3 MOST Impressive Centurion Careers
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- Опубликовано: 18 май 2024
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This video focuses on the recruitment and careers of the backbone of the Roman Army - the Centurions. These officers were highly respected in all forms of society, and possessed skills of combat, literacy, administration, discipline and loyalty.
Primary Sources:
- Decimus Furius Octavius Secundus: CIL 03, 07334
- Marcus Petronius Fortunatus (father and son): CIL 08, 217
- Lucius Aemilius Paternus: CIL 02, 4461 eda-bea.es/pub/record_card_1.p...
- Marcus Aemilius Paternus: CIL 02, 4460
- Aemilia Paterna: IRC 02, 21
- Caius Iulius Lepidus: IRC 02, 97
Secondary Sources:
- Breeze, D. J. "The Career Structure below the Centurionate during the Principate" In Band 1 Politische Geschichte (Allgemeines) edited by Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase, 435-451. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016. doi.org/10.1515/9783110833133...
- Birley, E. “Promotions and transfers in the Roman army I: senatorial and equestrian officers”, in The Roman Army Papers 1929-1986, Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben, 1988, 93-114.
- Birley, E. “The equestrian officers of the Roman army”, in The Roman Army Papers 1929-1986, Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben, 1988, 147-164.
- Birley, E. “The origins of legionary centurions”, in The Roman Army Papers 1929-1986, Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben, 1988, 189-205.
- Birley, E. “Promotions and transfers in the Roman army II: the ccnturionate”, in The Roman Army Papers 1929-1986, Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben, 1988, 206-220.
- Caballos Rufino, A. “Los caballeros romanos originarios de las provincias de Hispania: un avance” In: L’ordre équestre. Histoire d’une aristocratie (IIe siècle av. J.-C. - IIIe siècle ap. J.-C.) Actes du colloque international de Bruxelles-Leuven, 5-7 octobre 1995. Rome : École Française de Rome, 1999, 463-512. www.persee.fr/doc/efr_0223-50...
- Del Hoyo, J. “Un estudio en torno a Aemilia Paterna”, Gerión 7, 1989, 251-263.
- Dobson, B. "The Significance of the Centurion and ‘Primipilaris’ in the Roman Army and Administration" In Band 1 Politische Geschichte (Allgemeines) edited by Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase, 392-434. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016. doi.org/10.1515/9783110833133...
- Fabre, G. “Une approche des stratégies familiales : le comportement des notables dans la Tarraconaise nordorientale vu à travers l'exemple d'Aeso-Isona (fin Ier-IIe siècle ap. J.-C.)” In: Parenté et stratégies familiales dans l'Antiquité romaine. Actes de la table ronde des 2-4 octobre 1986 (Paris, Maison des sciences de l'homme), Rome : École Française de Rome, 1990, 311-331. www.persee.fr/doc/efr_0000-00...
Intro (0:00)
Sponsor (0:55)
Decimus Furius Secundus (1:59)
Marcus Petronius and son (5:53)
Lucius Aemilius and family (8:41) 
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What is amazing is that we can look back on the carers of individuals who died 2000 or so years ago in an empire that "fell" 1600 years ago.
100% agree. What a time to be alive, we should cherish all those memories from the past... And maybe learn from it, but I dont expect much ^^
*600 years ago
Was fina be petty but I'll keep it to myself
save some koolaid for the cosplay field...
What you're referring to that happened 600 years ago happened to a different kettle of fish.
I personally think Decimus' career is the most impressive. Going from Garrison Guard to Primus Pillus without any connections (i assume at least) just by pure skill and determination is quite the achivement, while the others had some form of higher connection or already had established family esteem. What a beast
Amazing how ambitious and intent Romans were to gain a respectable position in society, I wish I could get a tenth of that enormous willpower
These were totally different times. Ironically, in some spheres of life, they were more free and we are
That's selection bias, brother
Not different times. Different conditions. Chances are if you’re on a device with internet you are not in such a position. But there are tons of people who are… they just don’t have iPhones.
