A Note on the Use of the Titles 'Optio' and 'Magister' below the Centurionate during the

Principate
Author(s): David J. Breeze
Source: Britannia, Vol. 7 (1976), pp. 127-133
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/525768
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 A Note on the use of the Titles Optio and
Magister below the Centurionate during the
Principate
By DAVID J. BREEZE*

T HE recent discovery at the legionary lime-kilns at Iversheim in Lower

Germany of an inscription recording a magister calc(ariorum) in legion
XXX Ulpia Victrix, a post hitherto unattested in the Roman army,
raises the question of the use of the title magister in the lower ranks of the army.'
In the first two centuries A.D. there were remarkably few titles used in the
Roman army. For example, most officers above the rank of centurion were
praefecti, tribuni or legati. The most junior equestrian officer, the praefectus
cohortis quingenariae, and the most senior, the praefectus praetorio, were both
prefects but were widely separated in status. Below the centurionate optio is the
best attested general title being used by soldiers carrying out a wide range of
duties.2
There were several different types of optiones. The centurion's deputy was
the optio centuriae, so named because in the early days of the Roman army he
had been chosen by the centurion. This soldier was by rank a principalis and
in the second and third centuries he received double pay. Optio was also a title
used by soldiers carrying out a variety of permanent supervisory and administra-
tive duties and Dr. R. W. Davies has pointed out to me that in papyri the same
title is frequently given to a soldier, apparently often an ordinary caligatus,
holding an ad hoc appointment. Such a post not being on the permanent
establishment never appears on inscriptions. Finally optio could be used to
describe a soldier operating in a semi-military capacity such as secretary to a
schola.3 The second category, the permanent 'staff' optio, is the subject of this
note.

* This paper has been read in draft by Drs. R. W. Davies and B. Dobson. I am grateful to
both for their constructive criticisms and helpful suggestions.
1 Sl61ter 1970, 25. Cf. also Alfoldy 1968, 17-27.
2 None of the titles discussed in this paper were used solely by immunes and principales;
their colourlessness allowed them to be adopted also by senior army officers. Cf. Domaszewski
1967, indices.
'Optio centuriae: Polybius vi, 24, 2; cf. also Vegetius ii, 7 and Lydus 47, 4. On rank and
pay see Breeze 1971, 134. Ad hoc optiones: optio in charge of clothing (P. Oxy. 2230) and
optio in charge of the collection of blankets (P. Oxy. 2760)-I owe these references to Dr.
Davies. Optio scholae: e.g. CIL viii 2557+I8o5o=ILS 2354 add.
I27

