Tribunus laticlavius
In the Roman army of the late Republic and the Principate, the  ("broad-striped tribune") was one of the six military tribunes in a legion. The person who held the position was usually a young man belonging to a wealthy family or that was friends with the . The position of  was the first step on the .

Overview 
The post was created by the Marian reforms. The  was second in command to the , the legion's commander, and above the other five , and later the . The Roman Senate or Emperor would assign the office of tribune to a Roman noble who was younger than the age of 25. They were usually around the age of 20. The  was usually a young man who might belong to one of the richest families in Rome or be a close friend to the legionary commander. The  was part of the senatorial aristocracy and this is the reason why the  was permitted to wear a purple stripe.

After two or three years as a  the tribune went back to Rome and ran for a political office, usually a quaestorship. The position was the first step of the traditional . The  usually had no prior military experience.

By the middle of 250s AD, at the earliest, the post of the  had disappeared from the Roman army, following the general trend of removal of the senatorial class from military commands.

See also 

 List of Roman army unit types
 Centurion
 Legatus 
 Primus Pilus
 Decanus
 
 Tribune

References 

Military ranks of ancient Rome