We’re seeing winners. Also loyalty to a general or emperor instead of your country, meh.
sadly Diocletian ruined Roman class mobility by making everyone "proto-serfs" with some of his reforms
These guys would have had some crazy book deals nowdays
I would pay a *lot* to witness the martial skills of an actual Roman Legion. Someone make a time machine please.
They would turn you into a slave. You wouldn’t want that brother.
@@Quickeasyguitarlessons It depends. Being a greek slave tutor wasn't that bad. With my knowledge, I think I could handle something similar like that. Just don't send me to the mines.
@@Quickeasyguitarlessons nah I'm gonna bring an m249 and 50k rounds with me on the time machine.
Decimus was one helluvan accountant
I'm pretty sure Roman generals were willing to fight in the front line as well, a hell of a lot of them seemed to get wounded or killed. Look at Caesar's career as an example.
Caesar was the oddity when it comes to roman generals. A roman general was not expected to be in the middle of the action fighting sword in hand. Remember that many of the roman generals did undergo military service in their 20s and early 30s in the junior ranks. That was the moment where they could show off their skills and earn distinction in combat not when they were generals. A foolish or rash action and they could ruin the whole campaign with their death. It was better for them to lead as close to the action as possible but without putting themselves in inmediate danger. Encouraging the soldiers, giving instructions and reassuring the men with his presence
No, a roman general was not supposed to expose himself, unless things were utterly dire, like Scipio or Caesar did. Those that liked danger too much were handled severely by the sources.
A proper Roman commander fills in the ranks when necessary but leads from behind so he may survey the whole battlefield and order tactical changes based on the course of the battle. Caesar exemplified this only going to the front to prevent routs or fill in for dead officers. Which did happen a lot do to the intensity of the conflicts he fought.
If the general dies pandemonium ensues. I feel like the generals only charged in when it was a calculated risk of averting disaster. Sulla did the same thing. Paulinus in the last stand against Boudicca didn’t really have a choice. Crassus just had no idea who he was fucking with.
Caesar will always be a gigachad in my eyes.
He got a Walled Crown and still had a long career!! That’s terrifying
Love hearing stories of lowborns climbing to the peak of society. Centurions honestly in my opinion are way cooler than any emperor or general. Great fighters, great logistics managers, capable leaders ,an inspiring presence for legionaries or an intimidating killing machine to barbarians.
In later days some would become emporers. Look at the career of Justinian I. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justinian_I
And many times their careers or military records are not covered in detail at all. We take their skills for granted. That's why we had the idea of showing how a career and origins of a centurion might be like.
Proper meritocracy
@@jonbaxter2254 No, desccribing society in those days as meritocratic in the modern sense is a projection.
There were a few institutions like the military which had learned the hard way that corruption is deadly. Other parts of society were corrupts as hell by our standards.
Becoming a Centurion without dying in my first battle is amazing enough.
Love this. This is true Rome that I love.
Since you mentioned these military awards could you make a video about all of the other medals a soldier could be awarded( if there are more ) and give an example of how hard or easy it was to get them
Best historical youtube channel
You honour us! :)
@@HistoriaMilitum funny historical stories?
I hope to see your channel blow up, as it's always amazing.
Finally, been waiting for a video for ages!
Thank you for this brilliant video!
This Channel is an oasis in the desert of RUclips content for history lovers💥💥🎞
YESSS ITS MY FAVORITE TOPIC
Exceptional video! Thank you for your effort.
Excellent work here Sir
Love this channel!
You never disappoint
The last person and his siblings prove that nepotism gets you started but your skills and talents will unltimately decide where you go. If they were simply put in a position thanks to their father they would stay in that position and not rise at all or even lose the position entirely. Respect to all these men.
Very interesting .... love to see more of lesser known individuals !
I'm saving myself for a centurion😘
Strange. Considering your name, a lot of them wouldve massacred your barbarian ancestors 😂💀
This channel is just *chefs kiss* ✌️
Could you do a video on Roman military decorations?
