Centurions received substantial pensions at retirement and were viewed as notables in the towns where they lived.
The centurion typically earned his rank the hard way, and it was a position of prestige and honor, commanding the respect of others. Promotion to the office of centurion was usually based on experience and knowledge, and, just as in the military today, centurions were promoted as they transferred to positions of increasing responsibility.
Sixty centurions served each legion, with rankings among those sixty. The position was similar to what we know as a company commander. In the Roman army, the office of centurion was the highest rank an ordinary soldier could achieve. A century always consisted of a hundred soldiers, meaning that sixty centuries formed a combined legion of six thousand troops. In a legion there were thirty maniples and sixty centuries. The core elements of soldiering have not changed.Įach legion was divided into ten cohorts, each cohort into three maniples, and each maniple into two centuries. To have a proper grasp of a centurion’s role, it is helpful to understand the design of a Roman legion. The word centurion comes from the Latin term centum, meaning “one hundred.” A centurion was a Roman officer in command of a hundred men. So with that in mind, let’s consider what military life might have looked like for a first-century Roman centurion. But the basic commitments to obedience, duty, discipline, authority, and teamwork have not. Certainly the technology, the apparatus of warfare, and the training have changed. The core elements of soldiering have not changed over the centuries. It is a lifestyle rooted in discipline, authority structures, and teamwork. Soldiers are committed to putting the mission before comfort, their comrades before self, and obedience to duty above their personal opinions about the orders they are given. Watching him progress through the ranks from recruit to staff sergeant has been an education in what military life is like. Our oldest son has been in the Army for several years.
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