''Centuria'' (; : ''centuriae'') is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

term (from the stem ''centum'' meaning one hundred) denoting military units originally consisting of 100 men. The size of the centuria changed over time, and from the first century BC through most of the imperial era the standard size of a centuria was 100 men. By the time of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, ordo became a synonym of centuria (in 4 BC it was used for a maniple). Ten contuberniums formed a century, composed of 80 legionaries. Commanding this unit was the '' centurion'', a veteran expert in combat analogous to an

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

. His role was not only that of a leader, but also that of an instructor and responsible for discipline within his unit. The centurion was assisted by the ''optio'', his second-in-command and other officers such as the ''tesserarius'', in charge of security, the ''signifer'', who carried the banner, and the ''cornicen'', who transmitted orders by trumpet.

Roman use

Political

In the political context the ''centuria'' was the constituent voting unit in the assembly of the centuries (

: '' comitia centuriata''), an old form of popular assembly in the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

, the members of which cast one collective vote. Its origin seems to be the homonymous military unit. The ''comitia centuriata'' elected important magistrates like

consuls A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

and

praetors ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discha ...

Military

History

The ''centuria'' dates all the way back to the earliest armies of the

Roman Kingdom The Roman Kingdom, also known as the Roman monarchy and the regal period of ancient Rome, was the earliest period of Ancient Rome, Roman history when the city and its territory were King of Rome, ruled by kings. According to tradition, the Roma ...

being described in

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

's account of the life of

Romulus Romulus (, ) was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of th ...

, however it is only mentioned in passing as a subdivision of Romulus' force. It is speculated that in this period a century may have referred to a Phalanx block and was perhaps the main tactical unit on the battlefield. After the adoption of the manipular Roman army in 340 BC the ''centuria'' took a backseat to the maniple as the main military unit used by the Roman army. In

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

's ''The History of Rome'' and

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

' ''Histories, centuria'' do not appear by name but both writers do mention subdivisions of the maniple of around 60 men that centurions commanded. The only point of disagreement between the two was the number of these units in a maniple; Livy says 3, while Polybius says 2. Livy is writing of a time 150 years before Polybius, so the number of men in this unit may have changed over that period.

Leadership and organization

A century was commanded by a '' centurion'', who was assisted by an ''

optio In a Roman army an (, from , 'to choose', so-called because superior officers chose the ; : ) held a rank in a (century) similar to that of an executive officer. The main function of an was as an , the second-in-command of a century, alth ...

'' and '' tesserarius''. It had a banner or signum which was carried by a '' signifer''. Also, each century provided a ''buccinator'', who played a '' buccina'', a kind of horn used to transmit acoustic orders. On the battlefield, the centurion stood at the far right of the first row of men next to the signifer, while the optio stood at the rear, to avoid, if necessary, the disbanding of the troops and ensure the relay between typical closed order lines used by the Roman army. The ''centuria'' consisted of a hundred soldiers: 80 combat legionaries, with 20 support staff making up the remainder of the 100 men. Each '' contubernium'' (the minimal unit in the Roman legion) consisted of ten soldiers who lived in the same tent while on campaign or the same bunk room in barracks. In the imperial period, but likely not the republican period, the first cohort was twice the size of the other cohorts. Each of its five ''centuriae'' was a double centuria of 200 men (rather than 100). The first cohort thus consisted of 1,000 men. Centurions of these first-cohort double ''centuriae'' were called '' primi ordinis'' ("first rank"), except for the leader of the first ''centuria'' of the first cohort, who was referred to as '' primus pilus'' (the name denoted the first maniple, , of the first cohort).

Other uses

The term ''centuria'' was later used during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

to describe the informal bands of local militiamen and international volunteers that sprang up in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

in October–November 1936.

References

Sources

* {{cite journal , last1=Radin , first1=Max , author-link = Max Radin , title=The Promotion of Centurions in Caesar's Army , journal=

The Classical Journal ''The Classical Journal'' (''CJ'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of classical studies published by the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. Print edition The journal currently has about 2300 subscribers, includin ...

, date=April 1915 , volume=10 , issue=7 , pages=300–311 , jstor=3287327 Infantry units and formations of ancient Rome Roman legions