Tres militiae

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Britain;
* prefect of Ala veterana Gallorum in Egypt[1]

The tres militiae ("three military posts") was a career progression of the

senatorial order for enabling the social mobility of equestrians and identifying those with the aptitude for administration. The three posts, typically held over a period of two to four years, were Praefectus cohortis (prefect of a cohort), Tribunus angusticlavius (military tribune), and Praefectus alae (prefect of an ala [cavalry wing]).[2]

Men who passed through the tres militiae often became prefect of the food supply (

prefect of Egypt, or praetorian prefects, the highest prefectures available to equestrians.[3]

The emperor Trajan played a major role in establishing a regular career track for equestrians.[4] The first of the tres militiae was command as a prefect of a cohors quingenaria, one of approximately 150 auxiliary units of 500 men from the provinces.[4] Promotion required a transfer to a legion with the rank of tribunus angusticlavus, "military tribune of the narrow stripe," referring to the narrower width of the clavus (reddish-purple stripe) that distinguished the toga of an equestrian from that of a senator.[4] Each legion had five angusticlavi, but even with about 30 legions, there were probably only 20 or so vacancies each year.[4] An alternative post for the second militia was as auxiliary tribune with a cohors milliaria, one of 30 regiments of a thousand men each.[4] The third militia was prefect of an ala, one of 70 cavalry wings of 500 men each. In some exceptional cases, a man might receive a fourth promotion as prefect of a thousand-man ala, though fewer than ten such alae existed.[4]

A man would be in his mid-thirties or older at the conclusion of his tres militiae,

procurator.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ CIL IX, 5439
  2. ^ Andrew Fear, "War and Society," in The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare: Rome from the Late Republic to the Late Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2007), vol. 2, pp. 214–215; Julian Bennett, Trajan: Optimus Princeps (Indiana University Press, 1997, 2001, 2nd ed.), p. 5.
  3. ^ CAH p. 214.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bennett, Trajan, p. 5.
  5. ^ Elio Lo Cascio, "The Emperor and His Administration," in The Cambridge Ancient History: The Crisis of Empire, A.D. 193–337 (Cambridge University Press, 2005), vol. 12, p. 149.

Further reading

  • Eric Birley, "The Equestrian Officers of the Roman Army", in Roman Britain and the Roman Army (1953), pp. 133ff.
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