Cohorts, Cavalry and Whatever Goes

[C Crastinus]

The only evidence I have in the book for a legion being under strength is Caesar’s ninth legion at Pharsalus, of which Caesar informs us this is the case.

Surely Caesar informs us, albeit indirectly, that all of his legions at Pharsalus were understrength, since he lists 80 cohorts numbering a total of 22,000 men. That would give us an average of 275 men per cohort. Even if we leave the severely depleted 9th legion out of the picture, just for the sake of argument, and divide 22,000 by 70 cohorts instead, that would still give us only 314 men per cohort.

Am I misunderstanding you? Are you saying that the Romans normally only fielded legions that were at full strength? From what I understand, the only time a legion would have been at full paper strength is when it was first raised.