Roman Army Pay Scales Author(s): M. Alexander Speidel Reviewed work(s): Source: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol.

82 (1992), pp. 87-106 Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/301286 . Accessed: 01/02/2012 11:08
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Roman Studies.

http://www.jstor.org

ROMAN ARMY PAY SCALES*

By M. ALEXANDER SPEIDEL (Plate I)

How much did Rome pay the soldiers serving in the legions and the auxilia, who expanded and defended her empire? The answer is of some significance not only to the of the Roman armybut to the political,social, and economic history history of the Roman Empirein general.Many a learnedarticlehas therefore been devotedto thismatter and steady progress has been made. Yet problemsremain,theevidencebeingscantyand often notreadily intelligible. Work on the 6oo and more writing-tablets from the legionary fortressof in progress,has turnedup a missinglinkin the chain of Vindonissa (Switzerland), currently evidence.The newtext,a payreceiptofan auxiliary soldier,revealsa new sum and thusallows the reconstruction of the Roman army'spay scales through the first threecenturies The A.D. overallpay model givenbelow reconcilesall the hitherto knownevidence.
I. THE LITERARY AND PAPYROLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Roman soldiersreceivedtheirannual pay in threeinstalments (stipendia),1due on the first ofJanuary, May, and September.2 The pay ofthelegionsforthefirst twocenturies A.D. iS well knownand has recently The figures been establishedforthethird.3 are givenin Table i.4 Whilelegionary pay is reliably known,theancientwriters unfortunately giveus no notion ofwhatthepay oftheauxilia mayhave been. We therefore have to turnto thepapyri,our only othersource,so far,forauxiliary soldiers'pay. Whatcan be learnedfrom themis presented in Table 2.

The following abbreviations areused: ChLA: A. Bruckner and R. Marichal, Chartae (I LatinaeAntiquiores 94). CPL: R. Cavenaile, CorpusPapyrorum Latinarum HABES: Heidelbergeralthistorische Beitraigeund epigraphische Studien. Jahn(1983): J. Jahn,'Der Sold r6mischer Soldaten im 3. Jh.n. Chr.: Bemerkungen zu ChLA 446, 473 und 495', ZPE 3 (1 983), 2 I7-27Jahn (1984): J. Jahn,'Zur Entwicklung romischer Soldzahlungenvon Augustus bis auf Diokletian', Studien zu den FundmiinzenderAntike2 (1984), 53-74MASADAII: H. M. Cotton Masada ii. andJ.Geiger, The Yigael Yadin Excavations i963-i965, Final Reports.7he Latin and GreekDocuments(with a contribution byJ.D. Thomas) (i 989). RA: E. Birley,The RomanArny Papers I926-i986 (I988) (= Mavorsiv). RAP: J. F. Gilliam, Roman Arny Papers (i986) RAS I:
(1958).

P.Panop. 2 passim (A.D. 299/300),P.Oxy. I047 (early fourthcentury),Paneg. Lat. III (XI). I.4 (mid-fourth Domitianadded a quartumstipendium century). (Suet., Dom. 7.3) after his victory overthe Germantribeof the ofA.D. 84 withthelegend Chattiin A.D. 83. A sestertius STIP AUG DOMITIAN (cf. C. M. Kraay, 'Two New Sestertiiof Domitian', AmericanNumismaticSociety Museum Notes 9 (I960), Io9-I6) revealsthe date and confirms Suetonius' statement ofa fourth pay-day. Later, most probablyafterDomitian's death in A.D. 96, the Domitianiwas abolished.By the late second stipendium at the latestwe findtheold system century of threepaydaysreintroduced (cf.RMR 7i and Fink'scomments ibid. p. 253). In Dio's timeonlythepay-rise was remembered
2 I January: RMR 72.7; 73 fr.h; ChLA466; 473; 495; P.Panop. 2.37; 58; 20I; 292. i May: RMR 66fr.bI 3o; 7I fr.a i; IO fr.b S. i September:RMR66 fr.b 113; ChLA

(Dlo

LXVII.3.5).

(= Mavors II).

RMR: R. 0. Fink, Roman Military Records on Papyrus(I 97i). RMR, pp. 24If. and 2SS; cf. also L. Wierschowski, HeerderPrinzipatszeit Heer und Wirtschaft. Das rimische als Wirtschaftsfaktor (1984), I3f. and 228 (n. s8). Stipendia continuedto be paid in the fourth century:

(= Mavors i).

M. P. Speidel,RomanAnnyStudiesI O(984)

Jahn(1984), 66ff. For easycomparison all figures willbe givenhereand below in sestertii. Sestertii,four of which make a denarius,seem to have been the basis on which the soldiers'pay was originally calculated(cf. Jahn(1984), thestipendia werepaidmainly indenarii 65) although (cf. H. W. Doppler, 'Die Miinzen', in Ch. Meyer-Freuler, und die Basilica von Vindonissa Das Praetorium (i 989), I07-I9, esp. i iof., andthedocumentary evidence ofthe

P-OxY. 49~~;

1047; P.OXY.

2561.

new papyri (i) andthe Vindonissa pay receipt (ii)).

88
TABLE I. THE BASIC

M. ALEXANDER
PAY OF A LEGIONARY

SPEIDEL
FOOTSOLDIER (IN SESTERTII)

Date
Caesar/Augustus'

Stipendium
3006

Annual pay
goo

%-increase
100

Domitian7 (A.D. 84) SeptimiusSeverus8

(A.D.

400 800
I,200 2,400

I,200
2,400

33I/3
IOO

I97)

Caracalla9
(A.D. 2I2)

3,6oo
7,200

50
0OO

MaximinusThrax10 (A.D. 235)

The bold figures arebased on literary evidence.

TABLE 2. SOLDIERS' PAY FOR VARIOUS TYPES OF UNITS MENTIONED IN PAPYRI

Date
A.D.

Source 72/75 8I 84 P. Yadin 722.412

I I

Stipendiumas recorded
5o denarii 6o denariior more drachmae 2471/2
I)

In sestertiiii
200 240

A.D.
C.A.D.

RMR 681ChLA7 (= P.Gen.Lat.

RMR 69/ChIA 9

or more 247/2
297

A.D. 192

II/III II/III

cent. A.D.13 cent. A.D.13

(= P.Gen.Lat. 4) RMR 7o/ChLA 4Io (= P. Berol. 6866 +P. Aberd. I33 +P. Reinach 2222) ChLA 446 ChLA 495 (= P. Hamb.
3IO)

297 drachmae

84 denariiI53/4obols

338/4

(= P. Berol. I4Ioo)

obols 257 denarii223/4

257 denarii22?/4 obols14

I,03I
I,03I

V4
V4

' Suet., Iul. 26.3 may implythatCaesar had already fixedthis sum by doublingthe legions' previouspay: 'legionibus stipendiumin perpetuumduplicavit.' No legionary pay-rise is recorded forthereign ofAugustus. equals 9I21/2 sestertii a year,whichshows thatTacitus (i.e. therebellious soldier speaking) givesno morethanan approximation (ifhe was notimplying a 'military year'of 360 days). The intention was clearlyto dramatizethe soldiers'situation,which is why theirpay was broken down to the day. Dio LXVII.3.5 reports thatthe pay per pay-day before A.D. 84 was 300 sestertii. Domitian'squartumstipendium consistedof three aurei (= 300 sestertii)(Suet., Dom. 7.3; cf. also n. i). After abolishing thestipendium Domitianitheold system ofthree pay-days was reintroduced, butnowevery soldier received 400 sestertii (Dio LXVII.3.5). 8 All we learnfrom Severus'Vita (HA, Sev. I2.2) and thanall Herodian(III.8.5) is thattheincrease was greater previous ones.Jahn tohave (i 984) hasshownthisincrease been ioo percent.Jahn's can now convincing arguments be confirmed (cf. below, vi, and n. 89). There seemsto havebeen no pay-rise during thereign ofCommodus;cf. A. Passerini, 'Gli aumenti del soldomilitare da Commodo a Massimino', AthenaeUm 24 (I946), I45-59. Caracallaincreased thesoldier'snormal payby a half to win over the soldiers afterhe killed his brother: that Caracalla's increasecost Rome 70 milliondenarii yearly aroundA.D. 2I8. At thistime,itseems,Caracalla's
6

Tac., Ann.I.I7.4:

i0

assesperdayinA.D.

I4.

This

pay-rise was at leastpartially taken backbyMacrinus(Dio LXXVIII. I2.7; 28.2; cf.Th. Pekary, 'Studien zurromischen und Finanzgeschichte Wahrungsvon i6I-235 n.Chr.', Historia 8 (I959) 443-89, esp- 484). Cf. also Dio
LXXVIII.28.3 and 36.i for Macrinus paying the soldiers

recruited during hisreign theratesSeptimius Severushad established.As this, accordingto Dio, was one of the reasons for Macrinus' overthrow,Elagabalus almost theprevious restored certainly payscale (cf.Jahn(I984), 66 n. 49). 10 Maximinus Thrax doubled the soldiers' pay: Herodianvi.8.8. After Maximinus Thrax thereseemsto have been no further increaseof thestipendia(cf. Jahn (i984), 66, 68), only the two otherformsof soldiers' income, annona anddonativa,wereincreased (cf. D. van Berchem, 'L'annone militaire dans l'empire romain au 3' siecle', Mem. Soc. nat. des Ant. de France 8o (1936), I36f.; Jahn(I984), 53ff*)" The conversions are based on thefollowing rates: I = i drachma= 7 obols, or i denarius= 28 sestertius obols. 12 For thisnewpaydocument see below,iv.
13

obol fromthe sum Jahn (I983), 22I. The differenceof 1/2

(1983),

and script ofthepapyri lay-out toRMR 70. 14 The figure is givenhereas convincingly restored by

On the dates, cf. Jahn (i983), 222f., who compares

Herodian Iv.4.7;

cf. also Dio

LXXVIII.36.3

whostates

in ChLA446 cannotbe expressed in assesand mayhaveto do with fluctuating currency exchangerates (cf. Jahn mayalso be doubted.
223). The reading of the exact amount of obols

ROMAN

ARMY

PAY

SCALES

As for the stipendia around A.D. 300, P.Panop.2.36ff. informsus that the ala I Hiberorumreceived73,500 denarii(= 294,000 sestertii)to pay its soldiers. P.Panop. 2.292f. shows thatthe cohorsXI Chamavorumwas sent 65,500 denarii (= 262,000 sestertii)forits thatan unspecified numberofsoldiers soldiers'pay in thesame period. P.Panop. 2.57 reports received a total of 343,000 of the legio III Diocletiana, servingat the governors'officium, denariifortheirsalaries. ofthesedata is hinderedbyseveralobstacles.P. Panop. leavesthenumber Understanding ofrecipients certainthatthecommander'spaywas not unmentioned, thoughwe maybe fairly 16 Only forRMR included.'5The otherpapyrifailto mention bothunitand rankofthesoldiers. werebeingpaid. None ofthesefigures 70 can we be certainthatauxiliaries equal thestipendia of legionary soldiers,nor does thereseem to be any simple ratiobetweenthem. R. 0. Fink improvedthe reading of the stipendia in his edition of P.Gen.Lat. i (= RMR 68) from to 2471/2 drachmae.This led M. P. Speidel ('the Elder') to formerly 248 drachmae(= sestertii) in bothRMR 68 and 69, ifunderstoodas 99 per centofthe full theconclusionthatthe figures and 300 sestertii to 250 sestertii pay, could be restored respectively.'7 RMR 68 would therefore concern the auxilia whereas RMR 69 was the pay document of a legion and matched the legionary's pay as knownfrom theancientwriters. This entaileda ratioofexactly5:6 between the pay of the auxilia and the pay of the legions. This pay model18 seems superiorto others19 ofsoldiersfrom because itcan help explaintransfers thelegionsto theauxiliawithout havingto assume pay cuts or punishment.20 of84 denariiI53/4 Yet thisapproach,itappeared,could notexplaintheodd figure obols in RMR 70.21 It was therefore on thatdocument,22 rejectedby R. Marichal in his commentary where he quoted two new pay records (ChLA 446 and 495), which also showed seemingly obols and 257 denarii221/4 inexplicablefigures:257 denarii223/4 (?) obols. RecentlyJ. Jahn, adoptingboth the i per cent deductionand the 5:6 ratio,has shown thatthe 84 denarii I5?/4 i as), and takenas 99 per obols, beingequal to 84 denarii9 asses or I, 353 asses (= 338 sestertii cent of the fullpay, lead to a stipendium of I,3662/3asses (= 34I sestertii 2/3 as).23This sum, amount to a yearlysalary of 4,ioo asses or I,025 due three times a year, would therefore sestertii fortheauxiliary soldiersinRMR 70 beforeSeptimiusSeverus' pay-rise.Understandin ChLA 446 and 495 in the same way revealsan annual pay of 3, I 25 sestertii. ing the figures to receive i ,ooo sestertii a Accordingto the 5:6 pay model one would expecta milescohortis year (opposed to the I,200 sestertiia miles legioniswas paid) before Septimius Severus' and 3,000 sestertii after Caracalla's. The supernumerary pay-rise, (mil.leg.: 3,6oo sestertii) 25 and I25 sestertii sestertii respectively, Jahnsuggestedto be bonuses ofsome kind.24 Attractive and convincingthough these considerationsare, theywere lacking,so far, proofbeyondcavil.

