The+Roman+Legion

The Roman legion may be one of the most powerful and historic fighting forces in history. Of course Rome did not just have one legion. At any time Rome could have up to thirty total legions in its territory at once.

Legions were the main part of the Roman army. A legion constisted of about 5,000 soldiers. these soldiers were divided into cohorts; cohorts were divided into centuries. Centuries were then divided into even smaller unts known as contubernium. Contubernium means "tent group" because a contubernium was a group of eight that shared one tent. A contubernium was assigned two auxillary. These auxillary were responsible for the pack mule and making sure the legionaries had water during marches. An auxillary would usually have a special skill like blacksmithing or carpentry. A contubernium was run by a decanus. A decanus is the equivalent to a modern day sergeant. A decanus was selected from the contubernium. Usually the decanus was the legionare who served the longest and he would be responsible for the group's tent and the discipline of the contubernium. Ten contubernium made up a centuria. A centuria was a fighting force of eighty men controlled by a centurion. There were many different ranks of centurion, so there were many chances of advancement for a cenrturion. There six centuria in a cohort. A cohort had 480 men not including oficers. A cohort was controlled by the highest ranking cenurion of the six centuria. Ten cohorts form a legion. Adding in officers and auxillary brings a legion's strenth to over 5,000 men. A legion was controlled by a Legatus(Legate) a legatus was normally picked by the emperor. Technically the legion was controlled by the governer of the region that the legion was assigned to.