Decurion (Roman cavalry officer)

Decurio ( "Ten shaft leader," ten from Latin decem =), sometimes referred to in Ancient Greek sources as decarch, was in the Roman Empire on the one hand a military rank with time-dependent varying importance, and on the other the name of the town councils of Roman municipalities ( civitates ).

Military Rank

A decurio in the early Roman period was the leader of a group of ten legionaries ( Decurie ) in the Roman army. Later, the smallest unit of a legion was the tent community contubernium of eight men, in which there was no senior rank more.

Originally knew the Roman cavalry to break down each Turma in three Decurien with one Decurio. This name for the leader of a cavalry division remained, as there are only a guide per Turma was in the Alen of the imperial Auxiliarkavallerie, so this man led 30 to 40. This Decurio the cavalry was equivalent to a centurion of the legion. As this was the Decurio the conspicuous transversely positioned crest ( crista transversa ). He received at least four times the pay of a common soldier, and probably had three horses (a change horse and a pack horse ).

It is therefore always to distinguish exactly the context in which the grade appears: In the legions he was probably in the early Roman period and Republic only a low enlisted rank ( immunis ), the Alen the imperial period it was against a very prestigious officer posts.

Civil Administration

At the same time a council member was designated decurio or courtier in the civilian sector, which was chosen in Roman Empire and Late Antiquity for life. Here, the term is derived from the " Curia " from, the meeting place of the senators in Rome or the members of the municipal council in the provinces. They formed the leadership of the civitates, municipia and coloniae in which they had to provide for the safety of the cities, everyday legal transactions and public events such as religious festivals or games. According to Roman law, the task was volunteering, which was associated with a considerable reputation, and therefore very desirable. As a rule, was the membership of the ordo decurionum, so that group in a city that came from most councilors, hereditary. In many municipia was also stipulates that men who had dressed as curiales public office, after the end of the term received the coveted Roman citizenship. Until the Constitutio Antoniniana, the 212 all free inhabitants of the Empire gave the right of citizenship, this helped to increase the attractiveness of membership in the city council.

Later, the picture changed. In general, the members of the Curia were entrusted by the Roman authorities with the tax collection. This developed over time to load, because if the actual revenue fell short of what the governor had expected the councilors had to muster out of pocket the difference. Employing the late 2nd century and increasingly since the kingdom crisis of the 3rd century this cost was so great that many members of the Curia, in order to escape poverty, her hometown left (so-called Kurialenflucht ). This phenomenon has been emphasized by the fact that now is precisely the wealthiest city councils deprived her duties by they entered the service of the emperor or the church, which was connected with the general tax exemption. Therefore, in the episode had new incumbents are found and pushed to their function, which certainly were not wealthy enough often to meet the obligations.