15 cf. P.Panop. 2. I97f., where thepayofa praepositus equitum promotorum legionis II Traianae is listed separately. 16 RMR 68 was formerly presumed to mention legionary soldiers becauseofthetrianomina M. P. oftherecipients. Speidel,'The payoftheauxilia',RAS i, 83-9, esp. 86 and nn. 8-io, and morerecently A. M6csy,'Die Namen der in W. Eck and H. Wolff Diplomempfanger', (eds), Heer und Integrationspolitik (i986), 437-66, have shownthat A.D. as earlyas the first century the tria nominaare no proof foreither Romancitizenship or typeofunit. 17 M. P. Speidel,op. cit. (n. i6), 86. Readersmaynote thatthe present author,M. A. Speidel (the 'Younger'), Basel, is the nephew of M. P. Speidel (the 'Elder'), Honolulu. 18 Earliersuggestions ofthe5:6 pay model(cf. A. Ch. 'Roman Egypt to the reignof Diocletian', in Johnson, An RomeII ( 93 6), T. Frank, Economic SurveyofAncient ioi n. 2, Le coortipretorie 670ff.,A. Passerini, (1939), da Augusto and G. Forni,II reclutamento delle legioni a an explanation Diocleziano (I952), 32ff.) were lacking of thefigures givenin thepapyri.

19 These can be describedas the I:3, 3:5, and 2:3 theses.For a shortsummary and the literature see Jahn 20 M. P. Speidel,op. cit. (n. i6), I45 quotedthecareer ofthe'CaptorofDecebalus' (AE I969/70,583; cf. M. P. ofDecebalus, a newinscription Speidel,'The captor from

(i984), 58ff., esp. nn. I7 and i8.

from therankofa vexilliarius I79f.), whowas promoted equitumof the legio VII Claudia to a duplicariusalae. According totheI :3 thesis thiswouldhavemeant a severe pay-cut.For moreevidencesee ibid., i8o and n. 43; cf. also Wierschowski, op. cit. (n. I), 7ff., esp. forthehighranking ofthealae. 21 M. P. Speidel,op. cit. (n. i6), 87; J. Kaimio,'Notes on thepayofRomansoldiers', Arctos 9 (I 975), 39-46, esp. all myattempts 41I: 'Unfortunately, a mathematical tofind solutionto the problemof 84 denarii I53/4 obols have failed'. 22 ChLAX,7ff23 24

Philippi', JRS 6o (I970),

I42-53 = RAS

I,

I73-87, esp.

Jahn (i984), 64f. and idem (i983), 224ff. Jahn (i984), 64f. and idem (i983), 225ff.

90

M. ALEXANDER

SPEIDEL

II.

A NEW PAY RECORD ON A WRITING-TABLET FROM VINDONISSA

(P1. I)

Work on the writing-tablets has revealed, amongstmany othernew fromVindonissa25 documentsand letters, thelast page of a pay receipt.26

Transcript:
i

-] cluaiiqraetor aug ss turalbIpudiintIsaciipiXL [.]tstipiindiproximiXLxxv

asIniocii[.]iirI[.]non[

..]cos xi

Text: Reconstructed
i

XI k(alendas) Asinio Ce[1]ere, Non[io]co(n)s(ulibus), Clua,eq(ues) Raetor(um) Aug(ustas). S(upra)s(criptus) L ac(c)epiX(denarios) tur(ma) AlbiPudentis, LXXV. X(denarios) proximi [e]tstipendi

22July

(= A. D. 38). I, the were consuls (Quintilianus) Asinius Celer andNonius yearinwhich ofthe 50 ofAlbius abovementioned ofthe Raetiin thesquadron Clua, horseman Pudens,have received pay 75 denarii. denari,and as next

The natureof thistextseems clear, althoughno otherof its kindhas yetbeen found. It is a it appears, in his own receiptformoneypaid to the Raetian (?) horsemanClua,27written,
25 For the fullpublication of thistabletand all other Vindonissa writing-tablets, see M. A. Speidel, Die romischen Schreibtafeln aus Vindonissa(forthcoming); forthetablets already published idem,'Neue Inschriften auf Schreibtafelchen aus dem Schutthugel des Legionslagers Vindonissa',Jahresbericht der Gesellschaft Pro Vindonissa I986 (I987), 49-64, esp. 49 with theliterature. Cf. also idem, 'Entlassungsurkunden des romischen Heeres. Eine holzerne Entlassungsurkunde aus dem Schutthugel des Legionslagers Vindonissa',Jahresbericht der Gesellschaft Pro VindonissaI990 (I99I), 59-64; idem, 'Romische Schreibtafelchen aus Vindonissa', Specimanova parsprima (forthcoming). 26 i6 X [7.3] cm; the lower half is missing. The remaining upper half shows on its inside fourlines of cursivescript.The blankspace after the last line reveals thatno further textis missing, apartfrom, perhaps,the ActumVindonissae on the now missing closing-formula lowerhalf.The outsideofthetabletis blank.The tablet

was probably foundin therubbish dump ('Schutthiigel') ofthefortress. The reading has beenestablished withthe and a microscope. photographs helpofenlarged 2 cf.CIL V.4698 (Brixia). On this inscription Clua was the name of the father of a certainEsdrila. Assuminga similardissemination of both names, Clua may have fromthe northern originated Italian Alpine region,the alpes Raeticae,perhapsfrom one of the valleysnorth of Brescia(cf. J. Untermann, 'Namenlandschaften im alten I26ff.). Here, Raetian tribesare knownto have lived (Strabo iv.6.8) and the indigenous names,according to J. Untermann (I 5I ff .), seem to be of Raetianorigin.On Clua's originand the recruiting area of his unit,cf. M. Hartmannand M. A. Speidel, 'Die Hilfstruppen des Windischer Jahresbericht Heeresverbandes', der GesellPro VindonissaI 99 I (1992). schaft Cf. also A. Holder, Altceltischer Sprachschatz(i896-I904), III, I238: Cloa (Scarponne),iII, 1240: Clu (Langres).

Oberitalien', zur Namenforschung Beitrage I0 (I959),

ROMAN

ARMY

PAY SCALES

9I

rather wobblyhand.28 Precedingand now missingpages mayhave containedan official textby or itsbook-keeper theunit'streasurer (signifer)29 (librarius),as well as perhapsthenames and seals ofwitnesses.The completedocumentwas presumably keptwiththetreasurer's records. Clua was a memberofa squadron (turma) - a subdivisionknownonlyin theauxilia30 _ led by a certainAlbius Pudens.3' Although Clua named his unit simplyby the colloquial ,32 we can be certaina cohorsRaetorum equitata was meant, expressionequites Raetorum perhapscohorsVII Raetorumequitata, which is attestedat Vindonissa duringthe mid-first century.33 38 and, in addition,the Accordingto thisreceipt,Clua received50 denariion 22 July A.D. whole of his next pay (75 denarii) in advance.34Clua's next pay-daywas I September,his previousone had been on i May ofthesame year.Why,after onlyhalftheperiodbetweenthe ofhis normalpay and thewhole had elapsed, he needed theequivalentoftwo-thirds pay-days forhis advanced pay maybe thatClua us. A possible explanation ofhis nexthe failsto inform suddenlyand unexpectedlyneeded more money than he had on his account and therefore decided to overdrawit. He would thenhave receivedno pay on i September.On the troop's ofthekinddebetexpriorerationeX. . . (cf.RAMR pay recordan entrance 70 frag.a i 28; a ii 25, forthesecond and thirdcenturies passim) maythenhave been made. Such practiceis attested 36 A. D. ,35 some soldiersowingover I 76 denariito the Roman state. Under whatcircumstances was theRoman army willingtograntadvancepay?There may have been several, thoughwe know of only one. It is revealed by an Egyptianpapyrus of A.D. I79 (RMAR 76), the main body of which contains some sixty-two receipts,issued by horsemenof the ala Veterana Gallica fortheiryearlyhay moneyof 25 denarii. The great of themexplicitly mentionthattheyreceivedthe moneyin advance (tv 3QoXQcL@), majority wereabout to leave their because they camp in Alexandriaforseveraloutpostsin Lower Egypt, some morethan 300 km away.37 For the remaining few,whichgive no such mention,we can
28 may cause surprise. When Some irregularities Quintilianus thedate,Clua omitted thecognomen copying consulsoutside of the second consul. Dating by suffect (cf.W. Eck,'Consulesordinarii uncommon Italywasvery Actesdu als eponyme Amtstrager', und consulessuffecti colloque en memoirede AttilioDegrassi Rome 27-28 (i i), 99

customs of the early administration light on military empire. The use of both formsof the letter'e': E (in 'Raetor(um)) and II (being the normalformon stylus tablets) in the same text or word, was, admittedly, unusual. Yet examplescan be foundwithease: cf. e.g. aufr6mischer Graffiti and B. Gallsterer-Kroll, L. Bakker LandesmuseumBonn (1975) Keramik im Rheinischen no. 349; R. S. 0. Tomlin, Tabellae Sulis (i988) no. 53; CIL xiii. I0009, 6, II9a; IOOIO, I88, 228d', 228i, 25Ie cf. eques Raetorum passim. For thecolloquialexpression belown. 32. 29 Vegetius, that thesigniferi, Ep. reimil.II. 20 reports, homines, were in chargeof the who had to be litterati reddere rationem. singulis and responsible troops'money 30 The legionary were assigned,instead,to horsemen the centuriae (cf. M. P. Speidel, 'Ein Silberringaus HelvetiaArcheologica Badenfur die Reiter der2I. Legion', I 987),56-8) . 703( 31 Otherwise of He mayhavebeena member unknown. the legion (perhaps an eques legionis)ad tradendam immixtus (Tac., Agric.28), as thiswas often disciplinam theearlyEmpire.Cf. alsoAE I969/70, done during 66i; CIL iii.8438 and esp. M. P. Speidel, 'A Spanishcavalry decurionin the time of Caesar and Augustus',RAS I,
32 For suchcolloquial cf.Tab. Vindolanda expressions, i988/944(unpub.): equites Vardulliforequitescohortis I fidae Vardullorummilliariae civium Romanorum equitatae and Tab. Vindolanda I985/I83 (unpub.): civium forequitesalae (Augustae)Vocontiorum Vocontii Romanorum(for these tablets,cf. e.g. R. Birley,The 29 and 9). fromVindolanda(I990), Roman Documents Hadriangave on his inspection The speechthe emperor of the troops at Lambaesis, recorded in ILS 2487, 9133-9135 (A.D. 128), uses both termsequally: campus

Mai I988

. I 5-44,esp

shedsome .) andmay 30ff

II I-I3.

and in thenextline: eq(uites) coh(ortis) Commagenorum VI Commagenorum (ILS 9I34). Cf. also M. P. Speidel, 'Ala Maurorum? Colloquial names for Roman army RASi, Iog-io. units', are known(thelate Romanala I 33 No alae Raetorum Flavia Raetorum:Not. Dign. 0cc. xxxv. 23 and ala V Raetorum: Not. Dign. Or. XXVIII. 30 were upgraded cohortes 'Raetien,Britannien (equitatae?), cf. E. Birley, 259-7I, esp. 266 n. 33; und das romischeHeer', R/A, M. P. Speidel,'The Romanarmy in Arabia',RAS I, 229Raetorum the 72, esp. 248f.). Of the many cohortes following are knownto have had cavalrydetachments: I Raetorum eq.; eq.; I Raetorum eq. c. R.; III Raetorum VRaetorum(eq.?); VIIRaetorumeq.; VIIIRaetorumeq. century During the first halfof the first A.D. thereis no evidenceof where any of these troopsmay have been Of thecohors stampedtileshave stationed. VII Raetorum been found in Vindonissadating around the mid-first A.D. (CIL XIII.12457, 12458; cf. Hartmann and century Speidel, op. cit. (n. 27)). For the Vindonissaalae, cf. in Augst',ZPE M. A. Speidel, 'RomischeReitertruppen 91 (I992), i65-75. proximi X LXXV' is to 93 This is how'accepi stipendi The expression written out fullyis also be understood. X . . .' and in foundin RMR 70passim: 'accepitstipendi X. . .' RMR 68, P. Yadin 722, 4 and i i: 'accepi stipendi ChLA446 and 495 showonly'accepitstip.',RMR 7I and has shown(ChLAx, p. I4), 72: 'accep. stip.' R. Marichal to that wasa genitive de relation'), linked stipendi ('genetif theverbaccipere('adverbialer Genetiv'),and specifying the natureof whatwas received('Genetivder Rubrik'), ratherthan the amount ('il n'est en rien question de quantite,mais de nature'). Hence his translation 'requ comme solde', which is followedabove: 'I ... have received ... as nextpay.' 35 cf. e.g. RMR 70 (A.D. I92); 73 (AD. I20-50); ChLA (second/third A.D.). century 4736 RMR 73 fr.a i 2437 cf. S. Daris, 'Le truppeausiliarie romanein Egitto', ANRW II.IO.I (I988), 743-66, esp. 752f. For advanced of grain,cf. RMR 78, 2 and 9 (second/third payments century A.D.).

