The Roman military was clearly organised. An army was composed of a various amount of legions, which varied in size throughout time but commonly were 5,000 or 6,000. A legion was divided into ten cohorts with the 1st cohort being the largest and most experienced. Each cohort was further divided into six centuries which were furthest divided into a tent group of six to eight men who shared a tent. This high level of organization starkly contrasted many of Rome's enemies who had little to no organization and had chaotic and inefficient armies as a result.
A roman army was commanded by a legate, with assistance from usually about six tribunes. These were aristocrats who had the right combination of experience, competence and family connections to get either the Senate or the emperor to appoint them to a position of command. They were also assisted in the imperial period by a camp prefect, who was often of a lower class who worked his way up. Beneath the tribunes were the centurions, who commanded each century and the centurion of the 1st century of the legion also had command over the cohort. Each centurion had a lieutenant called an optio and beneath them were ranks of Non Commissioned Officers before the simple legionnaire. Many legionaries who had special skills were also given minor ranks to conduct weapons training or man ballista. This men could rarely order other legionaries but often were excused from the usual manual labor to d their specialized duty.
Outside of the legion organization Roman armies often had auxiliaries from other nations who fought in their nations style and often kept their nation's traditional system of organization with Roman supervision. They also employed cavalry, light infantry and skirmishers outside of the normal organization. They were organized differently depending on the circumstances but were still typically better organized than their enemies.
A roman army was commanded by a legate, with assistance from usually about six tribunes. These were aristocrats who had the right combination of experience, competence and family connections to get either the Senate or the emperor to appoint them to a position of command. They were also assisted in the imperial period by a camp prefect, who was often of a lower class who worked his way up. Beneath the tribunes were the centurions, who commanded each century and the centurion of the 1st century of the legion also had command over the cohort. Each centurion had a lieutenant called an optio and beneath them were ranks of Non Commissioned Officers before the simple legionnaire. Many legionaries who had special skills were also given minor ranks to conduct weapons training or man ballista. This men could rarely order other legionaries but often were excused from the usual manual labor to d their specialized duty.
Outside of the legion organization Roman armies often had auxiliaries from other nations who fought in their nations style and often kept their nation's traditional system of organization with Roman supervision. They also employed cavalry, light infantry and skirmishers outside of the normal organization. They were organized differently depending on the circumstances but were still typically better organized than their enemies.