§ 1. Among the most ancient peoples of the East, the dignity next to kings was that of the master of the soldiers, such as the one in Genesis 26; in small kingdoms these men were both prefects of the praetorium and magistrates of the camp. The Assyrian also had Holofernes as commander of the army; Joab was over the army of David, who also had very many commanders, one in each tribe. Military service has always been ordered in every state. For an ordered and a disorderly army incur the same expenditures—indeed, the disorderly incurs greater ones—but the ordering was discerned in the magistracy and in the duties of its officers. Among the Romans under the emperors, military magistracies, just like civil ones, were gradually changed.
The admiral—ἀμηράλιος ἡγεῖται, says Codinus, τῆς ὅλης παντός—commands the whole fleet. The grand heteriarch presides over the reception of deserters. The prefect of the legions held nearly the office which the legates formerly held. Vegetius, book 2, chapter 9: “The prefect of the legion was its proper judge, possessing the dignity of a count of the first order; in the absence of the legate, as his deputy, he retained the highest authority. The tribunes or centurions and the other soldiers obeyed his commands. From him the watchword for a watch or for a march was sought. If a soldier had committed some crime, by authority of the prefect of the legion he was assigned by the tribune for punishment. The arms of all the soldiers, and likewise the horses, clothing, and grain allowance, belonged to his care. By his command the rule and severity of discipline, and the daily exercise not only of the infantry but also of the legionary cavalry, were maintained. As a diligent and sober guardian, he himself formed the legion entrusted to him by continual labors for every devotion and every industry, knowing that the valor of those subject to him redounded to the praise of their prefect.”
The prefect of the camp was afterward added. Concerning him Vegetius, book 2, chapter 10, says: “There was also a prefect of the camp, who, although occupying an inferior dignity, was nevertheless engaged with matters of no small importance. To him belonged the positioning of the camp and the marking out of the rampart and ditch. The soldiers’ tents or huts, together with all the baggage, were attended to at his direction. Moreover, sick tent-companions, the physicians by whom they were treated, and their expenses belonged to his diligence. He took care that wagons, pack-animals, and also the iron tools by which timber is cut or hewn, ditches opened, and a rampart constructed, together with aqueducts, timber or straw, rams, onagers, ballistae, and all the other kinds of artillery, should never be lacking. After long and approved military service, a man most skilled in all these matters was chosen, so that he might rightly teach others what he himself had performed with praise.”
Tacitus, Annals 1, says that their dignity was greater than that of the tribunes. The grand stratopedarch presided over the whole army, in order to take care of food and equipment. Cantacuzenus, book 1, chapter 17, mentions the stratopedarch τῶν μονοκαβάλλων, who presided over those who served with one horse.
There was a stratopedarch of the Murtati, who were stationary javelin-throwers; a stratopedarch τῶν θράκων, who presided over the spearmen; and a stratopedarch τῶν τζαγγρατῶν, who presided over the bowmen.
The prefect of the craftsmen had under him all the craftsmen, the arms, the wagons, the sappers, and the others.
§ 2. The dignity of the masters of the soldiers was great. There were five of them in the East; they were also masters of arms. In the West there were two, and sometimes one.
In the fleet the drungarius obeyed the commander alone; he commanded the counts, the admiral, the protocomes, and drungarii of inferior rank.
The magistrates of the cavalry were formerly called τετραρχοὶ, Leo, Constitution 3, §43; he also calls them μεράρχες and στρατηλάτας.
At times triumvirs were created to conduct levies. Livy, book 25, says that this occurred in the Second Punic War, when there was a great scarcity of soldiers.
§ 3. There were also primipili, whose dignity was great; they supplied the grain allowance, according to Dionysius, book 9.
The counts of military affairs were made equal to the commanders of the provinces, Code, title 12, On the Counts of Military Affairs.
There were several of them. At one time they commanded infantry, at another squadrons of cavalry. Some were equal to the masters of the soldiers.
The counts of the schools and of the guards belonged to the offices of the palace.
§ 4. The prefects of frontiers and of soldiers were called commanders. Crispus was one of these, and he made a mockery of commands and powers; for this reason Nero caused him to be drowned in the sea.
The drungarii were afterward held to be higher than commanders and counts. A drungus is Δροῦγγος τῶν ἐκ τριῶν μοιρῶν συγκείμενον ἄθροισμα, an assemblage composed of three moerae, or parts. A meros, or μοῖρα, sometimes contained three drungi. For the names vary.
