While Augustus’ Reforms Promoted The Municipal Elite, And Gave Them A Post That They Could Call Their Own – Thereby Presenting

Ch. 5: The Junior Officer Positions 30 BC – AD 14

The Augustan era saw the most dramatic series of changes to the Roman army in the period covered by this thesis. The long commands given to Marius, Pompeius, and Caesar had offered them a chance to institute reforms within their armies, but such reforms could only have limited impact. Augustus’ control of all Roman military forces allowed him to make a number of changes[1] – those to the size of the armed forces and to the conditions of service, for example, are well known – and, perhaps more importantly, to experiment with different ways of organising his armies. Augustus faced a number of challenges, some of them inherited from the Triumviral period, such as the decline in the status of some of the junior officer positions, while others were the result of specific crises, such as the Pannonian revolt. Moreover, the Augustan period also saw a great deal of perhaps overdue reform, particularly the beginnings of a permanent and structured array of auxilia. The results of this can be seen particularly clearly in the many cursus inscriptions that record junior officers from the Augustan period, which reveal a number of new posts and career patternss.

Many of these posts, such as those of praefectus castrorum and praefectus cohortis, were to become firmly established and continued for centuries. However, as we shall see, these posts were only in the early stages of evolution, and their roles and responsibilities, as well as the status of the men that held them, were yet to be established. Other innovations were more short-lived. The military tribunate a populo, and the positions of praefectus leuis armaturae and praefectus nauium, for example, as well as the commands of citizen cohorts, all show the ways in which the Augustan system was prepared to experiment with new posts and structures. Moreover, the status and functions of long-established posts, such as that of praefectus fabrum and the military tribunate, had yet to evolve even into the positions they were to become in the Claudian period, let alone into those of the high Empire.

These innovations, matched with the social changes affecting the junior officer positions of the period 49 – 31BC, produced a diverse officer corps. The military career structure of the post-Flavian period, especially the concept of the equestrian militia, was in its early stages of development, and by no means constituted the established career-path that was to come. The Augustan period is marked by diverse patterns of office-holding, and by a broad range of positions that might be held, for example, by both the sons of senators or by former centurions.

The number of junior officer positions available

As with the late Republican period, it is possible to estimate how many military tribunates were available during the Augustan period by first calculating the number of legions in service. While there is debate about the precise distribution of the legions, and while it is unclear exactly how fast the bulk of the Triumviral legions were disbanded, it is generally accepted that Augustus quite quickly reduced the number of legions in service to 28[2]. This, of course, means that there would have been 168 military tribunates available each year – an increase on the average for the late Republic, but a substantial drop on the number of military tribunates available during the period 49 – 31BC.

As with the earlier periods, it is more difficult to calculate the number of prefects in service[3]. From the Augustan reform of the navy, we know that along with the two praefecti classis in service each year (one stationed at Misenum and the other at Ravenna), there was an unknown but comparatively small number of junior prefects in charge of various naval bases, such as the one at Forum Iulii ([###24] [- - -]us T.f. Teret(ina))[4]. It is hard to estimate the numbers of infantry and cavalry prefects who were responsible for commanding the auxilia, about which our evidence, throughout the period, is fragmentary[5]. It is also difficult to estimate the proportion of auxiliaries in service on the basis of the number of legions: in AD7, Tiberius commanded ten legions, 70 infantry cohorts, and 14 cavalry alae, as well as other forces not clearly defined but which included Thracian cavalry[6]; Varus lost only six infantry cohorts and three cavalry alae along with his three legions[7]; the strength of the Roman army in Egypt is given by Strabo as three legions, nine infantry cohorts, and three cavalry alae[8]. Taken together, these figures suggest that the number of cavalry alae in service might be roughly equivalent to the number of legions, but they do not help us to estimate the number of infantry cohorts in service. In the Claudian army, it is estimated that there were 300 praefecti cohortis in service annually, as well as 99 100 praefecti alae (equivalent to Augustan praefecti equitum), of whom nine ten were praefecti alae milliariae, of which there is no direct Augustan equivalent, and 190 military tribunes[9]. However, we cannot directly extrapolate from these figures to produce estimates for the Augustan army, as there were many more legions in service at the time (the figure is probably 38) and, moreover, the use and organisation of auxiliary forces changed significantly during the early Julio-Claudian period. Had the ratio of praefecti cohortis:tribuni militum:praefecti equitum been the same in the Augustan period as in the Claudian period (when there five rather than six equestrian military tribunes per legion), i.e. 300:190:99, there would have been approximately 220 praefecti cohortis and approximately 72 praefecti equitum in service annuallyy.[10]. This, however, is very different from the proportions of junior officers known from surviving inscriptions: of the 104 known junior officers who probably served in the Augustan period, 76 served as military tribunes[11], 32 as praefecti fabrum, 28 as praefecti equitum[12], 9 as praefecti cohortis, 14 as praefecti castrorum, and 6 held other kinds of military prefectures. This demonstrates, perhaps, that praefecti in general are under-represented. While it is not surprising that more military tribunes are recorded than praefecti cohortis (and than commanders of cohorts of citizen infantry), since the post held greater social status, the relative under-representation (in comparison with the Claudian figures) of praefecti equitum, who were at least of equivalent status, and in earlier and later periods of higher status, is interesting. It may be that the municipal elite, who provided so many of the military tribunes in this period, were more likely than prefects to be commemorated (in civic inscriptions or in prominent funerary monuments) in such a way as to allow their names and cursuses to survive.

