Who Was In Charge of a Roman Legion? - An Easy History Guide For Everyone
Several different people were in charge of a mighty Roman Legend. Let’s take a look at these officers, from the top rank to the bottom rank.
Legionary Legate
This is the top dog, the big guy, the numero uno, and the head honcho of the Roman Legion. The Legate gets to tell everyone what to do and, perhaps more importantly, gets to be as far away from the dangerous bit of a battle as possible, whilst still kind of being involved.
The Legate would have been someone elite from Roman society with a good education, they might even be the governor of a Roman province. Many of them wanted to be the Emperor and would regularly get up to funny business to try to make that happen. You know, starting a civil war, that kind of thing.
Tribunus Laticlavus
The second in command, the Tribunus Laticlavus will take over command if anything unfortunate happens to the Legate (a stray arrow to the eye, executed by a jealous Emperor, tripping over their own sandals, etc.) The Trinbunus is usually a Senator - a very high position in Roman society - and will be used to getting their own way. Whether or not they are any good at leading an army is irrelevant, they were born to be the boss and that’s just the way they like it.
Praefectus Castrorum
In every company in the modern world, there are a bunch of people who look good but have no idea what they are doing, then there is one person who has all the experience and keeps everything working.
They might not have glossy hair, designer suits, or a huge bank account, but they get stuff done. The Praefectus is that person in the Roman Legion. They will have tons of real battle experience and will know how everything works.
Military Tribunes
The Tribune is a bit like the modern-day equivalent of someone who has just got a degree from an impressive top-tier university, assumes they know everything, joins a big company, and then realises they have absolutely no idea about anything ever. Tribunes were fresh-faced Roman nobles who were often pretty clueless about being in charge. As such there were five of them. Because incompetence loves company.
Centurions
Centurions are like the sergeants of the Roman Legion. They are there, in the front line, ensuring that the Legionnaires keep on fighting whichever enemy of Rome they are up against that week. Centurions were often tough and mean, men who had seen their fair share of fighting.
Centurions would wield a vine staff, a big wooden stick, to thwack Legionnaires with when they did something wrong. The top Centurion was called the Primus Pilus, a demanding job that required them to be tougher and meaner than the rest of the Centurions put together.
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