One more:
Vorenus with his superior combat skills
Has a Galic look about him but a true Roman
@@yoyoyickityyo Gauls pretty much looked like modern Frenchmen so not really
excelent video thank you :)
Great topic
I have long awaited for this subject of the Roman army
It's something not widely covered. But thanks to their tombstones we can reconstruct hundreds of careers of roman centurions because they tell us every single detail about their career. Only downside is that to access the primary sources you need to know a bit of latin
Good content dude
Centurion hype let's go!
I asked and you delivered, I have 3 accounts so it may not be this account but this is what I asked for. So interesting the lives of ppl.
excellent video
A glorious ancestor is axial for everyone, even today. Thanks.
Sweet vid. Instant sub. Yer, gonna need a better mic, or some kinda foam on yer office walls.
In truth the Centurions were always considered the background of the army since the republican period until the fall of the Roman empire. Generally they were ruthless but very courageous and reliable veterans that knew how to handle the troops during the battles slowly gaining confidence of the generals and the troops enjoying much prestige, power and money. In truth in only know imperor Trajan or in Latin: Caesar Nerva Traianus; he was part of the praetorian guard and I presume he came from the ranks of a Centurion if I'm not wrong. I like this video very much and just subscribed 👍👍👍
You said background, did you mean backbone?
@@anon2427 yes, thanks for correcting me: backbone!
@@paoloviti6156 no problem man, I didn’t mean to come off as a dick or anything but it’s good to know👍
@@anon2427 it is really fine and you simply correct me. No worries 👍
Do more videos love Roman history
Excellent!!
Translate to.
Excellent.
first dude could have a movie
I have two suggestions for future videos:
1. How important was Arminius rebelion and leadership, since he stopped Rome to colonize Germania and that free folk later ended the Empire
2. Why didn't Rome developed an important industry, something that make it economically instable
I wonder if the Romans ever even cared about Germania at all, doesn’t seem like they did care unless it was to fight them for glory. They were a lot poorer than nations to the east of Rome with poor land and soil
Not that "free folk". The folk that ended the Empire, at the time of Arminius, was north of the Black sea.
Romans didn't consider Germania that important, and the Germanics were only people they had to beat up from time to time when they became too loud. Still Julian, after having beaten the Alamanni at Argentorarum, in 357, went searching for glory in Partia. That changed only with the battle of Adrianople, in 378. Only at that point the Germanics became a main concern.
Germanic tribes had little value to Rome and their society's organization made it difficult to hold power over them. It just wasn't worth it. And the Germanic tribes that ended Rome were further Northeast than the Germanic tribes interacted with for most of their history - they invaded the areas near Rome before sacking Rome.
Plus, Rome later regained much of it's lost territory before falling again. And Rome still stuck around as the Eastern Roman Empire for hundreds of years, still the dominant power in the Mediterranean. The Germanic tribes that sacked Rome weren't any better than any of Rome's other enemies. They just happened to be around when Rome was imploding due to internal strife - mostly caused by the military demanding higher and higher salaries and holding Rome and the Emperor hostage if they didn't get them. Rome fell because it basically became a military junta.
As a sidenote, could someone tell me what the very faint music is in the Intro? I've heard it before and it gets me pumped lol
Crazy Marcus Petronius made it 80 back then after fighting all those battles.
these centurions had quite the career indeed
Fairly impressive
What happened if the sons of centurions or important people turned out to be incompetent fools themselves once they were "parachuted" into higher positions? Would they just get quietly transferred to unimportant positions after a while?
Do Maximus Decimus Meridius next, Commander of the armies in the North, General of the Felix Legions.
You could have talk about maximinian trhax that his carrer was so brutal that he gain the range of emperor xD
Do t forget one of these also was tasked with correcting the grammar of Brian.
Being a Centurion is hell of a job.
Minor point, but are yer graphics inverted or, at that time,did the legion wear their Gladius on the left?
