System and Size of the Roman military of Marcus Aurelius in the movie Gladiator
During the near 2000 year of history, the Roman Empire Regin of Marcus Aurelius was the near the late ages of Pax Romana, the Roman peace that lasted 200 years after the establishment of the Roman Empire by Augustus (Giaus Octavius).
Augustus Octavius reorganized the Roman military and incorporated the Auxilia (non-Roman soldiers as a regular Roman military alongside the Roman legionaries.
During Marcus Aurelius’s rule of Rome, there were about 30 legions of about 165,000 personnel with 224,000 Auxiliaries and 15,000 Praetorian Guard.
Auxiliary, Roman Legion and the Praetoriani during the timeline of the movie Gladiator
*The roles change over time
The Praetoriani or the Praetorian Guard was the royal guard and the elite forces that stationed on the Italy peninsula The role of the Praetorian Guard was to serve the emperor of Rome while maintain order of the mainland of Italy.
The Roman Legion only consisted of Roman citizens that volunteered or were recruited by conscription and served for 10~20 years.
The Roman Legion would defend Rome during war while they would be mobilized for agriculture or construction during peace.
The Auxiliary were assisting military personnel from foreign colonies under Rome’s control. Thus the Auxlila or the Auxiliary were non-Roman citizens, however they were also crucial to the Roman military as many foreign auxilia consist of archers and cavalry and other specialized roles that the Roman Legions lacked.
Aquila – The symbol of the Roman military, the Eagle Military Discipline Flag
The Aquila was the Military Discipline Flag and the symbol of the Roman Empire that had the shape of the eagle and the SPQR. Troops called Aquilifer that were veterans that long survived battles were designated and carried the Aquila in battle.
The Aquila was crucial for moral among the Roman soldiers and became targets by the enemies of Rome as well.
Unit Organization of the Roman Legion
Legio – Cohors – Centuria – Contubernium
Legion – Cohort – Centurion – Contubernium
5000 – 480 – 80 – 10
A Roman Legion or a Legio consists of 10 Cohorts and a total of about 5,000~6,000 men. Normally the first Cohort of each legion were the most elite and it would consist of more men with additional personnel with engineers, administrators and other specialized roles.
1 Cohort or Cohors consists of 480 men that consist of 6 Centurion or Centuria. One Ceturion would consist of eight Contubernium which was a ten men squad.
Maximus Decimus Meridius’s legion - Legio IV Flavia Felix
Legio IV Flavia Felix that means the Lucky Flavian Fourth Legion was a real legion of the Roman Empire which had the symbol of a lion.
In the movie Gladiator, Maximus is the legate, the commander of the Felix legion in the Battle of Germania. The Felix legion did participate during the Second Maccromanic Wars that was featured in the opening of the movie Gladiator.
However Maximus’s character itself is fictional and the fourth Felix legion never had a commander named Maximus.
Most likely Maximus Decimus Meridius was inspired by Marcus Valerius Maximianus, an actual Roman general that triumphed during the Macromanni War during Marcus Aurelius’s reign.
Structure of the Roman Legion – Legate
The Legate or the Legatus was the commander of a Roman Legion. During the timeline of Gladiator, one legion was equivalent to a modern-day division.
Thus, a legate is about a two-star general. The legate or legatus was divided into two, a Legatus Legionis and a Legatus Augusti Pro Praetore.
While a leagtus legionis led a single legion, a Legatus Augusti Pro Praetore was the senior legate and the commander of several legions thus equivalent as a commander of a crops or a field army.
General Maximus’s rank is supposedly the Legatus Augusti Pro Praetore during the Battle of Germania(Gladiator isn’t accurate history so)
Structure of the Roman Legion – Tribune, prefect, Centurio
A Ceuntrio certainly led one Centurion and was kind of equivalent as a modern day captain. However there isn’t a clear officer that commands a Cohort and still there are arguments over the structure of the Roman army command over a cohort.
For auxiliary cohorts, there was a single commander most a prefect(praefectus) or a tribune(tirbunus) but these were specialized units.
Most scholars believe that unlike modern day military, the senior Centurio or specialized tribunes or prefects would take command of the whole cohort.
There are several detailed and specialized tribunes(military, broad stripe, narrow stripe etc) and prefects(Praefectus Pratetorio, Cohortis etc) that were staff of the legate or officers that took command. But not much is known how the system worked exactly.
Structure of the Roman Legion – NCO’s
There were NCO’s like the Aquilifer that held the Aquila and the Optio that would serve the Centurio and became second in command of a Centurion.
NCO’s would take specialized tasks as they were veterans and receive more payment. These NCO’s were often called Duplicarius as this means they were paid double that of ordinary troops.
Strength and Honor – Latin virtus et hono
In Latin, Virtus et Hono is the direct translation of Strength and Honor, however this wasn’t an official salute within the Roman military nor were there any similar phrases.
