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Pay (Roman army)
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Pay (Roman army)
Pay in the Roman army was defined by the annual stipendium received by a Roman soldier, of whatever rank he was, from the Republican era until the Later Roman Empire. It constituted the main part of the Roman soldier's income, who from the end of the Republic began to receive, in addition to the spoils of war, prize money called donativa. The latter grew to such an extent in the following centuries that by the 4th century, the ancient stipendium constituted only 10–15% of the Roman legionary's entire income.
During 407 BC, when the Roman army was divided into three parts and sent to plunder the enemies' territory under the command of three of the four military Tribunes (Lucius Valerius Potitus headed for Anzio, Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus headed for Ecetra, and Numerius Fabius Ambustus attacked and conquered Anxur, leaving the prey to the soldiers of all three armies), the stipend for the soldiers was established, perhaps at the direction of Furius Camillus himself. Below is how Livy tells it:
"The patricians then added a most opportune gift for the plebs: the Senate decreed, with no prior mention of it to plebs or tribunes, that soldiers should receive a stipend drawn from the State coffers. Until that time each person fulfilled military service at his own expense. (60) As far as we know, no measure was greeted with such joy by the plebs."
— Livy, Ab Urbe condita libri, IV, 59–60, op. cit.
The consequences were obvious: acknowledgements from the plebeians, controversy from the Tribunes who saw some of their weapons blunted, protests from those who had to pay. The immediate benefit was that a law declaring war on Veius was passed, and the new Tribunes with military power led an army there consisting mostly of volunteers. And perhaps, also under this circumstance, the legion may have assumed the manipular system as its battle formation.
At the time of the Punic Wars, pay was set at 2 obols per day, or one-third of a drachma (one denarius after 211 BC), for the period they were under arms. In addition, each infantryman was entitled to a share of the spoils of war (prisoners were sold as slaves, as well as animals, treasure, weapons, and other goods), which were auctioned off and the proceeds distributed to officers and men according to various criteria. Centurions received twice the pay of their men, that is, four obols or two-thirds of a drachma a day. As for the food ration, infantrymen were distributed about two-thirds of an Attic medimnos of grain per month.
It is also known from Polybius that if the pay distributed to Roman horsemen was one drachma a day, three times what an infantryman earned, the monthly rations were seven medimnoi of barley and two of wheat. Allies (socii), on the other hand, were given one medimnos and a third of wheat free of charge, as well as five of barley per month. To the allies all this was given as a gift. In the case of the Romans, on the other hand, the quaestor deducted from the stipendium the price set for wheat, clothing, and any weapons that they might need.
Toward the end of the 2nd century BC Rome had found itself embroiled in a war in Numidia, in which, because of the lack of appeal of any kind, it was almost impossible to find new recruits. From this premise the consul of that year, Gaius Marius, decided to open the legions to anyone, whether or not they were landowners, as Sallust tells it:
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Pay (Roman army)
Pay in the Roman army was defined by the annual stipendium received by a Roman soldier, of whatever rank he was, from the Republican era until the Later Roman Empire. It constituted the main part of the Roman soldier's income, who from the end of the Republic began to receive, in addition to the spoils of war, prize money called donativa. The latter grew to such an extent in the following centuries that by the 4th century, the ancient stipendium constituted only 10–15% of the Roman legionary's entire income.
During 407 BC, when the Roman army was divided into three parts and sent to plunder the enemies' territory under the command of three of the four military Tribunes (Lucius Valerius Potitus headed for Anzio, Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus headed for Ecetra, and Numerius Fabius Ambustus attacked and conquered Anxur, leaving the prey to the soldiers of all three armies), the stipend for the soldiers was established, perhaps at the direction of Furius Camillus himself. Below is how Livy tells it:
"The patricians then added a most opportune gift for the plebs: the Senate decreed, with no prior mention of it to plebs or tribunes, that soldiers should receive a stipend drawn from the State coffers. Until that time each person fulfilled military service at his own expense. (60) As far as we know, no measure was greeted with such joy by the plebs."
— Livy, Ab Urbe condita libri, IV, 59–60, op. cit.
The consequences were obvious: acknowledgements from the plebeians, controversy from the Tribunes who saw some of their weapons blunted, protests from those who had to pay. The immediate benefit was that a law declaring war on Veius was passed, and the new Tribunes with military power led an army there consisting mostly of volunteers. And perhaps, also under this circumstance, the legion may have assumed the manipular system as its battle formation.
At the time of the Punic Wars, pay was set at 2 obols per day, or one-third of a drachma (one denarius after 211 BC), for the period they were under arms. In addition, each infantryman was entitled to a share of the spoils of war (prisoners were sold as slaves, as well as animals, treasure, weapons, and other goods), which were auctioned off and the proceeds distributed to officers and men according to various criteria. Centurions received twice the pay of their men, that is, four obols or two-thirds of a drachma a day. As for the food ration, infantrymen were distributed about two-thirds of an Attic medimnos of grain per month.
It is also known from Polybius that if the pay distributed to Roman horsemen was one drachma a day, three times what an infantryman earned, the monthly rations were seven medimnoi of barley and two of wheat. Allies (socii), on the other hand, were given one medimnos and a third of wheat free of charge, as well as five of barley per month. To the allies all this was given as a gift. In the case of the Romans, on the other hand, the quaestor deducted from the stipendium the price set for wheat, clothing, and any weapons that they might need.
Toward the end of the 2nd century BC Rome had found itself embroiled in a war in Numidia, in which, because of the lack of appeal of any kind, it was almost impossible to find new recruits. From this premise the consul of that year, Gaius Marius, decided to open the legions to anyone, whether or not they were landowners, as Sallust tells it:
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