''Centuria'' (, plural ''centuriae'') is a Latin term (from the stem ''centum'' meaning one hundred) denoting military units originally consisting of 100 men. The size of the century changed over time, and from the first century BC through most of the imperial era the standard size of a centuria was 80 men. A ''centuria'' is also a Roman unit of land area corresponding to 100 '' heredia''.

Roman use

Political

In the political context the ''centuria'' was the constituent voting unit in the assembly of the centuries (Latin ''

comitia centuriata The Centuriate Assembly (Latin: ''comitia centuriata'') of the Roman Republic was one of the three voting assemblies in the Roman constitution. It was named the Centuriate Assembly as it originally divided Roman citizens into groups of one hundred ...

''), an old form of popular assembly in the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

, the members of which cast one collective vote. Its origin seems to be the homonymous military unit. The comitia centuriata elected important magistrates like

consuls A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

and

praetors Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge variou ...

Military

History

The ''centuria'' dates all the way back to the earliest armies of the Roman Kingdom being described in

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

's account of the life Romulus, however it is only mentioned in passing as a subdivision of Romulus' force. It is speculated that in this period a century may have referred to a

Phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly ...

block and was perhaps the main tactical unit on the battlefield. After the adoption of the

Manipular Roman army The Roman army of the mid-Republic, also called the manipular Roman army or the Polybian army, refers to the armed forces deployed by the mid-Roman Republic, from the end of the Samnite Wars (290 BC) to the end of the Social War (88 BC). The fir ...

in 340 BC the ''centuria'' took a backseat to the

Maniple (military unit) Maniple ( la, manipulus, lit= a handful f soldiers}) was a tactical unit of the Roman Republican armies, adopted during the Samnite Wars (343–290 BC). It was also the name of the military insignia carried by such units. Maniple members, call ...

as the main military unit used by the Roman army. In

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

's ''The History of Rome'' and Polybius' ''Histories, centuria'' do not appear by name but both writers do mention subdivisions of the maniple of around 60 men that were commanded by Centurions. The only point of disagreement between the two was the number of these units in a maniple; Livy says 3 while Polybius says 2. Livy is writing of a time 150 years before Polybius so the number of men in this unit may have changed over that period. The ''centuria'' was the pivotal tactical unit of a

Roman legion The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period o ...

after the

Marian reforms The Marian reforms were reforms of the ancient Roman army implemented in 107 BC by the statesman Gaius Marius, for whom they were later named. The reforms originated as a reaction to the military and logistical stagnation of the Roman Republic i ...

of 107 BC.

Leadership and organization

A century was commanded by a '' centurion'', who was assisted by an '' optio'' and ''

tesserarius A ''tesserarius'' ( lat, tesserārius, from ''tessera'', a small tile or block of wood on which watchwords were written) was a watch commander in the Roman army. They organized and had command over the nightly guard assigned to keep watch over the ...

''. It had a banner or signum which was carried by a ''

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 ...

''. Also, each century provided a ''buccinator'', who played a

buccina A buccina ( lat, buccina) or bucina ( lat, būcina, link=no), anglicized buccin or bucine, is a brass instrument that was used in the ancient Roman army, similar to the cornu. An ''aeneator'' who blew a buccina was called a "buccinator" or "bu ...

, a kind of horn used to transmit acoustic orders. On the battlefield, the centurion stood at the far right of the first row of men next to the signifer, while the optio stood at the rear, to avoid, if necessary, the disbanding of the troops and ensure the relay between typical closed order lines used by the Roman army. The post-Marian Reform ''centuria'' originally consisted of a hundred soldiers; later 80 distributed among 10 ''contubernia'', with support staff making up the remainder of the 100 men. Each ''

contubernium A ''contubernium'' was a quasi-marital relationship in ancient Rome between a free citizen and a slave or between two slaves. A slave involved in such relationship was called ''contubernalis''. The term describes a wide range of situations, from ...

'' (the minimal unit in the Roman legion) consisted of eight soldiers who lived in the same tent while on campaign or the same bunk room in barracks. In the imperial period, but likely not the republican period, the first cohort was twice the size of the other cohorts. Each of its five ''centuriae'' was a double centuria of 160 men (rather than 80). The first cohort thus consisted of 800 men. Centurions of these first-cohort double ''centuriae'' were called '' primi ordinis'' ("first rank"), except for the leader of the first ''centuria'' of the first cohort, who was referred to as ''

primus pilus The ''primus pilus'' or ''primipilus'' was the senior centurion of the first cohort in a Roman legion, a formation of five double-strength centuries of 160 men, was called the ''primus pilus''; he was a career soldier and advisor to the le ...

'' (first file).

Other uses

The term ''centuria'' was later used during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

to describe the informal bands of local militiamen and international volunteers that sprang up in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

and Aragon in October–November 1936 and also today in Ukraine.{{Cite web, title=Western countries training far-right extremists in Ukraine - report, url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/western-countries-training-far-right-extremists-in-ukraine-report-682411/, access-date=2022-04-15