Roman (and Coryani) Legion breakdown

And as an amusing aside as I’m stuck at work until about 8pm tonight, I thought I would share some fun facts about the military formation known as a Roman Legion! We know that the Coryani Empire is heavily influence by Rome’s mighty empire, so I thought I’d post this as a resource for anyone wishing to fulfill their backstories/writing adventures/GMing.

Please Note: Coryan may be based on Rome, but it is NOT Rome. There are some difference between the two bodies, though the actual extent depends on what Mr. Lopez desires.

Roman Legion

A Legion is a body of troops–typically Infantry–which was the largest standard military formation used in the Roman Empire. The size and make-up of a Roman Legion changed somewhat during the history of the Roman Empire, but overall it usually consisted of a force of 4,200 to 5,200 Infantryman (including officers) and many as 300 cavalry, typically drawn from the Roman Equestrian Class (a minor noble class, related to Patrician, who often supplied their own horses and materials).

Using the Imperial Roman Legion as a base, the Legion itself is broken up into smaller units by the name of Cohorts, with as many as ten Cohorts in a particular legion. These Cohorts–instead of being of uniform make-up and skill level–tended to have the most skilled troops concentrated to specific Cohorts (traditionally, Cohort I, VI, VIII, and X) while new trainees tended to be grouped together in their own Cohorts (traditionally Cohort II, IV, VII, and IX). Cohorts typically were made up of 480 soldiers.

The subsequent breakdown of a Cohort is either into Maniples or Centuries. Traditionally, a Maniple is made up of around 120 soldiers, with four Maniples to a Cohort. Alternatively, a smaller unit known as a Century (Centuria)–typically made up of 60-80 soldiers-was used more often later in the Empire, with six Centuries for each Cohort. Either way, whether 4 Maniples or 6 Centuries were used, it still adds up to the 480 soldiers to a Cohort.

Below the level of a Cohort or a Century, the next standard unit of organization is that of the Tent Group (Contubernium). This unit consisted of a ‘squad’ of eight soldiers and was typically viewed as the most close-knit unit of the Legion. If people were aiming to make a ‘table’ of Legionnaires (from the same legion), making a Tent Group would be the best bet.

Additionally, Legions were typically assigned auxiliary units (Auxilia). These units were typically assigned to Legions in Cohort strength, with between 300 and 480 per Auxilia. A typical example of an Auxilia are the Ala (Cavalry) units which consisted of semi-mounted Cavalry troops which consisted of 16 Turmae (subunits) of 32 soldiers (including officers), for a total of 512 soldiers (480+32). There were also Auxilia consisting of specialist units, such as slingers, archers, and special cavalry such as the famous Numidian Cavalry of North Africa. In Coryani terms, these non-cavalry Auxilia would probably consist of specialists such as Battle Mages or possibly attached ‘militia’ units which can consist of any proportion of Infantry centuries/maniples and Cavalry turmae.

Now that we have a basic description of how their organized, how does the rank-system work? Well, alas the modern, highly regimented system of ranks simply did not exist in Roman times, and presumably also does not exist in the Coryani Empire. There are, however, some basic noticable ranks common in the Legions/Auxilia:

Senior Officers – These individuals are, almost without fail, from the Patrician class (though, people from the Senatorial and Equestrian classes could also probably ‘buy’ their way into the higher ranks).

Legatus (Legionis) = The General of a Legion and its overall commander. Typically raised from the lower rank of Tribune, the position was typically a political appointment. Legates typically served for 3-4 years (though this was not a hard-fast rule) and often served as regional governors.

Tribunus Laticlavius = A political officer (Tribune) of Senatorial rank (below a Patrician, but with enough wealth to be effectively just as powerful), appointed by the Senate or Emperor, and served as second in command of a legion. In terms of Coryan, this Tribune would probably be appointed by the legion’s sponsor (Church of Cadic, the val’Dellenov family, etc).

Praefectus Castorum: Also known as a Prefect, this is the highest rank that a non-Patrician (or senatorial) could reach within a legion. This officer would be the third in command of a legion and was typically a seasoned veteran who worked their way up through the ranks.

Tribuni Angusticlavii = These Tribunes (typically 5 per legion) were typically of the Equestian (Knight) class of citizens and served a number of administrative and tactical roles in a legion.

Primus Pilus = The “First File” was a Centurion commanding the Cohort I of the Legion and was considered the ranking Centurion of the Legion. Typically, this position was seen as an ‘in’ to the Equestrian class in Rome for Plebians upon their retirement from the Legion.

Mid-level Officers – These troops could be from (as far as my reading goes) any social class, but most likely would be from higher social classes (Patrician, Senatorial, Equestrian, etc). Aside from the Cohort I, there were (as far as I’m aware) no direct Cohort commanders, with the ranking Centurion of each Cohort (assigned to the Centuria I of each Cohort) being the de facto commander of that unit.

Centurion = This is a fairly generic rank used to identify all the ‘mid-level’ Century commanders. However, each Centurion had their own title in the Legion to identify their position. The Cohort I has a differing rank system from the other Cohorts, but the general chain of command goes:

Primus Pilus > Pilus Prior > Pilus Posterior > Primus Princeps > Hastatus > Princeps Prior > Princeps Posterior > Hastatus Prior > Hastatus Posterior

The seniority of each centurion goes in order of the century, with the commander of Centuria I being senior to the commander of Centuria VI.

Lower-ranking Officers – In the Roman Legion, there were a number of specialist positions which were considered officer positions which don’t quite line up to our modern interpretation of the ‘lower ranks’ of officers or senor non-commissioned officers. These individuals were known as Principales and had the following seniority:

Aquililifer = This was the Legion’s standard bearer, and could be considered similar to a Colour Sergeant. There was only one Aquilifer per legion, and was considered a very prestigious position for any Legionnaire. In terms of overall rank, they are immediately below a centurion.

Signifier = Each Century of the legion has one of these, and serves as both the Century’s quartermaster as well as the century standard-bearer (note: in terms of marching armies, each subunit typically had its own standard so that its soldiers would not get lost when marching or in battle). There were often ‘understudy’ Signifiers known as Discentes signiferorum who were effectively ‘standard-bearers-in-training.’

Optio = Typially the second in command of a Century, below a centurion. Though below a Signifer in rank, Optio’s tended to exercise more tactical roles than Signifers.

Tesserarius = Effectively the 3rd in command of a Century, behind an Optio. The Tesserarii were typically the commander of the “Night Watch” of a Century.

Cornicen = Similar in function to a Signifer, these were buglers who provided auditory rallying points similar to the Signifers visual rallying point.

Imaginifer = A special Signifer found only in the Cohort I of a Legion, this Signifer carried around a standard bearing the image of the reigning Emperor, and was essentially there to remind the Legion where their loyalty lay.

“Legionnaires” – The rank and file of a Legion, these were the average soldiers within a legion. However, like in our modern day armies, there were various grades of Legionnaire, each fulfilling a specific role.

Immunes = Specialist legionnaires filling a number of different roles, such as surgeons, combat engineers, surveyors, and other craftsmen. They were typically excused from various labour roles and camp upkeep due to the nature of their work.

Discens = Legionnaires training to be an Immunes.

Munifex/Miles Gregarius = Basic grunt Legionnare (similar to a Private in a modern military).

Tirones = New recruits who haven’t earned their Miles rank yet.