Interesting
Slow down, brother. Fantastic content as always but too fast to follow, you are allowed to take pauses and add visuals.
BALLS
BALLS of Ferrata.
It would make a very good video IMO if we could know how do we know all this, Where did these records survive and thanks to whom?
Filaxim's researcher here 😊. This records come from the tombstones or small monuments these guys erected or their families. The romans loved to show off their achievements to anyone or simply stating their position or trade. In this case it comes as their service log so to speak. After that it's all an exercise of reading between lines. For example, the guy died aged 45 after 24 years of service? Then he enlisted aged 21. Is the monument set up by his wife and son in his memory? Then he had an unofficial family. Has he a gallic name? Then he probably is from Gaul and etc.
All these records have been discovered by archaeologists and uploaded to a huge internet database containing thousands of them, meanwhile the pieces are storaged in museums.
Why there isn't more talk of this on youtube? It's because several points:
1-Hugely expensive: The volumes containing inscriptions are huuugely expensive (150 USD each) and there are like 30 of them. Sometimes even museums abstain from buying them.
2-Made by academics for academics: This is not intended as an acussation, it's just that the explanations in these volumes are in LATIN! So if you don't know a bit of it... you are doomed. Even the online database doesn't translate the material 😔. So, again not the most user friendly stuff.
3-Availability: Many times these volumes or simply books collecting material like for example the Vindolanda Tablets and summarizing it are very scarce. These translates in you having to travel hundreds of kilometers to an institution that will only grant you access if you are a scholar or a scholar in training (Phd holder or about to be one).
So as you see the conditions are not the best for a permanent presence in media like RUclips 😅. Sorry for the long text. Let me know your opinion 😊
@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez This was very informative, thank you for taking the enormous time to educate us simpletons ;)
interesting, I would have never expected so much social mobility
The last centurion LuciusAemilius Paternus. Does anybody know what year he went to britannia to run the 2nd?
Good job.
Russkiye pwr.
Can you tell me what background music was used?
Is the centurion seniority correct? I was sure that the Pilus Prior were the leads of their respective cohorts, if so why are they placed underneath the posterior?
Only with the Primus Pilus because it is attested in the sources. Who actually led the legionary cohorts is a question that right now cannot be answered because there is no reference to it in the source material. We can guess but without a solid proof as a foundation, it's still a hypothesis. The main reason is that for the romans it was so elementary that everybody understood it without explanation. Just like how elementary is for us turning on and off the lights; everybody knows it
NEED THE MUSIC ASAP PLEASE SOMEONE. THIS IS THE SAME TRACK USED ON THE ALEXANDER DOC
I have a question with regards to Marcus Petronius.
Do we know if he was promoted to Centurion within 4 years of joining the legions? Or did he spend several years as a Librarius and then when he started getting promoted again and ended up being promoted to Centurion within 4 years?
Hi, Filaxim's researcher here! He was promoted to centurion within 4 years after joining the legions. The man's career is something unique because his promotion to centurion came after being voted into the rank. So as we understand it, the officers of the legion and the men elected him on the spot. Reminds me of when sargents get promoted to lieutenants because the unit has sustained so much casualties that there are no officers left. But we don't know what was the exact cause so we preferred to stay silent about it. Thanks for your support and comment :)
@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez where do you find this stuff? What are the primary sources?
@@alyssondasilva4484 Hey! This text will be a long one but I hope it will be worth it! 😊
This stuff comes from ancient inscriptions and tombstones of roman legionaries. They don't appear in the media very often so I completely understand if you are hesitant. Let me say, that these pieces of information have the same value as any ancient text and they are studied with the same or even more level of detail to make sure they are not fakes and that the reconstruction is 100% accurate. There is a whole discipline of scholars devoted to this area and inscriptions are always present in scholar debates.
Now to your question. The references for these centurions come from a mega compilation known as the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarun (CIL). It is a huge database containing tens of thousands of inscriptions that is being constantly updated with revisions and new pieces.
