the eagle, borne by the
oldest centurion of the first cohort. Each cohort had its 'signum,'
or ensign. [Sidenote: Standards.] Each maniple had its 'vexillum,' or
standard. [Sidenote: Officers.] There were two centurions for each
maniple, one commanding the first and the other the second century,
and taking rank according to the cohort to which they belonged, which
might be from the first to the tenth. The youngest centurion officered
the second century of the third maniple of the tenth cohort. The
oldest officered the first century of the first maniple of the first
cohort, and was called 'primus-pilus,' and the 'primi ordines,' or
first class of centurions, consisted of the six centurions of the
first cohort. These corresponded to our non-commissioned officers,
were taken from the lower classes of society, and were seldom made
tribunes. [Sidenote: The tribunes.] The tribunes were six to each
legion, were taken from the upper class, and after being attached
to the general's suite, received the rank of tribune, if they were
supposed to be qualified for it. The tribunes were originally
appointed by the consuls. Afterwards they had been elected, partly by
the people and partly by the consuls. Caesar superseded the tribunes
by 'legati' of his own, to one of whom he would entrust a legion, and
appointed some, but probably not all, of the tribunes, and Marius, it
seems likely, did the same. [Sidenote: Numbers of the legion.] The
normal number of a legion had been 4,200 men and 300 horse, but was
often larger. [Sidenote: The pay.] The pay of a legionary was in
the time of Polybius two obols a day for the private, four for a
centurion, and six for a horse soldier, besides an allowance of corn.
But deductions were made for clothing, arms, and food. Hence the law
of Caius Gracchus (cf. p. 51); but from the first book of the Annals
of Tacitus we find that such deductions long continued to be the
soldier's grievance. Auxiliary troops received an allowance of corn,
but no pay from Rome. [Sidenote: The engineers.] The engineers of the
army were called Fabri, under a 'praefectus,' the 'Fabri Lignarii'
having the woodwork, and the 'Fabri Ferrarii' the ironwork of the
enginery under their special charge, [Sidenote: The staff.] and all
were attached to the staff of the army, which consisted of the general
and certain officers, such as the legati, or generals of division, and
the quaestors, or managers of the commissariat. [Sidenote: The C