Tesserarius
Tesserarius (from Latin tessera - clay tablet) was a guard commander in the Roman army, also performing administrative functions. The tesserarius was a principalis—a junior officer—and reported directly to the centurion.
Each century had one tesserarius. He was responsible for the reports and records of his unit's guard, which were submitted to senior officers. He also organized the watch duties and managed the storage and transmission of passwords, which were written on tesseras, giving rise to the name of this military rank. The tesserarius received a salary one and a half times higher than that of a regular legionary. During the Republic, according to Polybius, the tesserarius was simply a legionary chosen as a guard for one night, entrusted with the password.
In appearance, the tesserarius likely did not differ much from a regular legionary. A significant number of reliefs have been found where a wax tablet is tucked behind the cingulum of a legionary—this tessera on the relief is probably an indication that the figure depicted is a tesserarius, although there is no direct evidence to confirm this.
Funerary relief of Gaius Largennius from the Legio II Augusta with a tessera. Found in the vicinity of Strasbourg. Inv. Nr. 2431. 1st century AD.
Fragment of the stele of Annaeus Daverzus, depicting a soldier from the 4th Cohort of Dalmatians (cohors IIII Delmatarum) with a tessera. Early 1st century AD.Related topics
Literature
- Alfred von Domaszewski: Die Rangordnung des römischen Heeres. 3rd Edition. Böhlau Verlag, Bonn 1981, ISBN 3-412-05280-9.
- Michael A. Speidel: Sold und Wirtschaftslage der römischen Soldaten. In: Géza Alföldy, Brian Dobson, Werner Eck (eds.): Kaiser, Heer und Gesellschaft in der römischen Kaiserzeit. Gedenkschrift für Eric Birley. Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-515-07654-9, pp. 65-96 (Contributions in German, English, French, and Italian).
- Gabriele Wesch-Klein: Soziale Aspekte des römischen Heerwesens in der Kaiserzeit. Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-515-07300-0 (Habilitation thesis, University of Heidelberg 1995).
