Decurie

The decurie ( Latin from decem = "ten") was originally the smallest ten-man unit in the phalanx of the Roman army . Their chief was the Decurio , probably a team rank ( immunis ). With the changeover to the manipular order , the group size fell to eight men, who no longer had a formal leader and were referred to as the Contubernium (tent community).

In the national Roman cavalry, three decuria with ten horsemen each formed a tower . Here, however, the Decurio was an officer. With the conversion to cavalry units as auxiliary troops , the division of the tower in Decuria was abandoned.

literature

• Marcus Junkelmann : The Legions of Augustus. The Roman soldier in an archaeological experiment (= cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 33). 9th expanded edition. von Zabern, Mainz 2003, ISBN 3-8053-0886-8 .
• Marcus Junkelmann: The riders of Rome. Part 2. The military operation (= cultural history of the ancient world. Vol. 49). von Zabern, Mainz 1991, ISBN 3-8053-1139-7 .