The Story Of War

Authors notes.

    This story uses many historical references when talking about the Empire which is loosely based off of the Roman Empire during the Marian reforms which was when the Roman legions gained in strength to around 5,200 fighting men divided into ten subunits called Cohorts. The first or often called the Prima cohort sported a double strength of roughly around 900 soldiers. The other cohorts were only single strength at around roughly 460-500 soldiers. Each of the regular strength cohorts were broken down into six centuries which contained roughly 80 soldiers while the Prima cohort sported five double-strength centuries. From there each Centuria was broken down into eight-man squads which would share a tent, cookpot, mule, and millstone, this was also the same for the Prima cohort which instead of sporting a sixteen-man squad, had double the amount of squads. Each legion of the Roman Empire also commanded a group of calvary which numbered at around the same strength as a regular cohort but was broke down into 30 man units which were commanded by the most senior soldier in said unit. However, for the purpose of this story, any cavalry units mentioned are not part of any legion but are just small units that can be attached to any legion at will to reinforce or be used for other military purposes. 

RANKS-    At the very top, of course, you have the emperor who commands all the legions, including his praetorian guard legion, with an iron fist. However, command in battle was then given to the commanders of the legions called Legatus legionis who acted as a three-star general in today’s military ranking system. Above them was the Legatus Augusti pro praetore or Imperial Legate which was the commander of two or more legions and often acted as a governor or a conquered region, however, in a region that contained a single legion the Legate would act as the governor. The imperial Legate held the equivalent rank of a four-star general and was appointed by the emperor himself to be the commander. Below the Legates was the praefectus castrorum or the camp praefect which acted as the third in command in the legion, right behind the tribunus laticlavius or Broadband tribune which was not a real second in command but in the case of the Legate dying in battle would assume command of the legion, and would be in charge of the camp in which a legion rested. The camp praefect usually was an older legion soldier from the lower social class and supervised the training of the soldiers of the legion. From there it then falls down to the ranks of the officers which starts with the rank of Centurion which was the modern-day equivalent of a colonel or a major. There were always 60 centurions in a full force legion, each one commanding a single century. An example would be the Fifth centurion of the eighth cohort in the seventh legion, meaning that the soldier was the commander of the fifth century in the rear guard of the seventh legion, typically meaning that this a low ranking centurion. The first centurion in the prima cohort was called the primus pilus and was the most senior centurion of the legion. In battle, the primus pilus commanded the entire prima cohort instead of a single century like the rest of the cohorts. The first centurion of the other cohorts were called pilus prior meaning that they were the most senior commander in their respective cohorts. Many times a centurion moved up in rank by moving to a higher-ranked cohort either in their respective legion or many times were moved into another legion with a different assignment. The primus pilus was also considered a pilus prior since the soldier was just like any other centurion except he was the most senior commander in the legion besides the Legate of course. Then there are the primi ordines which was a rank given to the other five centurions of the prima cohort since they were all under the direct command of the primus pilus. 

From there the ranking system leads down to the not quite officers, not quite rank and file legionnaires. The highest-ranking being the Optio since these soldiers were the centurions second in command. As such there was one for every centurion including the primus pilus. They were only paid twice the normal wage while the centurion was paid 30 times, the primus pilus was paid 60 times. The Optio held the modern-day equivalent rank of First-Sergent. From there it led down to the tesseraius for which there was only one per century and was paid one and a half times the normal wage. The tesseraius was the keeper of the watchword and was an administrative assistant to the HQ staff, they also fought as rank and file soldiers when the century they were attached to was not in the vanguard, they were also third in command of the century. Then from there it led down to the Decanus who was in charge of a single seven-man squad, eight men including the Decanus and was the equivalent rank of a corporal or sergeant since they were in command of a handful of men. The Decanus were not paid any differently than a regular rank and file soldier. Down from there came the special assignments of the soldiers, one of the most important being the Aquilifer which was a single position in the legion. The aquilifer was the legion's standard– or Aquila (eagle)– bearer and was an enormously important and prestigious position. Losing the aquila was considered the greatest dishonour a legion could endure. This post, therefore, had to be filled with steady veteran soldiers, with an excellent understanding of the tactics of the legion. He was paid twice the basic wage. Each legion used an aquila (eagle) as its standard symbol. The symbol was carried by an officer known as aquilifer, and its loss was considered to be a very serious embarrassment, and often led to the disbanding of the legion itself. Normally, this was because any legion incapable of regaining its eagle in battle was so severely mauled that it was no longer effective in combat. Julius Caesar describes an incident at the start of his first invasion of Britain in 55 BC that illustrated how fear for the safety of the eagle could drive Roman soldiers. When Caesar's troops hesitated to leave their ships for fear of the Britons, the aquilifer of the tenth legion threw himself overboard and, carrying the eagle, advanced alone against the enemy. His comrades, fearing disgrace, 'with one accord, leapt down from the ship' and were followed by troops from the other ships.