So for example in the case of Decimus Furius, the piece's bar code is CIL 03 7334. The 03 is the prefix from the region it was discovered and the 7334 is the number which scholars gave it when classifying the item for research. So with this number at hand, we go to an internet database and just type the number we want and they will show us the text and a picture of the piece with all the info. Or we can make a general search and find the piece with it's number and info. Since the text is in latin we then make a rough translation (I'm a professional historian and know a bit of latin) and start reading between lines to get as much information as we can.
Now, if the text is a bit more complicated as it was the case with the family of Aemilius Paternus, we use the back up of respected scholars. In the latter situation we used a series of articles made by specialists as references to make sure they guys were indeed brothers, that they were equestrians, that they had a brother and if the father was a member of the local aristocracy. In this case, we used a combination of CIL and a local contribution known as IRC (Roman Inscriptions of Catalunya) plus some of the articles stated in the sources.
As you can see, we try to make sure everything is extremely well researched and that any person interested in fact checking us can do it. Let me know if you found it useful 😊. I just prefer to give a long answer with lots of details than just stating from where it comes and letting you figure it out 😅
@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez Great. With the level of detail presented i thought that the Romans had a log with the summary of some careers that somehow survived to this day.
Wow
On the son being promoted straight away could that be a class thing? Since the pay of centurions was very high and his father served so long - and depending if his father had retired and bought/given land by the time his son joined, could we assume that he was regarded as too high class be an ordinary legionary? Perhaps like middle/lower-upper class.
Since the dawn of time it has always been WHO you know not WHAT you know. 🤷🏾♂️
You notice all the wheat bix kids put some kind of sugar on them? They’re like eating cardboard without something to flavour and give them taste.
Fabrizio said:
...for while these practices were pleasing to my Romans, my country without them was ruined.
-Machiavelli, Niccolo The Art of War Book I
My 3rd grade teacher gave me a golden crown for killing my math homework
Legio aeterna victrix !
Please visit Micahistory 2, it would mean a lot!
Roman centurions were absolute Chads of their times, proove me wrong
fun fact: the Roman rank of Primu Pilus is literally translated as Biggus Dickus
(I have a vewy gweat fwiend in Wome called Biggus Dickus)
Me, stuck in a 8am to 5pm job: nice
What about the legendary Dentatus?
We would like to cover him one day. He is the roman Achilles for a reason hahahaha. Sadly we don't know which details are true, exaggerations or false. Because the history of Early Rome is more legendary than dry facts
I can't find the source of all of this information. Can someone tell me where can I get it? Thanks
We added every source in the description. You can find each career there. Cheers!
You mentioned multiple legions with the same number, for example first Italica, Minervia and Adiutrix and second Adiutrix, Augusta and Partica. Why were there multiple legions with the same number?
We don’t exactly know why the Romans repeated legion numbers. They seems to have no distinct reason to keep 1 of each legion number either, so various emperors created their own legions with multiple numbers. Cheers!
The thing is there is no real reason for it 😅. Some legions were numbered in an orderly manner, but others seem to have been numbered based on the number of legions the reigning emperor had levied. For example Septimius Severus levied 1st, 2nd and 3rd Parthica legions but such numbers were shared with many other legions. So as you see, there is no one guiding reason behind the numbering. Ok Filaxim has already answered you 😂
@@HistoriaMilitum Thanks for the awnser!
@@JonEtxebeberriaRodriguez thank you for awnsering!
Hello, great video. But I think there is one centurion who made a better career. Let me intrude Cayo Sulpicio Úrsulo:
Cayo or Gayo Sulpicio Úrsulo (in Latin, Gaius Sulpicius Ursulus) was an Asturian soldier who achieved prestige within the Roman army during the time of Emperor Trajan. He was possibly born in Ujo (Mieres, Asturias, Spain), where he was found the tomb of this Astur with a Latin name. He served as praefectus of the Legio III Augusta, based in Lambaesis, in the lands of present-day Algeria. We know nothing of the place where Úrsulo began his military service in the Roman legions, since his history it is not reflected on Ujo's tombstone until he reaches his first official position. In any case, this was the centurion of the Legio I Minerva Pia Fidelis, whose quarters were in Bonna on the banks of the Rhine border. elite troops, whose mission was the surveillance and care of the defense of Rome, capital of the Empire, from where the Urban denomination came.