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 I28 DAVID J. BREEZE
The optio valetudinarii is the best attested 'staff' optio, appearing in the
legions, the urban cohorts and the equites singulares A ugusti, while in the
vigiles his equivalent is presumably the optio conv(alescentium). Here the optio
is clearly the officer in charge of running the hospital administration and paper-
work. The appearance of the post in normal military careers demonstrates that
the duties of the post were not medical but administrative. An optio was also in
charge of the camp prison: the optio carceris is attested in the vigiles and the
urban cohorts both in Rome and in the urban cohort stationed in Lyon; again
the post is held by soldiers during the course of normal military careers. In the
legions the optio custodiarum may have been in charge of the guard-house.
Tarruntenus Paternus besides the optio valetudinarii included the optio fabricae
(who presumably supervised the unit's workshop) in his list of immut ?s, while
in the vigiles are found the optio ba(llistariorum ?) and the optio a(rmamen-
tarii ?). A legionary was seconded to assist in the governor's staff as optio
praetorii and possibly another as optio to the procurator's staff. At base the
optio principis (together apparently with the other optiones of the first cohort)
aided the princeps in his administrative duties in his office, the tabularium
principis. A single inscription attests the existence of an opt(io) trib[unil militum
leg(ionis). Domaszewski erroneously equated this post with the optio equitum
because he considered the tribune to be commander of the legionary cavalry, an
assumption now no longer considered correct. In the urban cohorts the optio ab
actis urbi was presumably connected with the administrative duties of the City
Prefect. The duties of the optio navaliorum, known in the army only in connec-
tion with legion XXII Primigenia, were probably also of an administrative
nature.4
The duties of the optio campi, who is only attested in the ala Veterana Gallica,
appear to have been associated with the cavalry, for the only known citator
campi was in the same unit; and the legionary mag(ister) k(ampi) is included in
a list of equites, while the only reference to an auxiliary magister campi sur-
vives in the records of cohors XX Palmyrenorum, an equitate cohort. The
optio campi, however, is distinct from the optio equitum, who is recorded in the
praetorian guard and also in a legion. This soldier-at least in the guard-was
apparently the cavalry counterpart of the optio centuriae, for the two praetorian
4In general on the posts discussed in this paper see Domaszewski 1967 and Breeze 1970.
Optio valetudinarii: in the legions, e.g. CIL viii 2553 +AE 1909, 9 (dating to 199); in the urban
cohorts, CIL ix 1617=ILS 2117 (early second century); in the eq. sing. Aug., CIL vi 31145 c 8
(137); cf also Davies 1972, 9, n. 65. Optio convalescentium e.g. CIL vi 1o57, 7, 1o (210); cf. Davies
1975a for the suggestion, based on a re-reading of P. Dura 82 = Fink 47 i 17, that there was an
opt[ co]n(valescentium in cohors XX Palmyrenorum. Optio carceris: in the urban cohorts,
CIL ix 1617=ILS 2117, xiii 1833=ILS 2116 and vi 531=ILS 3729 (238-244); in the vigiles, e.g.
CIL vi 32748, vi 1057, 2, IO (205). Optio custodiarum, CIL iii 15191 (201) and xiii 6739. Optio
fabricae, Digest 50, 6, 7 (6). Optio ba(llistariorum ?), CIL vi 1057, 7, I; 4, 6; 3, 39 (205). Optio
a(rmamentarii ?), CIL vi 1057, I, 21 (205). Optio praetorii, CIL iii 7765, iii 5803, x 7583 (198-
209); cf also viii 2947. Optio proc. ducenar., CIL xii 1749. Optio principis, CIL viii 18072=ILS
2446, xiii 5970, AE 1956, 18 (193-198), vi 3628; on princeps see Vegetius ii, 8. Optio tribuni,
CIL ii 5682; Domaszewski 1967, 47. Optio ab actis, CIL ix 1617=ILS 2117 and viii 4874=ILS
2116. Optio navaliorum, CIL xiii 6712 (198), xiii 6714=ILS 2435 (185).

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 OPTIO AND MAGISTER DURING THE PRINCIPATE 129