92

M. ALEXANDER

SPEIDEL

safelyassume the same. The money was given to the horsemenbetween 9 Januaryand we do not know when hay moneywas officially paid, but the most 6 March. Unfortunately would not be back on the day it likelyexplanationforan earlyreceiptis thatthe detachments was due, as outpost-duty could last severalmonths.38 receivedhis third It may be thatClua too was about to go on a mission,39 and therefore one may information, stipendium early.As forthe 50 denarii,on whichhe givesus no further quote the similarcase of Tinhius Val[-] in the pay recordRMR 70 (= P.Aberd. I33 frag.b col.ii.7ff.), who received a certainsum ('accepit sumrp(-')and was sent 'ad praesi(dium?) and hencethere Bab(ylonis?)'. His absenceon thedaythedocumentwas made is thusattested, this happened over i So yearslater,and the So was no entry'accepit stipendi'. Admittedly, denarii of the Vindonissa tablet may just as well have come fromClua's own account; the seems striking. parallelnevertheless
III. THE FIRST-CENTURY PAY SCALES

Whateverquestions may remain,the Vindonissa tablet provides us, forthe first time, soldierwhose rankwe know. withsafe and unambiguousevidenceforthe pay of an auxiliary This information enables us to assess the pay of the Roman armyon safergroundsthanwere in A.D. 84 beforeDomitian's pay-rise hitherto possible. It is now clear thatan eques cohortis i.e. goo sestertii per year. received75 denarii(= 300 sestertii) perstipendium, evidencepresented earlier.The pay of We maynextturnto theliterary and papyrological the horsemenin the cohortsequals that of the legionarysoldiers.RMR 68, we can now be or 750 per revealsthebasic pay ofa milescohortis, earning250 sestertii perstipendium certain, of 300 sestertii, A.D. 84. RMR 69 suppliesthebasic legionary stipendium paid four yearbefore times a year afterDomitian's pay-rise,amountingto a yearlyincome of I,200 sestertii. Domitianwill have raisedthepay oftheauxiliaparipassu withthelegions'pay by one third.40 and thatofa mileslegionis,it can now be The ratiobetweenthebasic salaryofa milescohortis was indeed 5:6. confirmed, in pay betweena milescohortis and an eques cohortis before A.D. 84 was So The difference or i5o sestertii sestertii per stipendium per year. As fortheequites legioniswe can be certain theyreceivedmorethanthe basic pay of a mileslegionis(= eques cohortis),'cum naturaliter equites a peditibussoleantdiscrepare'(Veg., Ep. reimil. II.2I). Also, beforebeing promoted legionaryhorsemanand earningequestria stipendia,4"one had to serve several years as a in pay beforeA.D. 84 may well have been the same i5o sestertii The difference footsoldier.42 i.e. 350 sestertii to an annual pay of I,050 sestertii, perstipendium.43 per year,amounting The emperorHadrian tells us thatthe equites alae too receiveda higherpay than the in pay betweenan eques alae equites cohortis (= mileslegionis).4 Yet was therea difference the legionsto the careersmentioning transfers from and an eques legionis?The fewsurviving alae do not necessarily suggestthis. Ti. Claudius Maximus, the 'captor of Decebalus', was promotedby the emperorDomitian fromvexillariusequitumlegionis,drawingpresumably the double pay i.e. I,575 sestertii per year,to duplicariusalae, now receiving pay-and-a-half, ofan eques alae.45 If we assume thatthehorsemenin thelegionsand in thealae werepaid the
38 cf. M. P. Speidel, 'Outpost duty in the desert. Building thefort at Gholaia(Bu Njem,Libya),Antiquite's africaines 24 (I988), 99-I 02. R. Marichal, 'L'occupation romaine de la Basse Egypte: le statutdes auxilia (I945), ofseveral soldiers in themissing stipendia 54f.,explained RMR 70 by theirabsencefrom the camp at the timethe was paid or therecord maderespectively. money and Speidel, 39 For possible outposts,cf. Hartmann

4 M. P. Speidel,op. cit. (n. IS), 87; Jahn(i983), 66. CIL XII. 2602 = ILS 2I i8. 42 cf. J. Gilliam, 'Dura rostersand the Constitutio Antoniniana',RAP, 289-307, esp. 292ff.; idem, 'An
41

op. cit. (n. 27).

Egyptian cohort in A.D.

n. 3.

I I7', RAP, 309-I5, esp. 309 and

of thiswill be foundin the laterdata 4 Confirmation (see below p. 96, and n. 93). The ratio between the incomeof a milesand an eques in the legion,in theory, mayalso havebeen calculated on thesame basis as in the cohorts(750 sestertii:goo sestertii beforeA.D. 84), i.e. 5:6. This would lead to i,o8o sestertii per year,a sum a stipendium by 3, suggesting easilydivisible equestreof But this sum does not reconcilewiththe 360 sestertii. figures ofP.Panop. (cf. belowpp. 99-IoO). "4 CIL VIII.2532, i8042 = ILS 2487, 9I33-9135: Difficileest cohortalesequites etiam per se placere, non displicere:... difficilius postalaremexercitationem armorum cultusprostipendi equorumforma modo.' 4 AE i969/70, 583; M. P. Speidel, op. cit. (n. 20), I46f.; cf.also idem,op. cit. (n. i6), 87 and n. i8.

JRSvol. LXXXII

(1992)

PLATE I

s-_ e7.

:
A NEW PAY RECORD ON A WRITING-TABLET FROM VINDONISSA

ROMAN

ARMY

PAY SCALES

93

Ti. Claudius Maximus' promotion would have entaileda 25 per cent same basic stipendium, pay-rise.Another,slightly earlier,careerreportsthe promotionof M. Licinius Fidelis from eques legionisto duplicariusalae.46 This would have meanta Ioo per cent increase.An even greater increasewas grantedto M. Annius Martialisduringthe laterfirst century A.D., when he was promotedfrom mileslegionisto duplicariusalae.47 It, therefore, seems possible that equites legionisand equites alae receivedthe same basic pay of I ,050 sestertii per yearbefore A.D. 84.48 One maynow proposethe following pay scale forthefirst century A.D.
TABLE 3. FIRST-CENTURY PAY OF THE ROMAN ARMY (SESTERTII PER YEAR)

Branch miles cohortis eques cohortis miles legionis eques legionis oralae

Rank sesquiplicarius duplicarius basic sesquiplicarius duplicarius basic sesquiplicarius duplicarius basic sesquiplicarnus duplicarius

A.D.84 Before
I, I25

84 AfterA.D.
I ,000
I,500 2,000

basic

750
900

I,500 I,350

i,8oo

I ,8oo 2,400 I ,8oo 2,400 I1400 2, I00 2,800

1,200

I,200

goo
i,8oo
I,o50 I,575 2,100 I,350

or literary The bold figures arebased on direct evidence. documentary

All figures in theory, beforeA.D. 84 were easilydivisibleby threeand therefore, payable in sestertii as stipendia threetimesa year. Domitian's pay-risebroughtthe soldiersanother theyearly sums now being divisibleby four. stipendium, whichseveralconsiderable These figures, werebut nominalsumsfrom though, deductions were made.49As all full pay recordsshow, a deduction of I per cent was made fromeach stipendium,even before it was accreditedto the soldier. The nature of this deduction is mean thatthe I per cent obscure.S?Its absence on the Vindonissatabletdoes not necessarily the natureof the tablet,of deductionwas not enforcedin Vindonissa; it may insteadreflect whichwe are notfully informed."' The first-century pay recordsshow thatoftheremaining 99 percent(ex eis) 8o drachmae (= sestertii) of the stipendiumbefore A.D. 84 (RMR 68) and ioo drachmae (RMR 69)

fromthe same legion (III Augusta) to the same ala (Pannoniorum) as the above M. Licinius Fidelis several yearsearlier.One mayalso notethe late second-century from careerof M. AureliusPaetus, who was promoted . Y. eques alae tosesquiplicarius legionis (AE I 977, 720; cf LeBohec, La Troisieme legionauguste (i989), 205 and n. 214), which,accordingto the above pay scales, also a pay-rise. entailed 4 For confirmationsee below 96f. and ggf. The demand of the Batavian Cohorts in A.D. 69 for 'donativum, duplex, stipendium, augeri equitum numerum' (Tacitus,Hist.iv.I 9) - a passagequotedwith greatregularity whenever the pay of the auxiliais being the discussed- is of no value in helpingto determine basic pay of the auxilia. For a detaileddiscussionof the passage, cf. Wierschowski, op. cit. (n. i), gff.;see also M. P. Speidel,op. cit. (n. i6), 87 n. I9. 4 Tacitus, Ann. I.I7 reports deductionsfor: vestis, arma, tentoria.

46AE i969/70, 66i from A.D. 55/8-7I/4. 47 CIL VIII.2354 add. = ILS 305. He wastransferred

50 M. P. Speidel, op. cit. (n. i6), 86, who first recognized the i per cent deduction, suggested an exchange feeforconversion ofdenariito drachmae.Yet, as i per centof thestipendiain RMR 70, ChLA446 and 495 appears to have been deductedalthoughtheywere paid in denarii(and obols), thisdeduction is perhapsnot tobe explained as a conversion fee.HenceJahn (I984), 63 n. 36, surmisedits use for an institution or purpose, benefitingall soldiers of the unit. G. R. Watson, in theRomanarmy', 'Documentation ANRWii, I (i974), 493-507, esp. 499, suspecteda service-charge forbook-

cf. above, ii, withour suggestion thatthehorseman in advancebecausehe was about Clua received hismoney to leave the camp. If this is correct, none of the above explanations(n. So) would fully apply, which might explainthe absenceof the i per centdeduction.It is, of course,equallypossiblethatthe i percentdeduction was not yet in forceat the time the Vindonissatabletwas issued.

kee5ping.

94

M. ALEXANDER

SPEIDEL

thereafter were kept back forfood (in victum).52 Standard stoppages, it appears, were also made forhay money(faenaria), boots and socks (caligas, fascias), which,together withthe deductionforfood, represented about 40 per cent of the basic stipendiumof footsoldiers.53 Occasional stoppageswere made forclothing(in vestimentis) and contributions towardsthe camp Saturnalia (saturnaliciumkastrense) and the standards (ad signa). Altogether these oftheannual pay ofthetwo auxiliary deductionsamountedto roughly three-quarters soldiers inRMR 68.54 The restofthemoneywas booked to thesoldiers'account(depositum),forwhich theremusthave been separatebook-keeping.55
IV. THE NEW MASADA PAY RECORD (P. YADIN 722)

The recently published pay documentfromMasada has so farbeen excluded fromthe in several forit differs above discussionof the first-century pay scales and stoppagesystems, points fromall otherknownpay records. This is perhaps because it is not a complete pay recordbut rather an extract, copied out at the end ofthe yearand servingas a receipt(hence 'accepi' in 11. 4 and i i). The remaining upper halfofthepapyruscontainstheaccountsforthe first stipendiumand parts of the second. Aftera heading with the date, the title of the document ('ratio stipendia(ria?)'), and the name of the soldier, it shows two entries'accepi stipendi',each followedby severaldeductions('ex eos solvi'). Its purposewas 'to give a breaktheyear: a detailedaccountof down of the expenseshe (i.e. the soldier) incurred throughout information. The textrunsas follows his"debit"'56 It seemsitwas notmeantto givefurther : IMP(ERATORE) VES]PAS[IA]N[0 AV]G(VSTO) 1111 CO(N)[S(ULE) C.MESSIVS C.F(ILIVS) FAB(IA) BERV(TENSIS) X L accepi st]ipendi exeos s[olui [X XVI hordiaria (2 hand) ]rnius X X). sumtuarium c[a]ligas X V X II lorum fas~iari(um) X VII linia tunica X LX[ accepistipendi exeos solui hordiaria XXY[ X [XX sumtuarium
(3 hand)

4.

