veterans still worthy

[Goffredo]

A few topics on this forum have concerned recruits. How about old vets? What is the evidence that the retired vets were able to help in moments of crises. I know that vets helped in defending cities they lived in or by, but were they ever resorted to in field operations? <p></p><i></i>

[Guest]

Salve,<br>
<br>
By a stroke of fortune I have just finished reading an article on the subject this weekend.<br>
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The evidence available for the use of veteran soldiers is primarily related to the 1st century CE. At the start of the principate legionary service was divided between a period served <i> sub signis</i>, under the standards, and a period served <i> sub vexillo</i>, under the flag. This was apparently at first 16 years <i> sub signis</i> and 4 <i> sub vexillo</i>, later it was 20 years <i> sub signis</i> and 5 years <i> sub vexillo</i>. After serving their time in the ranks, veteran soldiers were then placed in a separate subunit, the <i> vexillum veteranorum</i> under the command of a <i> curator veteranorum</i>. As veteran soldiers they enjoyed lighter duties, though they were still called upon to fight. Tacitus has several instances in which such veteran units, which could have a strength of some 500 men, were on active duty and performing sterling service. However to consider every reference to <i> vexillarii</i> as relating to these veterans rather than other legionary ad hoc formations, as done by Mann in his article on the <i> honesta missio</i> in <i> Kaiser, Heer und Gesellschaft</i>, seems to me to be perhaps pushing things too far.References to such special veteran <i> vexilla</i> dries up at the end of the 1st century and it has been suggested that the veterans were at that time incorporated in the five double strength <i> centuriae</i> of the first cohort in units that had adopted the milliary organisation, though that is really speculation rather than hard fact.<br>
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Soldiers, officers as well as lower ranks, regularly served beyond their time, either in hope of further promotion or because funds were lacking to pay them their discharge <i> praemia</i>. Some centurions are recorded that served into their seventies with over fifty years of military service. A number of veterans found it worthwhile to record that they had in fact received their bonuses and this may indicate that not all retired soldiers were properly taken care of. It may have been the case that troops were eligible for discharge after serving the first part of their service (16, later 20 years) and qualified for discharge with full benefits after serving the full term (20, later 25 years). This was certainly the case in the fourth century CE units of the legionary and mounted units of the <i> comitatenses</i> and may have already been so in the preceding centuries.<br>
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Recall of retired veterans to active service occurred sometimes when there was overwhelming need for extra manpower. The eastern army in the year of the four emperors, already heavily involved in suppressing the Jewish revolt, mobilised veterans to be sent to Italy against the Vitellians, though in the end the Danubian armies succesfully concluded the fighting before the eastern reinforcements could arrive. The recall of discharged veterans appears to have been an emergency measure rather than a common occurence.<br>
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Regards,<br>
<br>
<br>
Sander van Dorst<br>
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Addition<br>
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The reference to recalling veterans is in Tacitus, <i> Historiae</i> II, 82 : <i> Prima belli cura agere dilectus, revocare veteranos;</i> 'Taking care of the first needs of war, a levy and the recall of veterans'.<br>
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Tacitus seems to consider recall of veterans to be among the first tasks to be done in case of war, though such explicit references are lacking for other conflicts. There is mention of thirteen thousand <i> vexillarii</i> dispatched from the eastern army by the Flavians, though modern authors generally think this refers to soldiers from detachments from the legions rather than a purely veteran force. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showLocalUserPublicProfile?login=sandervandorst>Sander van Dorst</A> at: 4/24/01 8:00:51 am<br></i>

[Anonymous]

i remember reading somewhere that for the auxilia, there was no retirement, until around the time of Claudius when they were given the same length of service as the legions <p></p><i></i>