AE 1981 777

[Frank]

What 'forces' the translation towards those specific terms?

That was my idea too, when I first read the term triarius in Vegetius' text.

In the republic we had triarii, principes and hastati. But already in the republic the triarii were sometimes called pili. So the highest centurio is called primus pilus prior. It would have been perhaps not wrong to call him primus triarius prior alternatively. But the romans did'nt

But what about the greeks?

They are transliterations: τριάρες, ὠρδινᾶτος, πρίνκεψ, λανκιάρις (triares, ordinatos, prinkeps, lankiaris).

Is it possible, that the greeks never adopted the roman term pilus and insisted to use the term triarius? How was the greek term for a primus pilus? Is it someting like primus τριάρες? Do we have any sources in greek about this rank?

I know, that Vegetius says, that the triarius was the lowest rank centurio. So that does not fit to my theory. But well, you know, it is Vegetius ....

Same with ordinarius. We don't know, what rank this centurio ordinatus or ordinarius really was. We know that in early empire there were centuriones and centuriones primi ordinis. We don't know much about the exact ranking of the centurions. But we know, that the primi ordines aka centurions of the 1st cohort were higher in rank than others.

What if ordinarius in late empire was not a rank but just a term for the highest ranked centurions, like primus pilus, princeps and hastatus were primi ordines.