3.

2.

R]AT10

ST[IP]E~ND[I]A

(RIA?)

5. 6.

7. 8. 9.

6a.

IO. I I.

I 2.
I3. I4. I4a.

I 5. I 5a.

C.Antonius

i6.

(4 hand) Puplius Valerius

pallium operatoriu(m)

[X [X

tun[i]caalba

C. Messius fromBeirut,the soldier mentionedin this document,was clearlya Roman citizen,forhis tribe(Fabia) is given(1. 3). His unitand his rank,however,are notmentioned.
52 I, p.

for thesaturnalicium, in victum (?), included 28 drachmae leavingthe standardiOO drachmaein victumas found ofthisdocument. withthesecondand third stipendium and 4 drachmae, ad signa 5 These standard stoppages were the only deductions made during the second stipendiumof Q. lulius Proculus and C. Valerius c. 42 percentof inA.D. 8i (RMR 68), equalling Germanus thestipendium (cf. also n. S4). 54 This may also have been true for the legionary we cannotbe certain sincethe accountinRMR 69 though forthequartumstipendium greater partof the lastentry stipendium withthe deductionsis missing.Of the first

the I 28 drachmae inRMR 69, 1.5, deducted 25), that

proposition (ChLA We follow Marichal'sconvincing

c. 75 per cent was kept back, the following two show deductions of c. So per cent. The itemsforwhichthese weremadearelost. deductions
56 Masada II, 45. Cf. ibid., 4Iff. for a detailed discussion of the differences between the Masada and thepayrecords document inRMR. 57 The textand the reconstructions givenhereare the editors' (Masada II, 46f.); cf.also their commentary 47ff. The expansionof the date in 1. i is uncertain and could as IMP VES]PAS [A]V[G VI TIT]O also be understood IIII CO[S, i.e. the year 75 (cf. op. cit., 47f.). The of1.2 seemsopento doubts,sinceitlacksa reconstruction link between grammatical thetwowords(cf.op. cit.,48f.).

55 cf.e.g.RMR73.

ROMAN

ARMY

PAY SCALES

95

The sums he receivedas stipendium areX L (1. 4) and X LX[- (l1 i i) respectively.58The 50 denarii,the readingof which seems beyond doubt, does not correspondwiththe pay scales is further suggestedabove (Table 3). Our understanding aggravated by the6o or moredenarii C. Messius received as his next pay. As the editors stressed, the 50 denarii credited to C. Messius as his first pay seem to equal the total of the deductions. The editorstherefore rather thanthesum ofthestipendium' enteredafter concluded,'thatwe have totalexpenditure This explanation lacks documentarysupport. In all other documents 'accepi stipendi'.59 is followedby thesum creditedto the soldier. accepi or accepit stipendi60 known,theformula Furthermore thefirst-century pay recordsshow an entry expressly reservedforthetotalof all expenses ('expensas': RAMIR 68; 'est s(umma) s(upra) s(criptarum)':RMR 69). A summingup oftheexpensesunderthe headingaccepi stipendithusseems unlikely. sectionofthe Masada The explanationforthe absence ofthetotalofexpensesin thefirst documentmay be providedby the thirdpay account of C. Valerius Germanus in RAMR 68 (1. 23ff .). Here too additionoftheexpenseslistedgivesa totalequal to thepay credited.Again the entry withthe totalof expenseswas omitted,just as in the Masada document.Because of withthetotalofexpenses ofpay and expenditure theomissionoftheentry thecorrespondence in both accounts may have been deliberate.61 Of the second pay account on the Masada to drawanysafeconclusionson thismatter. documenttoo littleis preserved If thefigures in 11. 4 and i i wereC. Messius' pay and notthetotalofhis expenses,how are sum of the second stipendiumto be the unexpected sum of 50 denarii and the different explained?The editorshave concluded thatthe purposeofthisdocumentwas solelyto give a detailed breakdown of the soldier's expenses throughoutthe year. Hence the absence of as we findthemin the Geneva documents: further statements concerning moneytransactions ofthepreviousbalance (habuit thedepositing ofthebalance (reliquas deposuit),thestatement ex prnore ratione) and the new total (fitsumma omnis).62 If correct,thiswould not allow for whichhad no connection withtheexpenses. on priordeductionsofthestipendium, statements 'debet ex prioreratione'inRMR 70 Such deductions,however,mayhave occurred.The entry (passim) shows thatdebts could be carriedover fromthe last pay period, and were probably thenextstipendium deductedfrom .63 Moreover,as we have seen, an unitemizedi percentwas normallydeducted fromthe full pay. Consideringthe purpose of the document and the of unspecified the sum of 50 denariiforC. Messius' deductionsbeforecrediting, possibility first stipendium may have been whatwas leftof his pay forstoppages.As forhis second pay, we can observethathis to drawanysafeconclusions.Nevertheless, again too littleis preserved that Messius this time pay now amountedto 6o denariiat the least, opening the possibility receivedhis fullstipendium.f What was the rank and unit of C. Messius? Though the documentdoes not explicitly mention it, the editors suggested he may have been eques legionisX fretensis.5 This assumptionis based upon Messius' Roman citizenshipand the surprisingly high amount of forbarley(as fed to cavalryhorses), rather moneythatwas deducted fromeach stipendium in favourofMessius' rank thanforhay (fedto pack animals) as inRMR 68. Anotherargument as a horsemanmaybe thesum he was chargedforboots and socks. This deduction,it appears, was made onlyonce a year. If thisis correct,the sum he had to pay, 7 denarii,was, over the whole year, less than the deductionscaligas fascias fromthe stipendia of the soldiers in
58 The editors of the document understood the the genitive to expression accepi stipendi, by suggesting not relateto thesum of 50 denarii,whichwas obviously 'I received thefullstipendium. Hence their translation of/ from mypay'(pp. 44, 47). On theother hand,they quoted RMR 68, 69, and 70, where they believed the same to denotethe fullsum, despitethe factthat expression thesedocuments onlyshowthefullsumminusi percent. As thenewVindonissa tablet could proves, accepistipendi indeed be followedby the full stipendium.It must, be translated'I have received as pay', the therefore, thequality rather ofthemoney thanthe genitive denoting amount(cf. above n. 34).

See also theabbreviations accep. and stip.as in e.g. RMR 68, 7I, 72, ChLA446, 495
60

Masada II,

5I;

cf.also44f.

61 In his commenton RMR 68 (p. 248), R. 0. Fink reached thesameconclusion. 62 It couldalso be argued thatC. Messiushad no money at all in hisdeposit,whichwouldalso explaintheabsence oftheentries thedepositum. concerning 63 In any case, it seems, the debts were not automatically deducted from the soldiers' savings: the in deposito amounts and in viaticoremained untouched: e.g. RMR 70 fr.a i, 28ff.; ii, 25ff.; fr.b i, gff.; 22ff. The new Vindonissatabletmay show how such debts could originate. 64 Because ofthefragmentary stateofthepapyrus, the thatMessius ran up further possibility debts cannotbe totally excluded. 65 cf.theeditors' comments, Masada II. 39 and 5Iff.

96

M. ALEXANDER

SPEIDEL

RMR 68, who paid 9 denarii(36 drachmae)peryear. It seems plausiblethathorsemenneeded new boots less oftenthanfootsoldiers. For all thesereasonsit seems justified to suppose that in a legion. C. Messius was a horseman,perhapsserving The stoppagesforhorsemenas recordedon the new Masada pay recordtogether witha Latin loan of A.D. 27 enable us to cross-checkthe above pay scales for the alae.66 On of the ala Paulini, borrowed6oo 25 August of thatyear L. Caecilius Secundus, cavalryman drachmae ( sestertii)fromC. Pompeius, a miles cohortis.He promised to pay back 200 drachmae with his next pay (stipendioproxumo), which was due only nine days later reached above his fullstipendium was 350 sestertii, (i September). Accordingto the figures If the standardsums forbarley(64 sestertii the i per centdeduction,3461/2 sestertii. or, after = i6 denarii)67 and food (8o sestertii= 20 denarii) were deducted, Secundus was leftwith 68 '6 2021/2 ofsix obols on the 200 drachmae.69 sestertii, just enoughto coverthe interest At first glance it mayseem hardto believethatSecundus was willingto dispose ofthefull sum he would receiveon his nextpay-day.However, since he needed another400 drachmae, as pledgesa helmet,inlaidwithsilver,a thisbecomes plausible. For these400 drachmaehe left and silver.PerhapsC. Pompeiuswould silver-inlaid badge, and a scabbardadornedwithivory have preferred to lend more of his moneyon interest.On the otherhand, the pledges must have been worthmorethanthemoneyPompeiuswas willingto lend forthem.Yet in contrast scheme forthe 400 drachmaewas arranged.This to the above 200 drachmae,no repayment may implythat Secundus was not able to redeem the pledges in the immediatefuture.In beforehis nextpay-day, Secundus at thistime,shortly musthave additionto thesearguments, known how high his stoppages would be. It therefore seems possible that c. 200 drachmae (= sestertii) was the fullamountwhichwould be leftof Secundus' pay after deductions,and If our which Pompeius could safelyassume to be repaid afterSecundus' next pay-day.70 theabove conjecture thatthepayoftheequitesalae may arecorrect, assumptions theyconfirm A.D. 84. Further havebeen 350 sestertii before confirmation willbe foundwiththe perpay-day below (vi). thirdand fourth-century data presented The Roman soldierof the first A.D. was well takencare of. All basic necessities century were providedfor,the costs being deducted at source. The supply serviceswere run by the was left entirelywith the troops' troops' specialists and their financial administration accountants.7' theincreaseofpay and deductionsDomitian seemsto have leftthis Apartfrom systemunaltered,as the unchanged book-keepingsystembeforeand afterA.D. 84 implies (compare RMR 68 and RMR 69). Because it left so much money in the hands of the
66 P.Vindob. L. I35; cf. H. Harrauerand R. Seider, P.Vindob. L. I35', 'Ein neuerlateinischer Schuldschein: on comments ZPE 36 (I979), IO9-20, Taf. iv. For further thistextsee J. F. Gilliam,'Notes on a new Latin text', unitsnamedafter RABP,429-32; M. P. Speidel,'Auxiliary theircommanders: fournew cases fromEgypt',RAS i, ioi-8. J. Shelton,'A noteon P.Vindob. LI35', ZPE 38 (I980),202. 67 By analogyto the equal sums deductedin victuml (P. Yadin, 722) sumptuarium from boththe legionaries' and the equal and the auxiliaries'(RMR 68) stipendium in the legionsand in the alae (for pay forcavalrymen cf. also the third-century data below), we confirmation, assume that the stoppages for the horsemen'sbarleyin ofunit.Differences money werealsoequal inbothtypes stoppages, it seems, were mainly due to different equipment and clothes, hence Hadrian's remark: cultusprostipendi modo',ILS 'equorumforma armorum 2487 (cf. above n. 44). 68 If boots and socks were deducted with each of the year,he stipendium rather thanat the beginning left:the deductionthen would have had I93.2 sestertii = or or28 sestertii :3 2.3 denarii wouldhavebeen7 denarii why There is no apparent reason,however, 9.3 sestertii. theequitesalae shouldhavepaid for their bootsand socks For theequal treating moreoften thantheequiteslegionis. ofequitesalae and legionis see above n. 20 and pp. 92-3 and belowpp. 99-iooff. 69 All other stoppages, mainly for clothes (in and Secundus will vestimentis) did not occur regularly, ifhe could. As thepayaccounts ofthe haveavoidedthem,

of Q. Julius secondstipendium Proculusand C. Valerius Germanus show (RMR 68), it was possible to keep deductionsat a minimum(cf. above n. 49). Cf. also Tacitus,Ann.XIII. 35: 'fuissein eo exercitu veteranos ... sine galeis, sine loricis,nitidiet quaestuosi,militiaper oppidaexpleta.' 70Even if Secundus invested the borrowed moneyso that he couldnotdisposeofitfor a longer periodoftime, it could be arguedthathe probably neededno extramoney fordailyliving expenses,sincethesewerecoveredby the from deductions his pay. 71 For a possiblereconstruction ofthesupplyservices, cf.J. RemesalRodriguez, 'Die Procuratores Augusti und die Versorgung des romischen Heeres',inmH. Vetters and M. Kandler(eds), Derr6mische Limesin Osterreich 36li; Aktendes I4. Internationalen Limeskongresses 1986 in Carnuntum (I990), 55-64. In La 'annona militaris'y la de aceite Betico a Gernania (I986), 9iff., exportaci6n theviewthatbecause esp. 94, thesame authorexpressed from thesoldiers' ofthemanydeductions pay,hardly any moneyactuallychangedhands. This can have been no morethana general tendency during thefirst century A.D. as is shownby the accountsof the secondstipendium of inRMR 68 Q. Julius Proculusand C. ValeriusGermanus Well over 50 per cent of these stipendiwas (A.D. 8i). actuallypaid out (cf. above nn. 53 and 54). Cf. also the on loan the above P.Vindob. L I35 (A.D. 27), soldiers' the repayment of 200 drachmae withthenext promising cf. stipendium.For the second-century developments, belowandespecially thesoldiers' loansCPL I28, I88, I89, I94.

