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The ''primus pilus'' ( "first maniple of triarii") or ''primipilus'' was the senior centurion of the first cohort in a 
During the
Roman legion
The Roman legion (, ) was the largest military List of military legions, unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens serving as legionary, legionaries. During the Roman Republic the manipular legion comprised 4,200 i ...
, a formation of five double-strength centuries of 160 men each; he was a career soldier and advisor to the legate. The ''primus pilus'' would remain in command for one year. They could continue to serve in the army after their term ended if there was a vacancy in command or if they wished to become an independent commander of an ''auxilia
The (; ) were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen Roman legion, legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 27 BC. By the 2nd century, the contained the same number of infantry as the ...
'' unit or the '' praefectus castrorum''.
During 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 ...
, the emperor Claudius created the office of ''primus pilus iterum''. To become the ''primus pilus iterum'' an officer must have formerly served as a tribune in the '' vigiles'', ''cohortes urbanae
The ''cohortes urbanae'' (Latin meaning ''urban cohorts'') of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police service. They were led by the Praefectus ...
'', or Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard (Latin language, Latin: ''cohortes praetoriae'') was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and ga ...
. The ''primus pilus iterum'' would hold the responsibility of a praefectus castrorum but with higher pay.
The ''primus pilus'' was a well paid position. They could accumulate enough wealth to become part of the equestrian class. Even if they failed to gather such wealth, they were promoted to the equestrian class after retiring.
Only eight officers in a fully officered legion outranked the ''primus pilus'': The legate ('' legatus legionis''), commanding the legion; the senior tribune (''tribunus laticlavius
In the Roman army of the late Republic and the Principate, the ("broad-striped tribune") was one of the six military tribunes in a legion. Usually, it consisted of young men around age 20 who belonged to a wealthy family or were friends with th ...
''); the camp prefect ('' praefectus castrorum''); and the five junior tribunes ('' tribuni angusticlavii'').Southern, pp. 26–27.
The ''primus pilus'' centurion had a place in the war councils along with the military tribunes and the legate.
References
Sources
* Ancient Roman titles Military ranks of ancient Rome {{mil-rank-stub