Legate
Legatus, legare — "prescribe, appoint, delegate") — a type of senior officer in the Roman army, the commander-in-chief of the legion. Initially, this was the name of Roman envoys sent to other states and tribes, and acted as diplomats there.
In addition to the legates, there were other senior officers who performed similar functions and were responsible for the strategic and tactical combat actions taken by the legion on the battlefield. If we draw analogies with the modern army, their functions were similar to those of modern generals, and unlike middle-and junior-level officers, they themselves no longer participated in combat on the battlefield.
Senior officers:
- Legatus Augusti pro praetore — commander of two or more legions. The imperial legate also served as the governor of the province in which the legions under his command were stationed. The imperial legate had to come from the senatorial class and was appointed by the emperor himself. As a rule, they were appointed to this position for a period of 3-4 years.
- Legatus Legionis — the commander of a legion. The emperor usually appointed a former tribune to this post for 3-4 years, but, depending on the circumstances, the legate could hold his post much longer. In the provinces where the Legion was stationed, the legate was also the viceroy. If there were several legions in one province, then each of them had its own legate, and they were all under the general command of the provincial governor.
- Tribunus Laticlavius. The tribune in the legion was appointed by the emperor or the Senate. He was usually young and had less experience than the five military tribunes (Tribuni Angusticlavii). Such appointments were political in nature and were carried out to promote someone on the career ladder. Such a position was the second most senior in the legion, right after the legate. The title of the office comes from the word "laticlava", which means the two wide purple stripes on the tunic that were assigned to senators.
- The Camp Prefect (Praefectus Castrorum) is the third most senior post in the legion. As a rule, this was the most experienced of the commanders, since this position was most often held by a promoted veteran who had previously served as a centurion. Usually the prefect was the primipil. It is assumed that the equipment of the camp prefect was very different from the rest of the senior officers and was closer to the centurion's than to the legate's.
- Tribuni Angusticlavii: Each legion had five military tribunes from the equestrian class. They were usually professional soldiers who held high administrative positions in the legion. During combat operations, they could command individual units, and if necessary, the entire legion. They were supposed to wear tunics with narrow purple stripes (angusticlava), which is where the name of the position comes from.
Hierarchy diagram within the Legion
Equipment
Senior officers, with the exception of the camp prefect, had similar equipment, very different from that of ordinary soldiers and junior / middle officers. As an example, we can take the statue of Marcus Golconius Rufus, which was found at the intersection of the two main streets of Pompeii - Abbondanza, which runs through the city from east to west, and Stabius Cardo Street. Marcus Holconius held important public offices in Pompeii, serving as a priest of Augustus (sacerdos Caesaris Augusti). A lot of inscriptions related to him can be used to reconstruct his career. He was a military tribune, five times a duumvir with judicial powers (duovir iure dicundo), twice a duumvir re - elected every five years (duovir lure dicundo), and patron of the colony (patronis colonia-the highest municipal military position). The statue depicts him as a senior officer.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.As with most similar statues, the statue of Marcus Holconius Rufus features the following items of equipment::
- Lorica Musculata. Unlike the centurion's musculata and muscular loricas of the Republic, it was more richly decorated with coinage.
- Subarmalis. He also wore a lot of jewelry, possibly metal - cast.
- Sash (cinticulus) - a cloth wrap around the lorica of the musculature. Status badge of legates and senior officers.
- Paludamentum -an officer's cloak.
- Parazonium -a specially decorated sword, often depicted with an eagle-shaped handle.
- Calcei - the classification of this type of shoe is quite conditional. Most legate statues have very pompous shoes, with metal chased or cast ornaments.
It is also assumed that senior officers may have worn a special type of helmet decorated with longitudinal ridges.
The helmet of a legate, praetorian guard, or horseman. German National Museum. 2nd century AD 
Legate, reconstructionRelated topics
Legion, Centurion, Legion Banner Group, Lorica Musculata, Paludamentum, Tunic, Calcei, Parasonium
Literature
Legates, among the Romans // Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additions). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
Gallery
Fragment of the legate's statue. Marble. Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth. Inv. no. S-1081. 125-150 AD
Statue of Marcus Goconius Rufus
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
Mark Golconius Rufus of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Inv. no. 6233. First half of the 1st century.