ROMAN

ARMY

PAY SCALES

97

thispaysystem was open to fraud,and Plinyfound'magnamfoedamque commanding officers, controlsof the 'rationesalarum et avaritiam,neglegentiam parem' which called forofficial cohortium'(Pliny, Ep. VII.31). For some of these reasons the systemunderwentchanges duringthe second century.72
V. SECOND-CENTURY CHANGES

A.D.

The next recorded pay-riseafterA.D. 84 is the one grantedby Septimius Severus in later. If therewas indeed no further 197, i.e. over a century pay-risein the intervening stillaccurate,but a pay record period, the pay ratespresentedabove were, at least in theory, ofDomitian and SeptimiusSeverus,RMR 70 ofA.D. 192, from thetimebetweenthepay-rises shows that several considerable changes of the accounting systemhad been undertaken, changesthatcan also be observedon thelaterpay records(ChLA 446, 473, and 495). The rolls no longercontainedall thestipendiaofone yearunderthe soldier'sname. Now a new rollwas a continuouslistofall thesoldiers'accounts(cf.RMR made up foreach stipendium containing publico (ChLA 70). The only standarddeductionswere itemizedcollatio (RMR 70), contulit extantbeing 8 denarii4 obols (ChLA 446), 4 495), or sublatio (ChLIA446, 473), the figures obols (RMR 70), and 4 denarii4 obols (ChLA 49S). It is clearthatthesestoppages denarii221/2 were of a different naturefromthe priordeductionsin victumlsumptuarium and faenarial 73 If theywere stillconnectedto the supply system,these small deductionscould hordiaria. a compulsory contribution towardsthe financial only have represented upkeep of its logistic organization,74 and no longerserved to cover the expenses forhay, barley,food, boots and socks. Whatever the exact nature of these stoppages, it is certain that deductions were graduallyreduced.7 The reductionof stoppagescan alreadybe observedin a loan of 7(?) AugustA.D. 140, in whichan eques cohortis promisesto pay back 79 denariito a fellowhorsemanofthe same unit His income per pay-daywas Ioo denarii (400 fromhis next pay ('e stipendio proximo').76 or I, 200 sestertii sestertii perstipendium annually,ifthiswas paid threetimesperyear). After the i per cent deduction,which still seems to have been enforcedat this time (cf. below), he had 99 denarii left. If he kept his promise to pay off his debts on his next pay-day (i September), only 20 denarii were available for deductions. These would not even have coveredthepriorstoppagesforfood (25 denarii= I00 drachmaeor sestertii; cf. above, n. 52), let alone moneyforbarleyor anything else. If the costs forthesewere no longerdeducted at source, the soldiercould have hoped (or planned) to procureeithermore moneyor perhaps even the itemsrequiredduringthetimebetweenpay-days, and would not have had to relyon the 20 denarii(minuswhatever deductions)leftofhisstipendium. Stoppages appear to have been reduced perhaps as early as Hadrian's reign, for this theadministration and theexpensesofthearmyduringhis emperoris said to have reorganized visitto thetroopson theRhinein A.D. 121 .7 Perhapsthe Roman soldiersnow had to buy their rations(and thosefortheirhorses), as well as otheritemson theirown behalf,eitherfrom the

cf. also A. R. Birley'ssuggestion thatsome of the (cf.n.69) as 'nitidi etquaestuosi"hadbeenmaking money from selling "duty-free goods"' fromthe army'ssuppliesto civilians ('The economic effects of Roman frontier policy', in A. King and M. Henig (eds), The Roman Westin the Third Century. Contributions from Archaeologyand History, BAR Int.Ser. I09 (I98I), 39-53, esp. 46). 73 Occasional deductions survive for the repair of and helmet('re[f(ectio)loric(ae) et casid(is) X I armour s(emis)': ChLA 446, cf. Jahn(I983), 220 and n. I3) and for servants'food ('solvit tess(eras) baronumX LX': ChIA 495, cf.M. P. Speidel,'The soldiers'servants',Anc. SOC. 20 (i989), 242 and n. i9). 7 cf.above n. 7I. 7 Another wayofdecreasing stoppages was to keepthe
72

described Ann. soldiers byTacitus, XIII.35

sums deducted at a fixed rate over periods of great inflation. This can be observede.g. with the deposits whichtheequitescohortis XX Palmyrenorum had to pay fortheirhorses: I25 denariiin both A.D. 208 and 25I Davies, 'The supplyof animalsto the Roman armyand theremount system', Servicein theRomanAnny(i 989), significantly more,as a receiptforthe return of such a deposit(RMR 75 = ChLA397) revealsthe'pretium equi' to have been '[d]enariQscentum[-'(11. 3 and 5; cf. esp. Marichal's in ChLAIX, p. I03). comments 76 P.Mich. VII.438 = CPL i88; cf. esp. Gilliam's comments and improved readings inRAP 53-9, esp. 54ff. " 'labentem disciplinam retinuit ordinatis et officiis et inpendiis' (HA, Hadr. x.3).
I53-73). Already in
A.D.

(RMRgg = ChLA3 Ii andRMR83

= ChLA352; cf. R. W.

I39 equites alae did not pay

98

M. ALEXANDER

SPEIDEL

armyor throughotheragents. Some evidence of this can be foundon papyriand ostraca.78 to buy at low prices,and thestatemayhave This would havegiventhesoldierstheopportunity saved some moneyby reducingthe costsforthe army'ssupplyservices. the emperorsbegan the provisionof free During the second halfof the second century we even findthatthe Roman statehad begun to pay annual annona,79 and in the late seventies Althoughthe evidence is contributions towardsthe cavalrymen'sexpenditureon fodder.80 ofstoppagesand thebeginning ofcontributions towards admittedly scanty,we see a reduction expenses. This entailsa steadyincreaseofthesoldiers'netincome.
VI. THE LATER STIPENDIA

RMR 70 (84 denarii 3/4obols), on thelaterstipendiacan be obtainedfrom Information (257 denarii obols) (cf. above, ChLA 446 (257 denarii 223/4 obols), and ChLA 495 22S were creditedas stipendia is not surprising as the troops' Table 2). The factthatodd figures Domitiani was abolished,and had to deal withunevensums since thestipendium accountants again. the annual salaries, all divisibleby four,suddenlyhad to be paid in threeinstalments The figures accountants'precisionwentas surviving on papyriprovethatthe Roman military of the stipendia in fulldrachmae (sestertii)or obols, let alone faras to ignorethe payability of the auxiliarypay recordRMR 70 (cf. above, n. 23), with its Jahn's interpretation fora milescohortis in pay of I,025 sestertii stipendiaof84 denariii S3/4obols, yieldstheyearly A.D. I92. Yet the sum expected afterDomitian's pay-risein A.D. 84 would be I,000 sestertii forwhichthereseems to be no obvious of25 sestertii, (cf. Table 3), whichleaves a difference In any case it explanation.Jahnsuggestedthatthis may have been a bonus of some kind.82 towardsthe soldiers' pay, fora mathematical a further state contribution appears to reflect at basic stipendium to thestipendiaseems unavailable. The legionaries' explanationconfined thistimewas I,200 sestertii (cf. above, Table i); hence the ratioremained5:6, as in the first A.D. century WithChLA 446 and 495 we are in a similarsituation.For both papyrithestipendia (257 salariesof3,I25 sestertii to yearly (cf. I). Again, denarii223/4 (1/4?)obols) can be reconstructed a contribution ofthe thesecan be best understoodas 3,000 sestertii per yearplus 125 sestertii, kind found above in RMR 70. Both papyrihave been dated to the second/third centuryby toRMR 70 ofA.D. I92. Thence Jahndatesthemto R. Marichal,and show a close resemblence mustclearlybelongto theperiod The sum of3,000 (+ 125) sestertii theearlythirdcentury.83 tantum who granted 'militibus after stipendiorum quantumnemo SeptimiusSeverus'pay-rise, musthave been substantial.If this therefore, principum dedit' (HA, Sev. I2.2). His pay-rise, emperorused any of the classical factors(33 per cent, So per cent, or ioo per cent) to raise be explainedas the annual the soldiers'pay, the sum of 3,000 (+ I25) sestertii can, in theory, income of a miles cohortis,drawing pay-and-a-half(cf. Table 3) after a ioo per cent excludedthatbothChLA446 and 495 represent pay pay-rise. Althoughitcannotbe completely more attractive recordsofsesquiplicarii,it seems rather to date the unlikely.It is, therefore, ofA.D. 2I2, whichincreasedthesoldiers'normalpay by a half papyriafter Caracalla's pay-rise
78 cf. Jahn (I983), 223 and especially the many examplesof soldiersacquiringfood, clothes,and even citedin theirrelatives, or through from weaponsmainly and the op. cit. (n. i), II2ff. The earliest Wierschowski, majorityof these examples date to the early second too, comes to the therefore, century.Wierschowski conclusion,'dass sich seit dieser Zeit (the time of the der Soldatenversorgung Geneva papyri) das System habenmuss'(I2I). derArmeegewandelt seitens 79van Berchem, op. cit. (n. io); idem, 'L'annone est-elleun myth?', Atnnes et fiscalite ( I977), militaire 33I-40. 8

denarii.8i

yearforXQ(lac

P.Hamb. 39

Lexicons.v.). As Greek-English Liddel, Scottand Jones, the deduction of i 6 denarii for barley from each made over one hundredyears stipendium, horseman's

esp. forhorses:cf. (greenfodder,

RMR 76

(A.D.

I79):

25

denariiper

earlier,implies,this was not the full sum cavalrymen spenton horsefodder. at thelatest, Bythefourth century soldiersalso receivedfreerationsfortheirservants;cf. M. P. Speidel,op. cit. (n. 73), 242 and n. 20. 81 cf.only themany ofobolsrecorded inRMR fractions 7o and ChLA 446. Jahn'sargument (i 983), 223ff., that the payability of the stipendiawas achievedby enforcing I per centdeduction, does not seem convincing, forthe sums credited (accepit stipendi) and those actually handedout (reliquostulit)in RMR 70 show fractions of obols. Ifthemilitary accountants had evertried toachieve payability in roundsums,itseemsthey shouldhavebeen able to do better.Certainly the soldiers'yearly pay was in thirdsaftera calculatedirrespective of its payability Iper centdeduction. 82 cf.above p. 89 with n. 2483 Jahn (I983), 222ff.

