| This article is part of the series on: Military of ancient Rome (portal) 753 BC – AD 476 |
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| Structural history | |
|---|---|
| Roman army (unit types and ranks, legions, auxiliaries, generals) | |
| Roman navy (fleets, admirals) | |
| Campaign history | |
| Lists of wars and battles | |
| Decorations and punishments | |
| Technological history | |
| Military engineering (castra, siege engines, arches, roads) | |
| Political history | |
| Strategy and tactics | |
| Infantry tactics | |
| Frontiers and fortifications (limes, Hadrian's Wall) |
A military tribune (Latin tribunus militum, "tribune of the soldiers", Greek chiliarchos, χιλίαρχος) was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. The tribunus militum should not be confused with the elected political office of tribune of the people (tribunus plebis) nor with that of tribunus militum consulari potestate.
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The word tribunus derives from tribus, "tribe."[1] In Rome's earliest history, each of the three tribes (Ramnes, Luceres, and Tities) sent one commander when an army was mustered,[2] since there was no standing army. The tribunes were commanders of the original legion of 3,000. By the time of the Greek historian Polybius (d. 118 BC), the tribunes numbered six, and they were appointed by the consuls.[3] However, the process by which tribunes were chosen and assigned is complex and varies at different times.
In the Republican period, there were six appointed to each legion. Authority was given to two at a time, and command rotated among the six. By 311 BC the people acquired the right to elect sixteen tribunes of the soldiers, that is, four out of the six tribunes assigned to each of the four legions that formed the Roman Army. Previously these places had been for the most part in the gift of consuls or dictators[4].
After the Marian reforms created a professional system, legions were commanded by a legionary legate (legatus). Six tribunes were still posted to a legion, but their duties and responsibilities had changed, becoming more a political position than a military rank. The second in command to the legate was the tribunus laticlavius, a young man of Senatorial rank. He was given this position to learn and watch the actions of the legate. The other five tribunes were slightly lower in rank, and were called the tribuni angusticlavii. These were men of equestrian rank who had military experience.
Under Augustus, the five equestrian tribunes were sometimes promoted from the rank of centurion, and might advance to a command in the auxiliary cavalry or Praetorian Guard.