Conditions of service

For a century-and-a-half, from Caesar to Domitian, the simple miles earned 225 denarii, paid out in three installments per year. The change came after the failed revolt of Saturninus, when Domitian simply added another payday, thereby increasing legionary pay to 300 denarii per year. At the same time however, he limited the amount a soldier could save in the legionary bank to 250 dn. If they did not spend the extra money, soldiers could convert it into easily wearable capital in the form of highly decorated arms and equipment. The most important change in the conditions of service for both auxiliary soldiers and naval troops however, was the introduction of the award of citizenship. Augustus and his immediate successors had been very reluctant to grant citizenship to auxiliary troops, restricting it only to exceptional circumstances or persons. Claudius on the other hand introduced a general award of citizenship for both the soldier and his common-law wife and their children, both current and future. The soldier also received the formal right to conubium. The length of service for auxiliary soldiers was set at 25 years at this time. It seems that naval soldiers served the same number of years, which was only changed by Vespasian. From his reign on, classici had to serve 26 years to complete their enlistment and qualify for honorable discharge. Antoninus Pius altered the exact legal arrangements in the so-called Constitutiones so that the children of auxiliaries that had been born prior to retirement, no longer received citizenship. Interestingly, this privilege remained in place for naval soldiers and the troops of the Praetorian Guard and Urban cohorts.