Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

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EXERCITUS.

distinction of fortune. The -whole of the
legionaries were armed and equipped in the
same manner, all being now furnished with
the pilum ; and hence we see in Tacitus the
pila and gladii of the legionaries, opposed to
the hastae and spathae of the auxiliaries.
The legionaries when in battle order were no
longer arranged in three lines, each consist-
ing of ten maniples, with an open space be-
tween each maniple, but in two lines, each
consisting of five cohorts, with a space be-
tween each cohort. The younger soldiers
were no longer placed in the front, but in
reserve, the van being composed of veterans,
as may be seen from various passages in
Caesar. As a necessary result of the above
arrangements, the distinction between Has-
tati, Principes, and Triarii ceased to exist.
These names, as applied to particular classes
of soldiers, are not found in Caesar, in Taci-
tus, nor in any writer upon military affairs
after the time of Marius. The Yelites dis-
appeared. The skirmishers, included under
the general term levis armatura, consisted
for the most part of foreign mercenaries pos-
sessing peculiar skill in the use of some na-
tional weapon, such as the Balearic slingers,
(funditorcs), the Cretan archers (sagittarii),
and the Moorish dartmen (jaculatores).
Troops of this description had, it is true,
been employed by the Romans even before
the second Punic war, and were denominated
tevium armatorum (s. armorum) auxilia ; but
now the levis armatura consisted exclusively
of foreigners, were formed into a regular
corps under their own officers, and no longer
entered into the constitution of the legion.
When operations requiring great aetivity
were undertaken, such as could not be per-
formed by mere skirmishers, detachments of
legionaries were lightly equipped, and marched
without baggage, for these special services ;
and hence the frequent occurrence of such
phrases as expediti, expediti milites, expeditae
cohortes, and even expeditae legiones. The
cavalry of the legion underwent a change in
every respect analogous to that which took
place in regard of the light armed troops. It
is evident, from the history of Caesar's cam-
paigns in Gaul, that the number of Roman
equites attached to his army was very small,
and that they were chiefly employed as aides-
de-camp, and on confidential missions. The
bulk of Caesar's cavalry consisted of foreign-
ers, a fact which becomes strikingly apparent
when we read that Ariovistus having stipu-
lated that the Roman general should come
to their conference attended by cavalry alone,
Caesar, feeling no confidence in his Gaulish
horse, dismounted them, and supplied their
place by soldiers of the tenth legion. In

! like manner they ceased to form part of the
j legion, and from this time forward we find
the legions and the cavalry spoken of as
completely distinct from each other. After
the -termination of the Social War, when
most of the inhabitants of Italy became
i Roman citizens, the ancient distinction be-
I tween the Legiones and the Socii disappeared,
l and all who had served as Socii became in-
corporated with the legiones. An army
; during the last years of the republic and
under the earlier emperors consisted of Ro-
manae Legiones et Auxilia s. Auxiliares, the
latter term comprehending troops of all
kinds, except the legions. Whenever the
word socii is applied to troops after the date
of the Social "War, it is generally to be re-
garded as equivalent to auxiliares. But the
most important change of all was the esta-
blishment of the military profession, and the
distinction now first introduced between the
civilian and the soldier.

Fifth Period. From the establishment of
the empire until the age of the Antonines, b. c.
31—a. ». 150. Under the empire a regular
army consisted of a certain number of Le-
giones and of Supplementa, the Supplementa
being again divided into the imperial guards,
which appear under several different forms,
distinguished by different names; and the
Auxilia, which were subdivided into Sociae
Cohortes and Kationes, the latter being for
the most part barbarians. The Legiones, as
already remarked, although still composed of
persons who enjoyed the privileges of Roman
citizens, were now raised almost exclusively
in the provinces. The legion was divided
into 10 cohorts, and each cohort into 6 cen-
turies ; the first cohort, which had the cus-
tody of the eagle, was double the size of the
others, and contained 960 men, the remain-
ing cohorts contained each 480 men ; and
consequently each ordinary centuiy SO men,
the total strength of the legion being thus
5280 men.—It is during this period that we
first meet with the term Yexillarii or Tex-
illa, which occurs repeatedly in Tacitus. The
vexillarii, or vexilla legionum, were those
soldiers who, after having served in the
legion for sixteen years, became exauetorati,
but continued to serve in company with that
legion, under a vexillum of their own, until
they received their full discharge. The
number attached to each legion was usually
about five or six hundred.—The term exauc-
torare also meant to discharge from military
service, but does not appear to have been in
use before the Augustan period. It signified
both a simple discharge, and a cashiering on
account of some crime. During the later
period of the empire the latter signification