equites held the post at that stage in their careers when if pedites they would
have been optiones centuriae. The optio speculatorum mentioned by Tacitus in
discussing the events of 68-69, if correct military terminology is being used, will
probably have been the equivalent of the optio centuriae in the praetorian corps
of speculatores.5
In several cases a 'staff' optio appears in a career and is usually a principalis-
that is a junior officer below the centurionate receiving extra pay for his post.
In the vigiles the optio conv(alescentium) and the optio car(ceris) both were
principales probably receiving pay-and-a-half, but the optio ba(llistariorum ?)
though also a principalis received double pay. In the legions the optio nava-
liorum may also have received double pay. C. Luccius Sabinus, who held
thirteen posts during the course of his twenty years' service from II4 to 134 in
cohors I urbana, held the posts of optio valetudinarii and optio carceris early in
his career (while possibly only an immunis), but held the post of optio ab actis
almost at the end of his career; so did C. Vasidius Bellicus at a time when he was
clearly a principalis and a duplicarius: in the praetorian guard the post of ab
actis fori was held by an even more senior soldier, an evocatus.6 The low rank
thus indicated for the posts of optio valetudinarii and optio carceris may have
been because this cohort was stationed outside Rome, and the responsibility of
the holders of the posts was less than that of their respective colleagues in Rome
who served the major part of the unit rather than a single cohort.7 His later
appointment as optio ab actis may have entailed a move to Rome to join the
staff of the City Prefect.
Magistri sometimes appear in the legions and in auxiliary units holding posts
similar to those held by optiones. An inscription from north Italy, now un-
fortunately lost, apparently refers to a magister ballistari(orum) in legion XX
Valeria Victrix, while at Lambaesis a mag(ister) [.1 fabr(um) is attested in con-
nection with an auxiliary unit, I Pannoniorum. The magister calc(ariorum) in
charge of the legionary lime-kilns of Lower Germany was complemented by a
mag(ister) fig(linarum) in charge of the legionary potteries of the same province.
The magister campi is recorded in one legion and also in one auxiliary unit and,
as we have already seen, was probably associated with the equites. The magister
equitum similarly appears in one legion and one auxiliary unit. In Mauretania
Caesariensis a magi(s)ter barcarioru(m), a soldier with 20 years' service, is
attested in the ala milliaria. It is probable that he held a tactical rather than an

'Optio and citator campi, P. Hamb. 39, 89 and IoI (179); magister kampi, see note 8. Optio
equitum: in the legions, CIL viii 2568, i8-the entry is OP EQ-(c. 220); in the guard vi Ioo
(157), Vi 244o=ILS 2077, vi 32709a+3719I=ILS 9190. Optio speculatorum, Tacitus Hist. i, 25;
cf. also CIL iii 14137, 1I=ILS 8997 (c. II8) recording an optio specul(atorum) on the staff of the
governor of Egypt.
6 On careers in general see Breeze 1974, passim. I have slightly modified my views on the
rank of Sabinus's earlier posts from Breeze 1971, 134, n. 51 where I suggested that the optio
valetudinarii and the optio carceris were probably of sesquiplicarius status. Evocatus, CIL ix
5839+584o=ILS 2085 (137) and x 3733=ILS 2083 (Trajan-Hadrian).
For the suggestion that in the fleet the medicus on board ship ranked higher than his
colleague on land due to extra responsibility see Davies 1975b.

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 130 DAVIDJ.BREEZE

administrative command in a unit of barcarii, which may have been stationed

together with the ala milliaria at Benian. While holding this post he continued
to be carried on the books of one of the turmae of the ala.8 Magistri are not
attested in any of the Rome units.
Only one magister appears on a career, that of lulius a centurion in legion XI
Claudia. The position of the post in his career suggests that he may have been
magister equitum while serving as a centurio supernumerarius. If this is the case
he ranked higher than the mag(ister) k(ampi) in legion III Augusta who is
included in a list of equites and was presumably either an immunis or princi-
palis. 9
The titles optio and magister are both used by soldiers carrying out the same
sort of duties: junior positions of supervision and command. Optio is the older
title. The discussion by Polybius of the origin of the term has already been
mentioned. In its more specialised use as the title for a 'staff' optio it first appears
in the unique career of C. Luccius Sabinus of cohors I urbana and in the con-
temporary, or possibly slightly earlier, career of his colleague C. Vasidius
Bellicus-the only two attested optiones speculatorum are both earlier in date
but were probably more akin to the optiones centuriae than to the 'staff'
optiones. The post of optio v(aletudinarii) in the equites singulares Augusti is
recorded on an inscription of 137. The first inscription from a legion referring
to a 'staff' optio-in this case an optio navaliorum-dates to 185. Most dated
references to the 'staff' optiones fall into the late second and early third
centuries. This is not to say that the posts did not exist earlier, but simply that
only in the second century did it become usual to mention individual posts on
tombstones and dedications.'0
Few of the inscriptions recording magistri are dated. The mag(ister) k(ampi)
in legion III Augusta served during the reign of Severus Alexander (222-35)
and the magister campi in cohors XX Palmyrenorum in 233. However, the
general style of the other inscriptions suggests that they all date to the third
century, with the possible exception of the dedication recording the magister
fabrum at Lambaesis, which may be late second century. It is possible therefore
that the title magister was first introduced in the third century-or perhaps the
later second century-and was the equivalent of the earlier title optio. The new
title apparently did not entirely supercede the older term for an iTirrtCvL
&?eK(Trov) Ko(pvtKovXaptov) is attested in Egypt as late as 265." Existing old-
established posts, such as optio karc(eris) (which is last attested in the urban
cohorts in the reign of Gordian III (238-44)), may have retained their titles,

