Leves

[antiochus]

I keep reading in modern works that in the legion described by Livy there are 300 leves. All I can find in Livy (8 8) is that one third of the hastati were equipped as light troops "manipulus leves vicenos milites."

Has "vicenos" meaning 20 ??? been multiplied by 15 companies to arrive at 300 leves?

[Renatus]

Has "vicenos" meaning 20 ??? been multiplied by 15 companies to arrive at 300 leves?

It seems so, assuming that by 'companies' you mean 'maniples'. Livy says that the hastati consisted of 15 maniples and that there were 20 light-armed men in each maniple.

All I can find in Livy (8 8) is that one third of the hastati were equipped as light troops

You are the mathematician, not I, but as I read it the light-armed troops comprised approximately an eighth of the hastati, not a third.

[antiochus]

Renatus wrote:
You are the mathematician, not I, but as I read it the light-armed troops comprised approximately an eighth of the hastati, not a third.

Me the mathematician! :woot: That comment would have my high school maths teacher rolling on the floor in fits of uncontrollable laughter. The reference to a third comes from a poor translation.

I’m doing some revisions on Livy’s 5000 man legion of 340 BC. The question is when the Romans increased the size of the legion from 4000 to 5000 men, did they increase the number of military tribunes and centurions. I worked on the assumption the extra men were added to the existing organisation but some textual evidence for a later period suggest they did not so I went back to Livy’s ordo system, and after re-examining it again, it does confirm additional centurions were included, which means more military tribunes, more centuries and more maniples. The additional maniples means the Romans maintain a continuity of their traditional method of fighting, whereas adding more men to the traditional organisation would make this more difficult, especially in regard to command and control.