard' (oops), actually a commander of a praetorian cohort. After Diocletian (except under Constantine) he was the highest post in the civilian hierarchy, in charge of several dioceses.

'Protectores' were not just literally 'bodyguards' in the title 'protector domesticus'. The protectores domestici were a guard unit (OK, 'bodyguards'?) but much more staff officers (Ammianus was one) attached to a general staff.

A scutarius was not a 'guardsman whose primary weapon was a large shield'. That's ludicrous. Almost every infantryman had a large shield, and that was not their primary weapon. Like so many Late Roman unit names, the origin may have been long forgotten and should not be taken literally.