Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

EXERCITUS. EXERCITlUS. 497
-100,000 asses had complete cuirasses of chain- tiones. Farther, the centurions sel'ected out of
armour (loricas - aXvo't8aerobs pd-prnKas). each maniple two of the bravest and most vigorous
The offensive weapons of the HIastati consisted men as standard bearers (vexillas'ii, signi.ri, o7 —
of a sword and heavy javelins. The sword, which aro(pobdpoL), The first elected centurion of the
was girded on the right side, had a strong straight whole had a seat in the military council (ouve6pfiov
blade, double-edged, and sharp-pointed, being thus KoWtOwe?), and in each maniple the first chosen
calculated both for cutting and thrusting. It was commanded the right division of the maniple, and
called a Spanish sword (cuaXatpa'I~/p1Lp), in con- the other the left. Each of these subdivisions of
tradistinction to the Gaulish sword, which was a the maniple was called, as we shall see hereafter,
cutting sword only. Each man carried in his centeria, but it is not specifically noticed here by
hand two of those heavy missiles, called pila by Polybius. (Polyb. vi. 24.)
the Latins, daeoi by the Greeks, which may be 8. The cavalry were divided into ten troops
regarded as the characteristic weapon of the Roman (tfurmae, lYaL), and out of each of these three ofinfantry. The shaft of these was in every case ficers were chosen, nanmed decueriones (iAa'pXaL),
four and a half feet (three cubits) long, and the who named three lieutenants (optiones, odpayol).
barbed iron head was of the same length, but this In each troop the decurio first chosen commanded
extended half way down the shaft to which it the whole troop, and failing him, the second.
was attached with extreme care (Polyb. vi. 23), so The equipment of the cavalry was: originally
that the whole length of the weapon was about adapted solely to secure great ease and rapidity of
six feet nine inches. The shaft varied both in movement. Hence they wore no breastplate, but
form and thickness —in form it was sometimes'were clad in a single garment girded tight round
cylindrical, sometimes quadrangular - in the their bodies; their shields were formed simply of
heaviest, the diameter of the cylinder or the an ox's hide, were incapable of withstanding a
breadth across one of the flat sides was about three strong blow, and were readily damaged by wet
inches (7raXaL,-rtalay, EXoutL... r'y' 8tLe'Erpov). their lances (&dpa'a) were so light and the shaft
The equipment of the Principes and the Triarii so thin, that they vibrated from the action of the
was in every respect the same with that of the horse; could not be directed to their object with a
_Hastati, except that the latter carried pikes (Iastae steady aim,. and were constantly snapped in a
-6oipara) instead of pili. (Polyb. vi. 21, 22, charge merely by the rapid motion. Moreover,
23. For more minute information with regard to not being furnished with a point at both ends,
the different parts of the equipment, consult GALEA, they served for one thrust only, by Which they
}IASTA, LORICA, SCUTUM, PARaA, &C.) were broken, and then became useless. In the
We may remark, in passing, that in addition to time of Polybius, however, they had adopted the
his armour and weapons the legionary, when in Greek equipment, - a breastplate, a solid buckler,
marching order, usually carried provisions for a and a strong spear, fashioned in such' a manner that
fortnight at least, and three or four stakes, used in the end by which it was held' was so, far pointed
forming the palisade of the camp, besides various as to be available in case- of necessity.
tools, an enumeration of which will be found in 9. After the soldiers had been thus divided and
Josephus. (B. J. iii. 5. ~ 5.) The Roman writers officered, the tribunes having given the different
frequently allude with pride to the powers of en- classes instructions with regard to the arms which
durance exhibited by their countrymen in sup- they were to provide, dismissed them to their
porting with ease such overwhelming loads; and homes, having first bound them by an oath to asPolybius draws a contrast between the Italian semble again on a day and in a place fixed by the
and the Greelk soldier in this respect little favour- consul. Then and there accordingly they did asable to the energy of the latter. (See Cic. Tesczl. semble, no excuse for absence being admitted exii. 16., which is the loces classicus; Pelyb. xviii. cept inevitable necessity or the' appearance of evil
r; comp. Veget. i. 19; from Liv. Epit. lvii. it omens.
appears that Scipio trained his men to carry food 10. The infantry furnished by the' socii was for
for thirty days, and seven' stakes each -diouble the most part equal in number to the Roman le —
the usual burden.) gions, the cavalry twice or thrice as numerous, and
6. The Hastati, Principes, and Triarii were each the whole were divided equally between the two
divided into ten companies called luaa-ipuli, to consular armies. Each consul named twelve suwhich Polybius gives, as equivalents, the three perior officers, who were termed Praefecti Socioreun
terms vdyiae, oWrempa, rymeara. The Velites were (?rpa'(pEkorC), and corresponded to the legionary
not divided into companies, but were distributed tribunes. A selection was then made of the best
equally among the Hastati, Ptincipes, and Triarii. men, to the extent of- one fifth of the infantry and
7. Before the division of the three classes into one third of the cavalry; these were formed into a
maniples, officers were appointed inferior to the separate corps under the name of extraordiarii,
tribunes. Thirty men were chosen by merit, ten and on the march and in the camp were always
from the II astati, ten from the Principes, and ten near the person of the consul. The remainder
from the Triarii; and tlis first choice being com- were'divided into two equal portions, and were
pleted, thirty more in like manner. These sixty styled respectively the Dextsra Ala and the Sinistra
officers, of whom twenty were assigned to each of Ala ( cKaAoorl t I'e' eb,'V T6rb a' e&c6vvUtov SCpas).
the three classes, and distributed equally among [ALA.]
the mnaniples, were named centueziones, or ordinum It will be observed that we have implied, a doubt
ductores (tcervUpiWVES, ratLdpXot), and each of the with regard to the number of cavalry furnished by
sixty chose for himself a lieutenant (optio), who, the allies. Polybius (iii. 107), when giving a
being posted in the rear of the company while the sketch of the Roman forces before the battle eX
centurion was at the head, was named obpay6s Cannae, after stating that the, legion under o01
(i. e. Teg;iductor) by the Greeks, so that in each dinary circumstances consisted of 4000 infantry
maniple there were two centurions and two op- and 200 cavalry, but that in circumstances of pck R