Title: Roman legion - Wikipedia
Headings: Roman legion
Roman legion
Contents
Size
Function and constitution
Longevity
Overview of typical organization and strength
Evolution
Size
History
Roman kings (to c. 500 BC)
Roman Republic (509–107 BC)
Late Republic (107–30 BC)
Early Empire (27 BC–AD 284)
Main article: Imperial Roman army
Later Empire (from 284 AD)
Main article: Late Roman army
Legionary ranks
Senior officers
Centurions
Lower ranks
Special duty posts
Pay
Symbols
Discipline
Minor punishments
Major punishments
Factors in the legion's success
See also
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links

Content: Toward the end of the 2nd century BC, Rome started to experience manpower shortages brought about by property and financial qualifications to join the army. This prompted consul Gaius Marius to remove property qualifications and decree that all citizens, regardless of their wealth or social class, were made eligible for service in the Roman army with equipment and rewards for fulfilling 6 years of service provided by the state. The Roman army became a volunteer, professional and standing army which extended service beyond Roman citizens but also to non-citizens who could sign on as auxillia (auxiliaries) and were rewarded Roman citizenship upon completion of service and all the rights and privileges that entailed. In the time of Augustus, there were nearly 50 upon his succession but this was reduced to about 25–35 permanent standing legions and this remained the figure for most of the empire's history. Evolution
The legion evolved from 3,000 men in the Roman Republic to over 5,200 men in the Roman Empire, consisting of centuries as the basic units. Until the middle of the first century, ten cohorts (about 500 men) made up a Roman legion. This was later changed to nine cohorts of standard size (with six centuries at 80 men each) with the first cohort being of double strength (five double-strength centuries with 160 men each). By the fourth century AD, the legion was a much smaller unit of about 1,000 to 1,500 men, and there were more of them. This had come about as the large formation legion and auxiliary unit, 10,000 men, was broken down into smaller units - originally temporary detachments - to cover more territory. In the fourth century AD, East Roman border guard legions ( limitanei) may have become even smaller.