Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

, a decury (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''decuria'', plural: ''decuriae'') was a group of ten people, ranged under one chief, or commander, called a ''

decurio ''Decurio'' was an official title in Ancient Rome, used in various connections: * Decurion (administrative), a member of the senatorial order in the Italian towns under the administration of Rome, and later in provincial towns organized on the It ...

''. In

Roman cavalry Roman cavalry (Latin: ''equites Romani'') refers to the horse-mounted forces of the Roman army throughout the Regal, Republican, and Imperial eras. In the Regal era the Roman cavalry was a group of 300 soldiers called '' celeres'', tasked wit ...

a ''

turma A ''turma'' (Latin for "swarm, squadron", plural ''turmae''), (Greek: τούρμα) was a cavalry unit in the Roman army of the Republic and Empire. In the Byzantine Empire, it became applied to the larger, regiment-sized military-administrative ...

'' was divided into three decuries. Romulus divided the whole Roman people into three tribes, over each of which he appointed a

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

. Each tribe he subdivided into ten

centuries A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

, with centurions at their heads, and each century he subdivided further into ten decuries, over each of which a decurio commanded. In the interregnum after the death of Romulus the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

, comprised at that time of 100 men, arranged itself into ten decuries, and each ''decuria'' governed Rome for five days. In a rotating manner, each man within a ''decuria'' reigned for 12 hours, six by day and six by night, as

interrex The interrex (plural interreges) was literally a ruler "between kings" (Latin ''inter reges'') during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent. History The office of ''interrex'' was supposedly created follow ...

. The ''decuriae'' continued to rotate the government amongst themselves for a year until the election and accession of Numa Pompilius. ''Decuria'' was also a Roman unit of measurement applied to '' civitas'' of native peoples. It had been mentioned by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

at 70 AD in his work, ''Natural History''.

Etymology

From *''dek''- 'ten' plus *''-ur-yo-'', a Common Italic formation, judging from the related Umbrian ''dequrier'', tekuries 'decurial'; and compare Oscan dekkviarim. Poultney, J.W. "Bronze Tables of Iguvium" 1959 p. 302 https://archive.org/details/bronzetablesofig00poul/page/n19/mode/2up

Notes

References

* * Society of ancient Rome Military of ancient Rome {{AncientRome-stub