03-09-2014, 12:30 PM
Quote:then it would perhaps be better to assume no change.
Another point occurs to me: under the principiate, a centurion received 15 times the pay of a legionary (Herz, in Erdkamp 2011, p.308). The centurions can rightly be called the backbone of the classic legion. By the sixth century (according to the Codex Justinianus I.27.2:19-36) the pay of a centenarius was only 2.5 annonae - if we assume 1 annona to be the pay of a miles, this is a significant reduction.
So, while the centurio of the principiate was a wealthy individual of high social status, the centenarius of the later legion was a relatively humble junior officer. This may just reflect the decline in status of the army as a whole, but could it not also indicate that the subunit commanded by the centenarius was no longer as important a division of the larger unit?
Nathan Ross