sMagister ballistariorum, CIL v 6632. Magister fabrum, CIL viii 2690=i8iio. Magister
figlinarum, CIL xiii 8729. Magister barcariorum, CIL viii 21568=ILS 9227; cf. Shotter 1973,
208-9. Magister equitum, CIL v 8278=ILS 2333, iii 4576. Magister kampi, CIL viii 2562, 2
(222-235), P. Dura 83, 8=Fink 48, 8 (233).
Slulius, CIL v 8378 =ILS 2333. MAG K, CIL viii 2562, 2.
10 Sabinus, CIL ix 1617=ILS 2117; Bellicus, CIL viii 4874=ILS 2116. For other references
see notes 4-6.
" PSI, v 465, 6-7. For this expansion see R. W. Davies in JRS lvi (1966), 243.

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 OPTIO AND MAGISTER DURING THE PRINCIPATE II
but new creations will presumably have been called magistri rather than
optiones. There is some evidence to suggest that the name of the post may in
certain cases have been changed. In the auxilia the only known optio campi
dates to 179 and the uniquely attested magister campi to 233. It is not impossible
that the name of this post changed in the intervening years. However, the
magister campi may have been a new post created in the third century, especially
if the two posts are associated with the cavalry; for the third century saw far-
reaching changes to the role of the cavalry in the Roman army. The duties of
the cavalry posts such as optio or magister campi may have altered considerably
during the course of that century. Certainly it seems unlikely that the magister
equitum was the successor of the optio equitum, for the title of the optio
centuriae (the infantry colleague of the optio equitum), does not appear to have
been altered in the third century.12 The magister equitum was presumably a
new post, possibly not introduced until the later years of the century.
There are two other posts which may have had their titles altered in the third
century. An optio ba(llistariorum ?) appears in a list of cohors V vigilum dating
to 210 and a magister ballistari(orum) on a third-century legionary inscription,
while in addition to the optio fabricae mentioned by Tarruntenus Paternus
there is the mag(ister) [.1 fabr(um), probably an auxiliary, attested at Lambaesis.
Again, however, the magistri posts may be new creations in the late second or
third centuries with the optiones and magistri continuing side by side in the
same establishment. It seems unlikely, considering the nature of the problem,
that any evidence will ever be found which will positively prove that a 'staff'
optio changed his title to magister.
The third century, as has already been mentioned in connection with the
cavalry, was a time of great change in the Roman army. The carefully planned
career-structure below the centurionate, which during the 120 years from
Trajan to Severus Alexander had ensured that most prospective centurions
gained experience both of tactical command and administration, collapsed in
the middle years of the third century.13 The new career-structure allowed
soldiers to have either 'military' or administrative careers, but not apparently a
combination of both as before. The effects of this are as yet imperfectly under-
stood, but it seems probable that they concerned the type of staff-posts under
discussion. Posts such as the supervision of the legionary lime-kilns or potteries,
which in earlier years would presumably have been held for about three or
four years by a soldier during the course of his career (like the officer in charge
of the unit's hospital or workshop), now may have been held by a master lime-
burner or master potter, a soldier-craftesman rather than a soldier-administra-
tor.