ROMAN

ARMY

PAY

SCALES

99

of 3,000 sestertii can then,stillassuminga ioo per cent pay(cf. above, Table i). The figure The rise by Septimius Severus, be explained as the basic annual pay of a miles cohortis.84 ratiobetweenbasic pay forthe legionsand theauxilia maystillhave been 5:6. of January Confirmation of these resultsis found in the Panopolis papyri. For the first pay-day in A.D. 300, 65,500 denarii (= 262,000 sestertii)were delivered to pay for the XI Chamavorum.85 numberof soldiersofcohors Taking Maximinus stipendiaof an unspecified Thrax' pay-rise fora of ioo per centintoaccount,we arriveat an annual pay of 6,ooo sestertii miles cohortis at thattime. This leads to a stipendiumof 2,000 sestertii.The deliveredsum dividesexactlyinto I 3 I such stipendiaof2,000 sestertii.86 Jahn has reached the same result by splittingthe sum of 65,500 denarii into prime numbers: 2 X 2 X 5 x 5 x 5 X I3.87 It seems convincingthatthe factorI31 could have musthave been nothing to do withthe calculationofthe value ofthestipendia,and therefore due to theirnumber. In theory the numberofstipendia could also be doubled (262), which would lead to a value of 250 denarii. Yet this theoreticalresult can almost certainlybe fora milescohortis of250 denarii(= I,000 sestertii) at thistimeis excluded, fora stipendium notto be reachedby the attested pay-rises.88 Jahn's attemptto establish the pay of the horsemenin ala I Hiberorumby the same methodis somewhatless convincing.73,500 denariiweretransfered to thisunit (the strength ofwhichis again unknown),to be paid as stipendiato itssoldiers.89 Split intoprimenumbers, is 2 X 2 x 3 X 5 X 5 X 5 X 7 x 7. Jahntookthefactors thefigure 3 x 7 x 7 to be responsiblefor factorsforits value.90This calculationleads to I47 the numberof stipendia, the remaining which impliesthe same stipendiumfora miles stipendia of Soo denarii (= 2,000 sestertii),91 If the above calculationsof the A.D. cohortis and an eques alae at the end ofthe thirdcentury are correctand his pay indeed followedall pay-rises, Jahn's stipendium of the milescohortis or a curtailment ofsome ofthepayconclusionofequal paywould entaila considerable pay-cut A.D. for theequitesalae. This seemsrather unlikely. risesduring thesecondand third centuries The suggested annual pay of the eques alae as presentedabove (Table 3) was i,oSo thereafter sestertii before A.D. 84 and I 400 sestertii 7 was hencealreadyincluded). If (a factor we arriveat an annual pay of 8,400 we lead this sum through the above describedpay-rises, sestertii(= 2, I00 denarii) and a stipendiumof 2,800 sestertii(= 700 denarii). The sum of would therefore allow forexactlyio5 (3 x S X 7) to ala I Hiberorum, 73,500 denarii,delivered the basic stipendia of 700 denarii(2 X 2 X 5 X 5 X 7).92 This even resultappears to confirm thereignofDiocletian.93 of2,800 sestertii stipendium (= 700 denarii)foran eques alae during and the eques alae at the If these resultsare correct,thestipendia of the miles cohortis stillshow the same ratiosto each other. If we run the turnof the thirdto the fourth century the pay-rises of the second and forthe legions(cf. above, Table 3) through remaining figures of2,400 sestertii (= 6oo denarii), A.D. we arrive at a basic legionary thirdcenturies stipendium the legionaryhorseman drawing 2,800 sestertii(= 700 denarii) per pay-day. The ratio footsoldiers thenceremained5:6. betweenthebasic pay forthe auxilia and forlegionary to crosscheckthis conjecture.For The sums in P.Panop. 2.57 give us the opportunity their stipendium of i JanuaryA.D. 300, an unspecifiednumber of soldiers of legio III
14 Jahn (i983), 225, it seems, reached the same conclusion. His arguments, based on theassumedratioof the 5:6 between legionsand theauxilia(cf. Jahn(i984), 66ff.),can nowbe confirmed. 85 P.Panop. 2.292f. 86 This sum would allow for ofduplicarni anynumber ofsesquiplicarii. Some centurions' and anyevennumber pay may also have been included (cf. below p. I04f.). in P.Panop. does not of the figures This understanding allowforbonusesofthekindfoundinRMR 70 and ChLA theywere no longer 446 and 495. Perhaps, therefore, includedin thestipendia at thistime. 87 Jahn (I984), 6788 Onlyifone ofthepay-rises ofSeptimius Severusand Maximinus Thrax is totallydenied, can this sum be reached. 89 P.Panop. 2-36ff. 90Jahn(I984), 67 n. 55. 91 The unlikely theoretical alternativebeing 294 stipendiaof250 denarii. 92 The surprisingly inboththe ofsoldiers smallnumber cohors XI Chamavorum (max. I 3 I) and the ala I Hiberorum (max. I05) neednotbe theunits'full strengths (as Jahn(I984), 6i and nn. 28-30 seemsto assume). It is morelikely thattheunits,whosefullstrengths at perhaps this time are unknown, were split up into several in different detachments camps: cf. e.g. A. K. Bowman, 'The military of Upper Egyptin the reignof occupation Diocletian',BASP IS (I978), 25-38, esp. 33. If correct, this mightexplainwhythe ala I Hiberorum, when the above pay arrived,was under the commandof only a decunio (Besas; cf.P.Panop. 37). thefigure 93 In consequence, suggested above of i,050 before is also confirmed. sestertii Domitian'spay-rise The above of i,o8o sestertii alternative presented (cf. n. 43) be ruledout, forit cannotbe can now,in all probability, run through the second-and third-century pay-rises to fit thesumsofthePanopolispapyri.

IOO

M. ALEXANDER

SPEIDEL

ofthepraeses ofthe lowerThebais, weresent343,300 Diocletiana, doingdutyat theofficium denarii.This sum cannotbe explainedas multiples(i X, I .5 X, or 2 X) ofthebasic legionary It may stipendium (343,300/600 = 572-i666), whichis whyJahnassumed a scribalmistake.94 ofgovernors.Several ranksand of thestaff (officium) be worthwhile to recallthecomposition The functionscould be employed here, the most importantbeing the cornicularius.95 The total figure must therefore allow for cornicularii,however,drewequestria stipendia.96 horsemen'spay. If thisis takeninto account and the above reached (multiplesof) legionary and 700 denarii for the horseman,are stipendia, 6oo denarii for the legionaryfootsoldier of343,300 denariimakessense. The problemof how manysoldiersin how applied, thefigure manydifferent rankswerebeingpaid stillremains,but we can now at leastgivea fewexamples and 57I basic footsoldiers' ofhow to dividethe343,300 denarii: i basic horseman's stipendium or I3 and 557, and 564 basic footsoldiers'stipendia,97 stipendiaor 7 basic horsemen'sstipendia etc. Many different divisionsare, ofcourse, possible. rather no high,but it reflects The numberof basic stipendia thus reached is admittedly maximumof soldierspresenton the governor'sstaff.Many of these more than a theoretical or soldiers will have been paid more than the basic stipendium(receivingpay-and-a-half double pay) thus reducing the number of soldiers. The total of stipendia may also have (cf. below,vii),98 whichwould decreasethenumberofsoldiers includedthepay ofa centurion in theofficium of thepraeses even further. the 5:6 ratiobetweenthe auxiliaryand the The resultsso farachievedappear to confirm A.D. The reconstructed pay scales basic pay up to beginningof the fourth century legionary in thesedays, can be reconciledwithall the available evidence. What was paid as stipendium payments were however,was no longerthe soldier'smain source of income. Supplementary made in kind fromthe annona militarissince the late second centuryA.D.,99 and an ever increasingamountof moneywas givento the soldiersby the emperorsas donativa.1 These or even between betweenauxiliariesand legionaries gifts ofmoneywould makeno distinction and would thus keep the actual received double101 the ranks- only the higherofficers in pay at an even lowerratio. As forthe deductionsat the beginningof the fourth difference centuryA.D., the evidence allows no conclusions. The figuresin the Panopolis papyri are sums whichhave notyetbeen creditedto thesoldiersand hence are freeofall stoppages. The basic annual pay in sestertiiof the soldiers servingfrom Septimius Severus to Diocletian can now be set forth (Table 4).
VII. THE HIGHER PAY RATES

but The Roman army had a great many ranks and functionsbelow the centurionate (sesquiplicarius), and double pay grades: basic, pay-and-a-half perhapsonly threedifferent pay (duplicarius).12 For the early Empire at least, there is also evidence for treble pay The stone records foundnot long ago at Mainz.103 as instancedby a gravestone (triplicanrus) etAraborumand Antiochus,son of Antiochus,who had servedas an eques ala(e) Parthorum
byassuming thescribeofthe 9 He explained thefigure papyrushad actuallymeant to write 343,200 denarii, stipendium which is divisibleby the basic footsoldiers' (343,200/600= 572). The mistakehappened because the scribe, accordingto Jahn,misheardbLaxoaLag for (1984), 68f. TQLcxoaXLa: cf.Jahn and B. Dobson, 95Fora list,see esp. A.v. Domaszewski Die Rangordnung des romischen Heeres (2nd edn, I 967), xi-xiii and 29-37, esp. 29ff. Cf. also A. H. M. Jones, 'The Roman civil service (clergical and sub-clergical grades)',YRS 39 (I949), 38-55, esp. 44and Dobson, op. cit. 96 CIL xII.2602; cf.Domaszewski (n. 9s), 3I. Cf. also D. Breeze, 'Pay grades and ranks 6i (i97i), I30-5, esp. I33, belowthecenturionate',JRS were not actually who suggestedthat the cornicularii stipendia 'simplyas a mounted,but receivedequestria their pay'. meansofincreasing 97 Divisible, of course,intoe.g. 3 double and i basic and 4 basic (or 2 double)) horsemen's (= 2 pay-and-a-half pays,etc. paysand 282 doublefoot-soldiers'
98 For centurions in theofficium attested ofgovernors, cf.Jones, op. cit. (n. 95), 44 and n. 6o. 9 cf. esp. Berchem, op. cit. (n. 79). If the suppliesin the difference kind did not suffice, was paid in cash. Perhaps this is in part the explanationfor the super-

numerary 25 sestertii and I25 sestertii respectively in

Economy (I99O), I05-I7100 cf. Jahn (I984), 53ff.forcomments and estimations

ChLA446 and 495 (cf. above p. 89). The figures givenin been discussed by the Panopolis papyrihave recently R. Duncan-Jones,'Pay and numbersin Diocletians's army',now in idem,Structure and Scale in theRoman on thefigures especially givenin thePanopolispapyri.
101 Jahn (I984), 53ff102

ofTiberius? Weisenau);reign

Moesian "Pridianum"', RAP 263-72, esp. 27If. and M. P. Speidel,op. cit. (n. i6), 88 and nn. 23-4. 103 AE I976, 495 = 58BerRGK(I977), no. 99 (Mainz-

Breeze,op. cit. (n. 96); cf. also J. F. Gilliam,'The

ROMAN
TABLE 4. THE THIRD-CENTURY

ARMY

PAY

SCALES
(IN SESTERTII PER YEAR)

IOI

PAY SCALES

Unit miles

Rank

Severus
(A.D.

Caracalla
(A.D. 212)

Maximinus Thrax
(A.D.