He ascends quickly, passing from this chosen unit to another even more select and the most prestigious within the army of Rome: the Praetorians. Ursulo went from being a centurion of the urban garrison of Rome to the same position in the Cohors IV Praetoria, the emperor's personal guard, which some authors suppose would have been that of the Hispanic Trajan (98-117) and others think that it would have been Commodus (c. year 180, at the end of the 2nd century).
He ascends later, going from a centurion of the praetorians to a primipil of the Legio XXII Primigenia, whose quarters were in Mogontiacum. From this, he passed to Legio III Augusta, ascending to praefectus, being quartered in Lambaesis, at the foot of the Atlas Mountains, whose passages to the Sahara he watched over, in what is currently Algeria.
From North Africa, with the outbreak of the Dacian wars, a unit of symmachiarii astures was sent to combat, a strange auxiliary force that used to comprise absolutely irregular and almost non-romanized soldiers (so it could be deduced that it fits more into the times of Trajan than in those of Commodus), which should not be easy to handle, so they need officers with a lot of seniority and experience.
After the conversion of Dacia into a Roman province, Úrsulo ends his military career (possibly due to age) and receives his honesta missio.
Crazy how you didn't mention any of the soldiers who worked their way up through the military all the way to Emperor
Gigacus Chadicus
First Spear Centurion, Lucius Vorenus
Next video should be "3 MOST Impressive Drunken Fool Careers (feat. Titus Pullo)"
not quite what I expected from this video... rising to the sky through connections.
I would prefer stellar and outstanding warriors who rose through the rank like meteors... preferably if they were the lowest born !
Decimus Furius Secundus was the best
Not every promotion is due to extraordinary ability.. Sometimes its just nepotism.. These are desk jockeys, not soldiers..
That first name sounds like a borg designation.
The takeaways:
1. Social background is secondary
2. a good social class gives you an advantage
.
.
what?!
It means that being a plebeian will not hamper your career as in the armies of the XVII-XIXth centuries in which you couldn't rise beyond a certain rank, but that being from a higher social class has certain perks
So which one killed the most people trying to defend their homeland and religon?
The 1st guy had only 2 higher positions left: governor, and Emperor.
Oh no, he was a local senator. Something similar to a city councilor. Roman colonies emulated the governing system of the capital and each had their own version of the senate but with different ranks and names. But instead of using a term very few people would understand we decided to use a more familiar one. So sorry for the confussion 😅
"Duplicarii" ah shizzy it's the word my name is based on
8:32 wtf is decilated?
Chaddicus maximus
“These guys are pussies.”
- Spurius Ligustinus
What is a walled crown?
One of the highest prized awards given to soldiers. It was a token, much like a medal, which was bestowed upon the first man in the army to scale the walls of an enemy city!
@@HistoriaMilitum Was it a crown that looked like a wall?
@@charjl96 An image of a real walled crown appears when I say it in the video :)
Pertinax beat them all in order of career.
How can we meet them in person? Lmao. They have been RIP for like 2k years
The only thing I hate about your videos is how you prounounce letter "C" it really isnt pronounced as K especially when talking about Roman names and such. Try fixing that and your vids will become pure perfection.
I have to disagree with you there. We follow the stablished scholarly cannons when pronouncing latin based on philologists reconstructions. It isn't done by chance or by lack of knowledge
Sol invictus
How are these impressive (other than the first one)?? In both cases, we're talking about people elevated by their own father's, or elevating their own children. It's easy to excel when you start halfway up the ladder.
Preatorians were not soldiers of any sort. They were just basic cops, beating on unarmed folks, usually about ten to one.