Salvete<br>
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During the republic citizens were liable for conscription from age seventeen. Repeated legislation against the recruitment of underage soldiers suggests that younger recruits could in practice be enlisted despite legal bars to do so. At this time the younger troops were used as skirmishers in the legions, light infantry javelineers with minimal protective equipment, who would normally avoid close combat. Those able to afford the necessary equipment could eventually join the heavy legionary infantry.<br>
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The evidence available for the imperial army shows that the vast majority of known Roman troops enlisted between 18 and 23 years of age. The youngest recorded age of recruitment in the imperial army is fourteen for the legions and fifteen for praetorians, the eldest known legionary recruit was thirty six, a year above what seems to have been the theoretical maximum age (for referenes to inscriptions read Forni). Such ages should not be taken directly at face value for accuracy in measuring age was not as strict in our modern highly regulated age. The available evidence is distorted by some factors. The available statistics show remarkable concentrations of terms of service, ages of recruitment, discharge and death around multiples of five, suggesting rounding off of such numbers. It is remarkable that the exact legal minimum age for the imperial army is not preserved in the available source material, perhaps indicating that recruitment was more dependant on the physical fitness of a candidate rather than age. Some of the officers could also enter the army at a young age. Senatorial youths are attested as serving from as young as age sixteen.<br>
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Nevertheless the evidence of recorded age may be supplemented by other sources of evidence to argue the case for recruitment of adolescents as boy soldiers at certain times. Representational evidence may indicate under age recruits. Some soldiers have been portrayed on their grave monuments along with their offspring, showing sons dressed in the same manner as their father with the military belt which may suggest that these children were in some way already incorporated in the army, though this is far from certain. Children of soldiers were at some point given rations, though this priviledge was eventually revoked, and offspring of soldiers formed an important source of recruits at all times, compulsory enlistment even becoming a legal requirement for army brats in the fourth century CE. Tacitus records the recruitment of underage soldiers as an abuse contributing to the Batavian revolt which seems to point to a continuation of the republican practice of occasional resorting to recruitment of troops below legal age limits. A grave stone from an imperial horse guard trooper shows his sons training in archery in preparation for future service.<br>
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The principal works of interest that I have on the shelf are:<br>
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Scheidel, W., 'Inschriftenstatistik und die Frage des Rekrutierungsalter römischer Soldaten' in: <i> Chiron</i> 22 (1992), 281-297.<br>
Scheidel, W., 'Rekruten und Überlebende: die demographische Struktur der römischen Legionen in der Prinzipatszeit' in: <i> Klio</i> 77 (1995), 232-254.<br>
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Tacitus, <i> Historiae</i> 4.14 for recruitment of underage and overage soldiers.<br>
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Plate 14 in Speidel's <i> Riding for Caesar</i> shows two boys training with a bow and stones.<br>
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The tombstone of Aurelius Bitus from the third century CE (plate 27b in Junkelmann's <i> Die legionen des Augustus</i>) shows his four year old son dressed in similar fashion as his father including the omega buckle military belt.<br>
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Further source that I have not consulted, but contain relevant information are:<br>
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Forni, G., <i> Il reclutamento delle legioni da Augusto a Diocleziano</i> (Milan, 1953)<br>
Scheidel, W., <i> Measuring Sex, Age and Death in the Roman Empire, JRA Supplement21</i> (Ann Arbor, 1996).<br>
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Vale,<br>
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Sander van Dorst<br>
<p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showLocalUserPublicProfile?login=sandervandorst>Sander van Dorst</A> at: 4/22/01 4:14:31 pm<br></i>