There is much mention of these men in Maurice and Codinus; the Deacon, book 25, names a drungarius of the watch.
The officers set over the labarum, or λαβάρων, as they were called, carried it by turns. They were fifty in number, according to Eusebius, book 2 of The Life of Constantine. They were men of the highest distinction and equal to men of consular rank, according to the Deacon, book 11.
Officers placed under the tribunes commanded a fixed number of soldiers, according to Suetonius in Otho.
There were also tribunes of the provinces, Cassiodorus, book 12, chapter 34: the tribune of the maritime districts; and tribunes of the praetorian cohorts.
The aphoplistae disarmed private persons so that they might not commit murders; Justinian abolished them in Novel 15. Our people call this office the red staff. After wars, a magistracy for restraining petty brigands is necessary.
They are also commonly called latrunculatores. The irenarchs were similar to these and prevented murders.
The metatores and measurers selected a place suitable for the camp.
As a bold quartermaster, I shall come into the Hesperian fields.
The judge of the camp, later called κριτὴς φοσσάτων, judged among the soldiers, as the tribunes formerly did.
The camp instructors, ὁπλοδιδάσκαλοι, were present in each legion, as appears in the acts of the Thebans.
§ 5. Whether the evocati should be counted among the soldiers or among the military magistrates might seem uncertain; but in dignity they were equal to centurions, while in status they were private men. They were the most excellent soldiers of every class, who had completed their terms of service but voluntarily served for the sake of their country or of their commanders. Thus Dionysius says: “Among these men was L. Siccius, who commanded a cohort of eight hundred men who were already beyond military age and were not subject to the laws of military service, just as Siccius himself was not. Nevertheless, honoring the man and having received many benefits from him, they were unwilling to desert him when he went to war. And this band was by far the foremost of the entire army, whether in experience of battles or in steadfastness amid dangers.”
They were also taken from the allies, and in great number. Quinctius collected three thousand, and Plutarch calls them σόμωμα, the edge of the battle-line. In this respect those who had many beneficiaries were powerful. Octavian collected ten thousand from the Campanian beneficiaries of his father, according to Appian. He kept these under one standard as bodyguards. Tacitus calls it the standard of the veterans.
They were exempt from duties, unless the enemy had to be repelled. Many enrolled in the hope of commanding ranks. Caesar, book 1 of The Civil War, seems to make them equal to centurions: “He promises four iugera to each man, and a proportionate share to centurions and evocati.”
Dio, in Augustus, says that they were permitted ῥάβδους φέρειν ὥσπερ οἱ ἑκατόνταρχοι, to carry rods like the centurions.
§ 6. When the state had been corrupted, almost all military offices passed into disgrace and profit-making. Thus no account was taken of valor, but only of money and vices.
Tacitus, book 4 of the Histories, shows what discipline there then was in the camp and what manner of levy: “At the command of Vitellius, the youth of the Batavians was summoned for a levy. This, burdensome by its very nature, the officials aggravated by avarice and lust: they gathered the old or infirm, whom they might release for a price; on the other hand, they dragged off immature boys conspicuous for beauty—and in most of them boyhood is tall—to be debauched. Hence arose resentment, and the authors of sedition, acting in concert, induced them to refuse the levy. Civilis summoned the leading men of the nation and the boldest of the common people, under the appearance of a feast, to a sacred grove. When he saw that night and merriment had warmed them, he began with the praise and glory of their nation and recounted their injuries and exactions and the other evils of slavery. For there was no alliance, as formerly; rather, they were treated as slaves. When did a legate come, accompanied though he was by a burdensome retinue and with insolent command? They were handed over to prefects and centurions, who, when they had glutted themselves with spoils and blood, were changed, and new pockets and various names for plunder were sought. A levy was at hand, by which children were separated from parents and brothers from brothers, as though for the last time. Never had the Roman state been more afflicted; there was nothing in the winter quarters except booty and old men. They should only lift up their eyes and not fear the empty names of legions. They themselves possessed the strength of infantry and cavalry, Germans were their blood-relations, and the Gauls desired the same thing. Nor would this war be displeasing even to the Romans; if its fortune were doubtful, he would impute it to Vespasian, while no account had to be rendered for victory.” Heard with great assent, he bound them all by a barbarian rite and their ancestral imprecations.