| Centuria |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT CENTURIA | |
| infantry units and formations of ancient rome | |
| roman legions | |
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POLITICAL The constitutive voting unit in the ''centuriate comices'' (Latin ''comitia centuriata''), an old popular assembly in the Roman Republic , the members of which cast one collective vote. Its origin seems to be the homonymous military unit, as citizens would serve on both until Marius ' reform shifted the main recruitment from conscription to professional contracts. MILITARY The ''centuria'' was the pivotal tactical Roman Legion unit. It consisted of originally a hundred, later (60 to ideally) 80 men distributed along 10 ''contubernia'' (of 8 men each). Each Contubernium (the minimal unit in the Roman legion) lived at the same tent. The whole centuria was commanded by a Centurion (Roman Army) who held a flag. Centuriae were grouped by pairs forming Maniple s, which were then grouped in Cohort s. As an exception, the first cohort consisted of the bravest men from the legion and had only 5 centurias, but since these were double centurias (160 men) the size of the whole cohort remained the same. Centurions on these ''centuriae'' were called '' Primi Ordinis '', except the one from the very first centuria, which was referred to as '' Primus Pilus '', a proverbial hardened professional (a bit like the British regimental sergeant major). SEE ALSO |
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