A cohort (from the Latin cohors, plural cohortes) was the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion, which replaced the manipular system following the reforms traditionally attributed to Gaius Marius in 107 BC.
Immediately after the Marian reforms, a Roman legion comprised ten cohorts, known simply as “the first cohort,” “the second cohort” etc. The commanding officer of the First Cohort, the Primus Pilus or Senior Centurion, was the ranking centurion in a legion. The First Cohort also carried the legion’s standard and the legionary Eagle into battle and, as a result, the cohort was considered to be the most senior and prestigious.
A cohort consisted of approximately 480 men in six centuriae of 80 men, each commanded by a centurion assisted by junior officers. At various times prior to the reforms, a century might have meant a unit of 60 to 80. The cohort had no permanent commander; it is assumed that in combat, the most senior centurion of the six would have commanded the entire cohort. In order of seniority, the six centurions were titled hastatus posterior, hastatus prior, princeps posterior, princeps prior, pilus posterior and pilus prior (most senior).
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Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Cohort, Military unit, Roman Legion, Centurion, Roman centurion, Roman military, Military, Infantry, Infantry unit, Italian Cohort, Augustan Cohort
Bible reference(s): Acts 10:1, Acts 21:31, Acts 27:1
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Cohort (military unit),” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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