197)

235)

cohortis

eques cohortis miles legionis eques legionis

or alae

sesquiplicarius duplicarius basic sesquiplicarius duplicarius basic sesquiplicarius duplicarius basic sesquiplicarius
duplicarius

basic

2,000

3,000
4,500

6,ooo
9,000
12,000 7,200

3,000 4,000
2,400

6,ooo
3,600
5,400
7,200

3,600 4,800
2,400

I0,8oo
14,400

3,600 4,800 2,800

4,200

3,600
5,400
7,200 4,200

I0,8oo
14,400

7,200

5,600

6,300

8,400

8,400 12,6oo i6,8oo

Theboldfigures arebased ondirect orliterary evidence. documentary

was thenasked to staywiththearmyas an evocatus trplicarius.104 After the mid-first century A.D., however,thereis no evidenceforthispay grade, and it mayhave been abolished.105 For thepay oflegionary centurions some evidencecan be foundin twopapyrioftheearly fourthcentury."0 In P. Panop. 2. I97ff. a praepositus equitum promotorum legionis II Traianae is paid i8,ooo denarii forthe stipendiumof I January A.D. 300. This equals an stipendiumof a praepositus of an unknownunit of 36,ooo denarii, i.e. io8,ooo denarii or 432,000 sestertii per year. Althoughthe titlepraepositus is of no help in determining exact rank,Jahnhas concluded thatboth men were centurions, fortheyreceiveddonativa oftwice theamountofnormalsoldiers.107 Comparedto thebasic legionary stipendium paid at thetime (cf. Table 4) thesefigures givea simpleratioof30: I in theformer case and 6o: I in thelatter.108 The ranks of the two centurionsmay hence be restored as centurioprimi ordinis and The pay grades can then be assumed to have been fifteen primuspilusrespectively.1" times in Cohortsii-x, thirty basic legionary timesforthe centurions pay forthe centurions primi in Cohorti) and sixtytimesforthepnmuspilus. ordinis(i.e. thecenturions Because the exact ranksof the above twopraepostiare not mentioned, these conjectures confirmation. thelegionary centurion's requirefurther Whatever pay mayhave been, itseems logicalthatitsharedin all thepay-rises ofthefirst threecenturies and thattheratioswere A.D., kept constant. This not only follows fromthe Roman army's strongtendencyto follow as observedabove withtheratiosofthebasic stipendiaoftheauxiliaand thelegions, tradition, but also from the patterns of promotion to the centurionateduring the period under discussion.This lastpointis best observedwiththehighest-paid rankknownpromotedto the
104 cf. P. A. Holder, The Auxilia fromAugustusto Trajan (ig80), 9i, who findsconfirmation for treble pay forthe post of evocatus in the careerof C. lulius Macer,duplicarius alae Atectorigianae, before becoming of6ooRaetigesatiduring half evocatusin charge thefirst ofthefirst This promotion century A.D. (CIL XIII.Io4I). to Holder,a pay-rise. entailed, according 105 cf. idem,9I. The evocati maylater have been paid the otherwise highestpay rate below the centurionate, doublehorsemen's pay,i.e. therateofa cornicularius (cf. n. 96 and n. I I 7). This assumption mayfind somesupport in the fact that legionarycenturionswere regularly appointedfromthosetwo ranksof the praetorian guard of (cf.D. Breeze,'The organisation ofthecareer structure theimmunes oftheRomanarmy', and principales BJ I 74 (i 974), 245S-92, esp. 247ff-)'6 For thefollowing see Jahn( 984), 69f. 107Jahn (1984), 69 (cf. also ibid., S4). Hence, he concludes, they werenotofequestrian, letalonesenatorial rank.

annual pay of S4,ooo denarii or 2I6,000

sestertii. P.Oxy.

I047

reveals the September

108Sincewe can nowbe more certain ofthebasicannual rate of I,8oo denarii for legionaries,the above ratios reachedby Jahn(1984), gain further credibility. Their simplicity further suggests thatthetwosumsofP.Panop.

thatall centurions in Cohorts surmised II-x wereequal in rank,differing only in seniority. Hence promotion was only involvedupon transfer to the firstcohort,then joining theseniorgradeofthe primi ofwhomthe ordines, primuspilus and thepraefectus castrorum were the top ranks.This was acceptedby E. Birley,'Promotions and in the Roman armyii: the centurionate', transfers RA, A comparison officer? equestrian of pay and prospects', Anc.Soc. 3 (1972), I93-207, esp. I97 andn. 25, and20If.
206-20,

Die Rangordnung derromischen Centurionen (I9I3).

a legionary, whichmaybe taken as an additional argument in favourof the two praepositihavingbeen legionary centurions. 109For the ranking of centurions, see T. Wegeleben,

2.

I 97

andP.Oxy.I 047 were calculated onthe basic of pay

He

esp.206, andB. Dobson, 'Legionary centurion or

I02

M. ALEXANDER

SPEIDEL

treblepay, at leastduring theevocatusAugustiofthepraetorian centurionate, guard, drawing the first halfof the first A.D.110 The basic pay of a praetorian century duringthe earlyEmpire or 3,000 sestertii seems to have been I ,000 sestertii perstipendium annually.1"' The evocatus Promotions from thisrankto thelegionary would therefore earn9,ooo sestertii.112 presumably thefirst threecenturies A.D.113 The minimum werefrequent centurionate throughout salaryof a legionarycenturionduringthe early Empire should thus be somethingmore than 9,ooo to the centurionate. forthissum was almostcertainly increasedon promotion sestertii, on thebasis ofa I5: I ratioto thelegionary's The reconstructed salaryofa centurion basic times the pay of the pay would amount to 13,500 sestertiiper year, that is one-and-a-half timesthe basic pay of a praetorian.It seems evocatus duringthis period, or four-and-a-half clearthatthe centurion's pay musthave been increasedwiththe pay ofthe praetorian cohorts in the late thirdcentury,114 since we stillfindevocati promotedto the centurionate even if at in pay betweenthe evocatus and the legionary centurionmay have this point the difference grownsomewhat.11' centurion's clue to help establishthelegionary There is another pay. Suetonius (Caligula his assembledtroopson the Rhine in 44) reports thatas the emperorCaligula was inspecting measures againstleading officers. One of earlyA.D. 40, he took several altogether arbitrary down thesewas to decreasethedischargemoney(commodaemerntae militiae) oftheprnmipili to 6oo,ooo sestertii.116 Suetonius tells us thatthese monies were given by the emperors pro gradu cuiusque (Div. Aug. 49.2), and thedocumentary evidence,thoughscanty,suggeststhis soldierwas 12,000 sestertii.118 The ratio The basic sum paid to the legionary was observed.117 I :50. The commodaofthe and thesum reducedby Caligula was therefore betweenthisfigure beforeCaligula's cut and presumably also thereafter, forthese wereobviouslygreater primipili measures were no doubt hated by the army and therefore may have been rescinded by was over fifty therefore timesthebasic pay The minimum Claudius."19 pay oftheprnmuspilus of a legionary soldier.This goes well withtheabove assumedratioof i :6o. These observations, centurions then,supportJahn'sconjectural pay scale withthelegionary getting thirty, fifteen, forthe centurions and sixtytimesthe basic pay of the miles legionis.The following figures are thuslikely. annual salariesin sestertii
TABLE 5. THE LEGIONARY CENTURIONS' ANNUAL PAY IN SESTERTII

Rank
centurio leg. primusordo primuspilus

Augustus
I3,500
27,000

Domitian
I8,ooo 36,ooo
72,000

Severus
36,ooo
72,000

Caracalla
54,000 io8,000

Max. Thrax
Io8,ooo
2I6,ooo 4329000

54,000

144,000

2I6,000

or literary evidence. arebased on direct The bold figures documentary

110Later it may have been the cornicularius praefecti praetorio,receivingdouble horsemen'spay: cf. above n. Ios. M cf.e.g. M. Durry, Les cohortespretoriennes (1938), 264ff.;G. R. Watson,TheRomanSoldier(i969), 98. in the 112 We are not informed how mucha horseman inpaywas the praetorian guardreceived.If thedifference same as in theauxiliaand in thelegions,i.e. I50 sestertii incomeof per yearbeforeA.D. 84, we arriveat a yearly for thecornicularius 6,300sestertii praefecti praetorio. 113 Breeze,op. cit. (n. Ios), 247ff. Note also themany promotions from therank ofcornicularius. For thecareer prospectsof the evocati Augusti, cf. also E. Birley, 'EvocatiAug.: a review', RA, 326-30. 114 Breeze,op. cit. (n. io5), 252"5 cf.above n. I05. 116 On thecommoda in general, cf. e.g. M. P. Speidel, A veteran's at Elecik theemperor. 'Cash from gravestone in Galatia', AJP I04 (1983), 282-6; H. Wolff,'Die vomBeginndes I. Entwicklung derVeteranenprivilegien Jahrhunderts v. Chr.bisaufKonstantin d. Gr.', inW. Eck Die and H. Wolff(eds), Heer und Integrationspolitik. romischen Militardiplome als historische Quelle (i986),

an emendation ofa corrupt text,is generally accepted,cf. e.g. Dobson, op. cit. (n. ioS), I93-207, esp. I98. 117 cf.CIL V.5832: P. Tutilius P.f. Ouf. veteranus, who a signifer, diedA.D. 29, formerly aquiliferleg. and curator received praemia duplica ab Imperatore, veteranorum, and his pay grade musthave been thatof a duplicarius. L. Pellartius Celerlulius Montanus, missusex evocatoet armidoctor. leg.XVApol.,boastedtohavereceived 30,000 fromDomitian, 'quod ante illum nemo alius sestertii accebit(!) ex hac militie (!)', forhe wouldnormally only expect 24,000 sestertii (twice the amount of a normal cf. also n. II 8) according to soldier,i.e. I2,000 sestertii, his pay gradeas a duplicarius(AE i9S2, I53: Aquileia). Cf. above n. ios forthe possiblereduction of pay grades from toduplicarius triplicarius oftheevocati. seemed to remainunaltereduntil Caracalla raised it to cf. Wolff, op. cit. 20,000 sestertii (Dio LXXVII.24.I); (n. II 6), 52. It may be noted that all attemptsto understand thesesumsas multiples ofthestipendiaseem
to have failed, cf. Wolff,s2ff.
119
118

The figure of6oo,ooosestertii, although 44-iI i, esp. soff.

Dio

LV.23.I.

Augustus had fixed this sum. It

cf.Suet., Claud.

II . 3: 'Gai

... actaomniarescidit.'

ROMAN

ARMY

PAY

SCALES

I03

These results careerpatterns findfurther supportin thesecond-century and pay scales of the equestrianofficers as commandersof auxiliaryunits or as junior officers in the legions. was:120 Their ranking, as developed duringthefirst century, I tribunus praefectus cohortis quingenariae cohortis voluntartiorum civium Romanorum (= 'militia prima') I trnbunus militum tribunus cohortis milliariae legionis (= 'militia secunda') praefectus alae quingenariae (= 'militia tertia') praefectus alae milliariae (= 'militia quarta') B. Dobson has devoted a study to the relationsof the equestrian officers' and the centurions'careers.121 He has shown that the praefectus cohortis('militia prima') could to the legionary transfer and thatequestrianscould choose betweenseekinga centurionate, or as centurio post as praefectuscohortis legionis.In the case of the future emperorPertinax, who had chosen to become centuriolegionis,and even had the supportof an ex-consul,this wish was not granted, and he was made praefectuscohortis.122 The 'militia prima' may, have paid the same or perhapsa littleless thana legionary centurionate. therefore, Inc. A.D. 220 theyearly salaryofthe'militiaprima'seemsto have been so,ooo sestertii,123 in thattimeearned 25,000 sestertii.124 This explainswhythepraefecti as a trnbunus semestris where they would earn 54,000 cohortiscould be promotedto the legionarycenturionate, at thattime.125 sestertii The equestrianlegionary tribunate ('militiasecunda') seems to have been paid less or the same as thecenturionate oftheprimusordo (36,ooo sestertii betweenDomitian and Septimius alae quingenariae ('militiatertia')earnedless than6o,ooo sestertii Severus).126 The praefecti between the reigns of Domitian and Septimius Severus, as their next promotionwould lead themto a sexagenarian normally procuratorship. The pimuspilus, ifpromoted,would normally advance to a centenarian procuratorship, which earned ioo,ooo sestertiiper year before Septimius Severus.127 In the light of the (72,000 sestertii betweenDomitianand SeptimiusSeverus) proposedpay ratesoftheprimipili thispromotion can now be betterunderstood.At the same timethispromotion confirms the above reconstruction ofthe pay oftheprimuspilus. There is no documentary evidenceofthepay ofthe remaining ranks:centurio important and decurlo alae. The following theirpay cohortis, decurio cohortis, attemptto reconstruct remainhypothetical. Of these posts the decurio alae was highestin rates must, therefore, rank.128 It therefore seems likelythat the decurio cohortis,as the leader of a squadron of
120 For a description of this development, cf. e.g. Holder,op. cit. (n. I04), 72ff. 121 Dobson, op. cit. (n. IO9). For the following, see esp. pp. I96ff. and Iggff. 122 HA, Pertinax I.5-6. The increasingnumberof cornicularii praefecti and evocatiAugusti ofthe praetorno praetorian guardpromoted topraefecti cohortis and tribuni in thethird cohortis century also showsthatthepayofthe legionarycenturionate, to which they were normally promoted, and ofthe pnma andsecundamilitia musthave beensimilar atthat time.Cf. Breeze, op. cit.(n. IO5), 252. 123 Dobson, op. cit. (n. I09), 20I. This has been acceptedby H. Devijver,'La Prosopographia Militarnum Equestrium. Contribution a l'histoire social et economique du principat',in The Equestrian Officers (i989) (= MavorsvI), 396-4iI, esp-409. 124 CIL XIII.362; cf. the commentary on thistextby H.-G. Pflaum, Le Marbrede Thorigny (I948). This is the sumto havebeenpaid to an equestrian officer onlyknown as a salary.Dobson, op. cit. (n. I09), 20I and Devijver, to be op. cit. (n. i23), 409 havetakenthe25,000sestertii halftheannualpayofthe'militia prima'. 125 It may be noted that the sum of so,ooo sestertii ofanyoftheabovebasic as a multiple cannot be explained pay grades, which shows that the pay grades of the equestrian 'militiae', as a career of their own, were to calculated on completely different grounds. An attempt re-establish the remainingequestriansalaries without further evidence must therefore produce wholly conjectural

