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In the Roman army of the late Republic and the Principate, the tribunus laticlavius ("broad-striped tribune") was one of the six military tribunes in a legion. Usually, it consisted of young men around age 20 who belonged to a wealthy family or were friends with the legate. The position of tribunus laticlavius was the first step on the Cursus honorum . Tribunus laticlavius are typically depicted wearing a purple cloak.
The tribunus laticlavius were second in command to the legatus legionis , [1] [2] the legion's commander. They were also above the other five tribuni angusticlavii and later the praefectus castrorum . It was common for the tribunus laticlavius to be a Roman noble younger than 25 years old, usually around the age of 20. [3] [4] They were commonly either part of the richest families in Rome or a close friend to the legionary commander. It was also common for the tribune to have no previous military experience. [3]
Members of the tribunus laticlavius were part of the senatorial aristocracy. [5] It was common for the tribune to return to Rome and run for a political office, usually a quaestorship after two or three years as a tribune. [6] The position was the first step of the traditional cursus honorum. [3] [7] [8] [9] [10] By the middle of 250s AD, at the earliest, the post of the tribunus laticlavius had disappeared from the Roman army, following the general trend of removal of the senatorial class from military commands. [11]
The cursus honorum was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The cursus honorum comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts; the ultimate prize for winning election to each "rung" in the sequence was to become one of the two consuls in a given year.
The Roman legion, the largest military unit of the Roman army, comprised 4,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic and 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of the Roman Empire.
Tribune was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the authority of the senate and the annual magistrates, holding the power of ius intercessionis to intervene on behalf of the plebeians, and veto unfavourable legislation. There were also military tribunes, who commanded portions of the Roman army, subordinate to higher magistrates, such as the consuls and praetors, promagistrates, and their legates. Various officers within the Roman army were also known as tribunes. The title was also used for several other positions and classes in the course of Roman history.
Legio II Augusta was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that was founded during the late Roman republic. Its emblems were the Capricornus, Pegasus, and Mars. It may have taken the name "Augusta" from a victory or reorganization that occurred during the reign of Augustus.
A legatus was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman army, equivalent to a high-ranking general officer of modern times. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer in command of a legion.
The equites constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an eques.
In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion, was a commander, nominally of a century, a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time, and from the first century BC through most of the imperial era was reduced to 80 men.
Poenius Postumus was praefectus castrorum of the Roman legion II Augusta, stationed in Britain during the rebellion of Boudica in 61 AD. In this position he would have been in charge of all administrative, training and equipment matters, and would also have been acting commander of the legion in the absence of its two most senior officers: the legate (legatus) and the senior military tribune.
A military tribune was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stepping stone to the Senate. The tribunus militum should not be confused with the elected political office of tribune of the people (tribunus plebis) nor with that of tribunus militum consulari potestate.
Praefectus, often with a further qualification, was the formal title of many, fairly low to high-ranking, military or civil officials in the Roman Empire, whose authority was not embodied in their person but conferred by delegation from a higher authority. They did have some authority in their prefecture such as controlling prisons and in civil administration.
The primus pilus or primipilus was the senior centurion of the first cohort in a Roman legion, a formation of five double-strength centuries of 160 men; he was a career soldier and advisor to the legate. The primus pilus would remain in command for one year. They could continue to serve in the army after their term ended if there was a vacancy in command or if they wished to become an independent commander of an auxilia unit or the praefectus castrorum.
Gaius Bruttius Praesens Lucius Fulvius Rusticus was an important Roman senator of the reigns of the emperors Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. A friend of Pliny the Younger and Hadrian, he was twice consul, governed provinces, commanded armies and ended his career as Urban prefect of Rome. Bruttius’ life and career left few coherent traces in the literary record, but a number of inscriptions, including his complete cursus honorum, fills out the picture considerably.
The praefectus castrorum was, in the Roman army of the early Empire, the third most senior staff officer of the Roman legion after the legate (legatus) and the senior military tribune, both of whom were from the senatorial class. The praefectus castrorum was a quartermaster responsible for military logistics and requisition but could command the legion whenever the senior commanders were absent. The post was usually held by a soldier promoted from the centurionate, having already served as a chief centurion of a legion, and was therefore open to ordinary, plebeian citizens. Prefects of this rank, for example Sextus Vibius Gallus, were awarded prizes (dona) to mark their achievements.
A tribunus angusticlavius was a senior military officer in the Roman legions during the late Roman Republic and the Principate.
The Imperial Roman army was the military land force of the Roman Empire from 27 BC to 476 AD, and the final incarnation in the long history of the Roman army. This period is sometimes split into the Principate and the Dominate (284–476) periods.
Gaius Vettius Sabinianus Julius Hospes was a Roman military officer and senator. He was born into the equestrian order, possibly in North Africa. He held the traditional series of military, administrative and judicial positions of steadily increasing responsibility which aspiring upper class Romans were expected to progress through, known as the cursus honorum. He had a long and distinguished military and political career under the reigns of the emperors Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and Commodus.
Marcus Claudius Fronto was a Roman senator and Consul, and a general in the Imperial Roman army during the reigns of emperors Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus.
The tres militiae was a career progression of the Roman Imperial army for men of the equestrian order. It developed as an alternative to the cursus honorum of the senatorial order for enabling the social mobility of equestrians and identifying those with the aptitude for administration. The three posts, typically held over a period of two to four years, were Praefectus cohortis, Tribunus angusticlavius, and Praefectus alae.
Gaius Curtius Justus was a Roman senator who held several posts in the emperor's service during the Antonine dynasty. He was suffect consul in 150 with Gaius Julius Julianus as his colleague. Justus is known primarily through surviving inscriptions, although he could be identical with the Curtius Justus mentioned as a scriptor rei rusticae by Gargilius Martialis (2.1.4,7).