It may also be the case that prefects, and praefecti equitum in particular, were more likely to stay in their posts for a longer period of time. Most officers in the Roman army of the post-Flavian period served for more than one year, with 2-3 years in one post being the norm[13], and while we should be wary of extrapolating too far from our knowledge of the career patterns of the post-Flavian period, the trend of office holding in the Julio-Claudian period was, nevertheless, heading in the direction of the established, long-term military equestrian cursus of the Flavian and post-Flavian eras. We should, therefore, consider that it was probably fairly common for individuals to remain in their posts for more than one year (for an example of this, see [###149] T. Iunius D.f. Ani(ensi) Montanus), and that, therefore, the number of vacant posts available in any given year was substantially lower than the total number of officer positions.

The roles and functions of the junior officer positions

The most established junior officer position remained the military tribunate. Of the 1046[### Again, check this] junior officers known from the Augustan period, nearly three-quarters are attested as having served as military tribunes at some point in their careers. That the position is the most often recorded in our (mainly epigraphic) sources should not come as a surprise: as we have seen, there were more military tribunates available annually than any other junior officer position. However, the large number of military tribunates among those who also held prefectures (41 such individuals are known[### Check that]), suggests that the military tribunate was a normal part of a junior officer’s career: most junior officers who held only one post held the military tribunate, and most junior officers who held more than one post held the military tribunate at some point.

The military tribunate does not appear to have changed in character during the Augustan period. In the later Principate, the military tribunate was split into two distinct posts, with each legion having one tribunus legionis, a senator’s son on the way to a political career, and five tribuni militum[14], who were of equestrian rank and were normally drawn from the municipal elite[15]. The legionary tribune was the second in command of the legion, and commanded it in the absence of the legionary legate[16]. Legionary tribunes had their own staff, and held substantial military and judicial responsibilities[17]. However, there is no little evidence for the existence of this post in the Augustan period. Suetonius states that to give the sons of senators military experience, Augustus “non tribunatum modo legionum, sed et praefecturas alarum dedit”[18] – but this is not evidence for a separate type of military tribunate. The term tribunus legionis is found in the period, albeit rarely, but it is as a contraction of tribunus militum legionis X, and not necessarily in association with those of high status[19]: Suetonius’ terminology here (note also the use of “praefecturas alarum” not praefecturas equitum) seems out of place for the Augustan period. . A number of individuals of high social status are recorded as tribuni militum, and there is no evidence that they held a new post entitled tribunus legionis or one of higher status than the old‘normal’ military tribunate: [###82] Tiberius, and probably possibly [###] Marcellus, served as military tribunes during the Cantabrian war[20]; [###211] Passienus Rufus, the son of a proconsul[21], served as a military tribune, as did others who may have come from senatorial families[22]; and [###224] Cn. Pompeius C.f. Teret(ina) Proculus[23], an equestrian of high standing, also served as a “tribunus militum” and not as a tribunus legionis.. In the absence of other evidence[24], it is assumed here that no new post was created, and that six military tribunes of equivalent, equestrian, rank served in each legion. Moreover, it is worth noting that the post of legatus legionis dates from the very end of the Augustan period[25]. In addition, while in the later Principate the equestrian military tribunes were junior to both the praefectus castrorum and the primipilus bis[26], the latter position dates from the Claudian period, while the position of praefectus castrorum, as we shall see, was still in its infancy, and it is likely that praefecti castrorum were not yet senior to the military tribunes[27]. Until the introduction of the legionary legate, military tribunes would have been responsible, as before, directly to the commander (or the legate or prefect in charge of a detachment).

The Augustan period provides little direct evidence on the duties of military tribunes. The cursus of [###114] Fabricius Tuscus[28] mentions that he was “trib(uno) mil(itum) leg(ionis) III / Cyr(enaicae) VIII trib(uno) dilectus ingenuorum / quem Romae habuit” which, as it is unlikely to have been a formal post[29], suggests that military tribunes may have been responsible for some part of the dilectus, or more likely that they played a role in the emergency conscription of citizens that followed the Pannonian revolt. Otherwise, [153] P. Iuuentius Rufus’ involvement with mining operations in Egypt[30] is a rare example of an association between the military tribunate and another role in a cursus inscription: it is likely that the absence of such information shows that the military tribunate was a stable position, with understood roles and responsibilities.

It is worth noting, however, the administrative nature of the military tribunate in the later Julio-Claudian period[31]. Suetonius records that Claudius attempted to codify an equestrian military career, beginning with the post of praefectus cohortis (prefect of auxiliary infantry), progressing to praefectus equitum and from there to the military tribunate[32], and this is borne out by epigraphic evidence[33]. On the face of it, this order of officer posts is odd. The equestrian prefecture was arguably a post of greater military importance, requiring independent thought and action and giving the office-holder a considerable degree of power and initiative: in the Republic, and from the Flavian period onwards, it was the highest equestrian officer post in the equestrian militiae[34]. It seems that Claudius’ intention was not to select just good soldiers but also good administrators: many military tribunes also worked within the provincial administration, as well as routinely aiding in large administrative tasks such as censuses[35]. The men who had been promoted through Claudius’ career path would be the most competent administrators, who would then be in line for junior procuratorships: the military cursus was thus integrated into the civilian administrative structure. Claudius may have been attempting reform, but the stress laid on the administrative ability of the junior officers was not a new trend, and it continued – as we can see in Pliny’s letters of recommendation for junior officer posts[36] – into the Flavian period and beyond. It should be noted, however, that the military tribunate was still very much a military post, and that, as we shall see, even those who held multiple prefectures would normally hold the military tribunate.