A ''cornicen'' (plural ''cornicines'') was a

junior officer Junior officer, company officer or company grade officer refers to the lowest operational commissioned officer category of ranks in a military or paramilitary organization, ranking above non-commissioned officers and below senior officers. The ...

in the

Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...

. The ''cornicens job was to signal salutes to officers and sound orders to the legions. The ''cornicines'' played the '' cornu'' (making him an ''

aeneator An ''aeneator'' ( lat, aēneātor or ) was a specialized player of wind instruments who was attached to a Roman military unit. The word comes from Latin ''aēneus'' or ''ahēneus'', "brazen", from ''aes'', "copper alloy". While the size of individ ...

''). ''Cornicines'' always marched at the head of the centuries, with the tesserary and the

signifer A ''signifer'' () was a standard bearer of the Roman legions. He carried a ''signum'' (standard) for a cohort or century. Each century had a ''signifer'' so there were 59 in a legion. Within each cohort, the first century's ''signifer'' would ...

. The ''cornicines'' were also used as assistants to a

centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 le ...

(like an ''

optio An , plural ( lat, italic=yes, optiō, , from , "to choose", so-called because an was chosen by a centurion), was a position in a ''centuria'' (century) of a Roman army similar to that of an executive officer. The main function of an was as a ...

''). The ''cornicen'' was a duplicary or a soldier who got double the basic pay of the

legionary The Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius'', plural ''legionarii'') was a professional heavy infantryman of the Roman army after the Marian reforms. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the late Republ ...

The cornicen

The late Roman writer

Vegetius Publius (or Flavius) Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius (), was a writer of the Later Roman Empire (late 4th century). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also r ...

in his work ''

De re militari ''De re militari'' (Latin "Concerning Military Matters"), also ''Epitoma rei militaris'', is a treatise by the Late Latin writer Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus about Roman warfare and military principles as a presentation of the methods and p ...

'' wrote:

References

*Vegetius
''De re militari'', Vegetius, Book II
*Roman Empire

Military ranks of ancient Rome Ancient Roman music {{AncientRome-mil-stub

The cornicen

See also

References