Optio and magister were not the only general titles used for posts below the

12 An optio in legion III Augusta appears on an inscription dated to 253 (CIL viii 2482); an
optio, not necessarily in a century, appears on an Egyptian document of 267 (P. Oxy. 2951), and
one in a numerus in an inscription possibly dating to 272 (CIL viii 9964).
13 Breeze 1974, 288-90.

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 132 DAVIDJ.BREEZE

centurionate. Custos and curator are the other two which appear most fre-
quently on inscriptions and papyri. We have already noted the magister fig-
linarum from Nijmegen. From Mainz, further up the Rhine in Upper Germany,
comes an inscription erected in 220 referring to a cus(tos) castel(li) figlina(rum)
in legion XXII Primigenia. This soldier may have been doing the same job as
the magister figlinarum but was given a different title. The title custos, however,
appears well before the third century: the post of custos armorum is attested in
the first century and is frequently recorded on inscriptions and in papyri, for
there was one custos armorum in each legionary century and presumably also
in the auxilia, and possibly in every unit in the army. This post in the legions
and the auxilia was held by a principalis. Also attested are a custos domi in 87
and a cus(tos) basil(icae) in 196 in the legions and a custos vivari in the prae-
torian and urban cohorts. Custos, like optio, was found throughout the princi-
pate, but was much more restricted in use."4
A further vague title used in the same way was curator. In the legions of the
late Republic and early first century A.D. there was the post of curator veteran-
orum, and later the curator operis armamentarii who is only attested once-
and then by a soldier who had previously been optio valetudinarii; in the
praetorian and urban cohorts there was the fisci curator; and each turma in the
auxilia and in the equites singulares Augusti apparently had its own curator
(the senior curator-or perhaps the curator for the whole unit-being entitled
summus curator). The fisci curator in the Rome units received double pay and
the curator in the auxilia pay-and-a-half; the curator operis armamentarii
because of his relationship to the optio valetudinarii was almost certainly a
principalis.15
In summary, below the centurionate the titles of optio, to a lesser extent
custos and curator, and later magister, were all given to soldiers-normally of
principalis rank-holding various junior administrative posts of supervision or
command. Optio was the older term and in the third century came to be partly
superceded by magister, new posts being given that title and some existing posts
possibly changed to conform to the new nomenclature. At this time it seems
possible that a soldier doing one particular task may have been called optio,
magister or even custos, in different units of the Roman army.
Note. An inscription of 212 recently discovered at Mainz reveals the existence
of a mag(ister) plu[m(bariorum)]. This man was presumably a soldier in charge
of the leadworks of legion XXII Primigenia.16
14 Custos castelli figlinarum, CIL xiii Nachtrag 162. Custos armorum, e.g. CIL xiii 8071;
Breeze 1969, 52, n. 12. Custos domi, Pap. Gen. Lat. I, IV, 2, 8; see R. W. Davies, JRS lxii (1972),
191 for the date. Custos basilicae, CIL xiii 6672. Custos vivari, CIL vi, 13o.
15 For a useful discussion of curator veteranorum see now Keppie 1973, 10-12. Curator operis
armamentarii, CIL viii 2563=ILS 2437 (209-211). Fisci curator, e.g. CIL xi 5646= ILS 2081;
ix 1617=ILS 2117. Curator turmae, e.g. CIL viii 2o94=ILS 2518; vi 225. Summus curator,
P. Hamb. 39, io=Fink 76 (179). Note also CIL viii 2562 for a cur(ator) sco(lae) showing that
curator could be used in the same general way as optio.
" P. Herz, 'Ein Neuer Minerva-Altar aus Mainz', Archiiologisches Korespondenzblatt 4
(1974), 355-358. Herz suggests plu[m(arius)] but plu[m(barius)] seems more likely.

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 OPTIO AND MAGISTER DURING THE PRINCIPATE 133
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inspectorate of Ancient Monuments, Department of the Environment, Edin-

burgh

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