Salve,<br>
<br>
Soldiers could be issued with government kit as a special privilege in early imperial times, though in the course of the third century this seems to have become increasingly common. Such items were to be turned in when leaving military service though. The reference in Tacitus to a mix up of equipment for praetorians, legionaries and auxiliaries may have to do with issues of owership, the provincial troops generally having to pay for their own while the guards had theirs on loan from the emperor free of charge. The former category had the <i> custos armorum</i> or <i> armicustos</i> while the latter had a <i> fisci curator</i>, someone looking after the privy purse's property.<br>
<br>
Kit was also turned in for repair and this seems to have been charged for, just as arms and equipment had to be paid for by the majority of troops. There is an entry in a papyrus mentioning a sum set aside for repair of equipment.<br>
<br>
P. Vindb. L72<br>
<br>
<i> in refec(tio) arm(orum)</i><br>
<br>
'for repair of weapons'<br>
<br>
To be properly kitted out as officer cost a small fortune. Plinius mentions in one of his
letters that a man for which he had secured appointment as a centurion received 40.000 <i> nummi</i> (10.000 <i> denarii</i>) to equip himself for his new function. To get an idea of the relative expense the annual pay for a legionary at that date was 300 <i> denarii</i>.<br>
<br>
On ownership and acquisition/issue of weapons and kit in the Roman and Byzantine armies:<br>
<br>
Bishop, M.C., and J.C. Coulston, <i> Roman military equipment</i> (London 1993) 256p.<br>
Breeze, D.J., 'The ownership of weapons' in: <i> Britannia</i> 7 (1976), 93-95.<br>
Haldon, J., <i> Warfare, state and society in the Byzantine world 565-1204</i> (London 1999) 389p.<br>
Speidel, M.P., 'The weapons keeper, the fisci<br>
curator, and the ownership of weapons in the Roman army' in: <i> Roman army studies</i> II (Stuttgart 1992) 430p.<br>
Treadgold, W., <i> Byzantium and its army 284-1081</i> (Stanford 1995) 249p.<br>
Woods, D., 'The ownership and disposal of military equipment in the Late Roman Army' in: <i> Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies</i> 4 (1993).<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Sander van Dorst <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showLocalUserPublicProfile?login=sandervandorst>Sander van Dorst</A> at: 2/1/02 4:11:13 pm<br></i>