figures.During the firstcentury,it appears, all the were paid betterthan the legionary equestrianofficers centurions (cf. e.g. ILS 9090, CIL IX.2564; XII.3I77, 3I 78). This might suggest thatthepayrates ofthe'militia equestris'and of the lowerprocurators were kept level until SeptimiusSeverus when theyseem to have been raised (cf. also n. I27). At the beginning of the third centuryA.D. the salary of the militia secunda was, tothecareer ofRufinus according (RIB I288 = ILS I425), higher thantheincomeofa sexagenarian procurator, who stillearned6o,ooo sestertii at thetime(Dio Lll. I5.5). 126 This conclusion of Dobson's is based on the Trajanic careerof T. PontiusSabinus (ILS 2726). Cf. Dobson, op. cit. (n. I09), 252. 127 H.-G. Pflaum,RE xxiii, I272f. Cf. also idem, Abrege des procurateurs equestres (974), 56ff. a milliary unitas the'militia Commanding cavalry quarta' would also lead to a centenarian procuratorship. Under SeptimiusSeverusand Caracalla some of the salariesof officials bothequestrian and senators seem to have been raised;cf.e.g. G. Alfoldy, 'Die Stellung in der derRitter des Imperium Fuhrungsschicht Die romische Romanum', HABES I (i986), I62-209, esp. I78, I80; Gesellschaft, cf. also P. A. Brunt, 'Pay and superannuation in the Romanarmy', PBSR I8 (I950), 50-7I, esp. 69. 128 cf. J. F. Gilliam, 'The appointment of auxiliary centurions', RAP, I9I-205, esp. 202 and n. 25; see also and Dobson, op. cit. (n. 95), 53 and 57. Domaszewski

I04

M. ALEXANDER

SPEIDEL

If the above observations are correct,both horsemen,rankedabove the centuriocohortis.129 receivedconsiderably less moneythana centurio cohortis legionis, thecenturio and thedecurno may have been paid below that level, at foreven theircommander,thepraefectuscohortis, least duringthe second and thirdcenturies.This assumptionfindssupportin the factthat one could be appointedto the and decuriocohortis, from all threeposts,decurioalae, centurio legionary centurionate.130 The totalofsalariesdeliveredto theala IHiberorum (P.Panop. 2.36f.) and thecohorsXI in command Chamavorum(P.Panop. 2.292f.) seems to have excluded the pay of the officers stipendia may have been (cf. P.Panop. 2.I97). However, the decurions'and the centurions' ofthelegionary centurions' pay,we may included.Therefore, and on analogyto thecalculation As fortheexactfactor basicstipendium. oftherespective was a multiple assumethattheir salary but thepromotions we haveno evidence, to theauxiliary withwhichthebasic paywas multiplied the brackets. and centurionate recordedon inscriptions decurionate mayhelp to determine and decurionswerenormally theranksof appointedfrom Whilsttheauxiliary centurions sesquiplicariior duplicarii, and sometimesfromthe equites legionis,131the best paid soldier guard, L. knownto have been promotedto one of theserankswas a soldierof the praetorian praetoriae servingbeforeA.D. 84 he drew 3,000 sestertii ArniusBassus. 132As a milescohortis cohortis will have entaileda pay-rise.The to the rankof a centurio annually.133His promotion he was paid beforehis promotionequalled fourtimesthe basic pay of a miles 3,000 sestertii cf. Table 3). We can, therefore, safelyassume thathe was paid at cohortis (4 x 750 sestertii, his promotion to thecenturionate. after footsoldier leastfive timesthebasic pay ofan auxiliary theequitessingulares horseguards, The duplicariiand thesesquiplicariioftheemperor's Augusti,could also be promotedto the decurionatein the auxilia, theirdecurionateto the pay is unknown,we can assume that,as legionary centurionate.134 Althoughthe horseguards' withothermilitary unitsin the cityof Rome, theirbasic pay was higherthanthe basic pay in were mainlypicked fromthe alae, theirpay the provinces.13' As the emperor'shorseguards ofthebasic pay ofan eques alae, perhapsdouble.136A duplicariusof mayhave been a multiple theequitessingulares Augustimaythenhave drawnfourtimesthebasic pay of an eques alae. to the decurionateof an ala would thus have entaileda further His promotion pay-riseifwe assume it paid fivetimesthe basic stipendium.This assumptionalso allows fora pay-riseof c. 30 per cent for the decurion of the emperor's horseguardsupon his promotionto the legionary centurionate. and eques alae Five timesthe respectivebasic pay of the milescohortis, eques cohortis, decurlocohortis, and seems a likelyconjectureforthe pay of the centurlocohortis, therefore table hypothetical decurloalae. In any case it cannothave been much more.137 The following of pay scales maynow be put forward.

Domaszewski andDobson,op. cit.(n. 95), 56. contra cf. e.g. ILS 305 (dec.alae-cent.leg.; FlavianTrajan), ILS 2596 (dec.coh.-cent.leg.;mid/latefirst (cent.coh.-cent.leg.;mid first century); CIL v.522 century).Cf. also Domaszewski and Dobson, op. cit. examples.During the (n. 95), 53f. and 56f. forfurther itseemsthe A.D. (untilDomitian'spay-rise?) first century were paid betterthan the legionary equestrianofficers cf.aboven. I27. centurions: 131 cf.e.g. Gilliam, op. cit. (n. I28); M. P. Speidel,op. cit. (Il. 20), I83; Holder,op. cit. (n. I04), 86ff. 132 CIL v.522, century. mid-first 133 guard,see above vii For the pay of the praetorian and n. i i i. 134 M. P. Speidel, Die equites singularesAugusti
129 130

135 cf. ibid., 50; M. P. Speidel, Guards oftheRoman ( 978), 36 and n. I96. Armies 136 ifthepraetorian guardis factor, 2.5 is themaximum to remain thebestpaid Romantroop.(In thiscase an eq. after Severus' sing.Aug.wouldhave drawn7,000 sestertii a praetorian 8,ooo.) Yet thisis but a theoretical pay-rise, is applied and if fivetimes forif thatfactor possibility, ofa decurion, salary basicpayis acceptedas theminimum

(i965), 49-

there would have been too insignificant a difference centurions' betweenthe legionary pay and that of the decurioequitumsingularzum Augusti(e.g. 36,ooo cent. leg.-35,ooo dec. eq. sing.Aug. afterSeverus' pay-rise). The same basic pay as thealares or theirpay-and-a-half may in theory have been the basic pay of the emperor's horseguards.It may also be that theirpay was not a multiple ofthebasic salaryofthealares, but some independent(higher)amountbelow the pay of a duplicarius alae. 137 If theemperor's receivedI.5 timesthe horseguards basic payoftheequitesalae, a factor of6, or 7 at thevery most, could also be envisaged.Domaszewski,op. cit. (n. 95), 70ff.,assumedthattheserankswere paid three timesbasic legionary pay, whichhe believedto be 500 denariiper yearduringthe reignof SeptimiusSeverus. was based on themoney His assumption presents givento ofmilitary members collegiaeaccording to their rank.Yet with the soldiers' these sums show no correspondence income. Moreover,treble basic legionarypay as the and decurions centurions wouldhave incomeofauxiliary a considerable forthe above mentioned brought pay-cut praetorianL.Arnius Bassus upon his promotionto theauxiliary centurionate.

ROMAN TABLE

ARMY

PAY SCALES AND DECURIONS IN SESTERTII PER YEAR

IO5

6.

PAY RATES OF AUXILIARY CENTURIONS

Rank cohortis centurio

decuno cohortis decuio alae

Augustus Domitian
3,750
4,500 5,250

Severus
10I000
12,000

Caracalla Max. Thrax

15,000
2I,000 42,000

5,000

6,ooo
7,000 (I4,000)

i8,ooo
54,000

30,000
42,000

36,ooo

decuio equitum singularium Aug. centuiolegionis

14,000

I3,000

i8,ooo

36,ooo

28,ooo

io8,ooo

84,000

VIII.

CONCLUSIONS

The new Vindonissa pay receiptturnsout to be the missinglink in our evidence for Roman soldiers'pay. It providesus, forthefirst for time,witha safeand unambiguousfigure the pay of an auxiliarysoldier of known rank. By revealingthe stipendiumof a horseman serving in an auxiliarycohort in A.D. 38 to be 300 sestertii,it enables us to understand thepayscale oftheRoman otherwise uncertain and thusto reconstruct documentsand figures, army down to the fourthcenturyA.D. Yet the suggested model still requires further in detail, as severalpay rateshave been reachedsolelyon theoretical substantiation grounds, and are in wantofdocumentary confirmation. The pay scales now appear muchsimplerthanhitherto assumed,withtheRoman armyin the provinces (the fleetsexcluded) knowingonly three different basic pay rates, applied throughout the first threecenturiesA.D. BeforeA.D. 84, the year of Domitian's pay-rise,a footsoldier in a cohortwas paid 250 sestertii each pay-day; 300 sestertii was the pay of the in thecohorts, in boththelegion legionary footsoldiers and thehorsemen whilstthehorsemen and in the alae, received 350 sestertii.Higher ranksmighthave receivedpay-and-a-half or double pay, and duringthefirst halfofthefirst even treblepay. century The auxiliary decurionsand centurions mayhave drawnfivetimesthepay ofthe soldiers centurions werepaid fifteen timesthebasic stipendium theycommanded,whilstthelegionary The top ranking ofa legionary footsoldier. centurions receivedthirty timesbasic rate,and the A.D. thiswould have been a sum of twicethatamount.During thesecond century primuspilus sestertiiannually, which accords with the normal promotionof primuspilusto a 72,000 centenarianprocuratorship, where he would earn IOO,OOO sestertii.Althoughto a simple musthave been a staggering soldierthe salaryoftheprnmuspilus legionary sum, it was stillfar below the income of the senatorialcommanderof a legion, who earned more than 200,000 sestertii duringthesame period.138 Our data also bear out the soldiers' pay-risesas seen by Jahn,in particularSeptimius Severus' pay-riseof IOO per cent. During the long period betweenA.D. 84 and I97, which seemsto have seen no such pay-rises, itcan be shownthatthedeductionsfrom thesoldiers'pay ofever-increasing weregradually contributions reduced,and a system government developed. A.D. theyovershadowedthe These changes were such that by the end of the thirdcentury unitswas keptconstant actual pay. Althoughthe ratiobetweenthestipendia of the different in overallincomealmostdisappeared(see Table 7). thedifferences downto thefourth century, The overallpayscale suggestedheremayhelp in understanding and transfers promotions in the Roman army,and in appreciating the social standingofgenerals,officers, soldiers,and veterans. It may also shed light on the Empire's budget and therebyon the political and economichistory ofthe Roman Empire.

138

Alfoldy, op. cit. (n. I27),

I8o.

io6
TABLE

M. ALEXANDER

SPEIDEL PER YEAR)

7.

THE PAY OF THE ROMAN ARMY (SESTERTII

RanklUnit

Augustus

Domitian (A.D. 84)

Severus
(A.D.

Caracalla
(A.D. 212)

Max. Thrax
(A.D. 235)

I97)

LEGIONS

mileslegionis eques legionis centurio legionis primusordo primuspilus

AUXILIA

900 IOsO
I3,500 27,000 54,000

1,200 I1,400
I8,000
36,ooo 72,000

2,400
2,800

3,600 4,200 54,000

7,200

8,400
I08,000

36,ooo
72,000

Io8,ooo
2i6,0oo

2i6,ooo
432,000

I44,000

milescohortis eques cohortis eques alae centurio cohortis

decurio cohortis

750
goo
I,050 3,750 4,500 5,250

I,000 I,200 I,400 5,000

2,000

3,000
3,600
4,200
I5,000

6,ooo
7,200

2,400 2,800

8,400
30,000

IO,OOO
I2,000 I4,000

6,ooo
7,000

I8,000
2I,000

36,ooo
42,000

decurioalae
HORSEGUARDS

eques singularisAug.

(2,800) (14,000)

5,600 28,000

8,400
42,000

i6,8oo 84,000

decurioeq.sing.Aug.

The bold figures arebased on direct or literary evidence. documentary

Basle