Speculatores
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The speculatores, also known as the speculatores augusti or the exploratores, were an ancient Roman reconnaissance agency.[1][2] They were part of the consularis and were used by the Roman military.[3][4][5] The speculatores were headquartered in the Castra Peregrina.[6][7]
This organization probably originated from previous Greek military spies and scouts. There are references to a Roman scouting agency operating during the Samnite Wars and the speculatores being employed during the Roman war with the Aequi.[8] Emperor Augustus reformed the Roman communications system. Among other reforms, he also added 10 speculatores to each legion.[9][10][11] With one speculator per cohort.[12] They also served in the Praetorian Guard.[13][14] They also served as political police. Although they were replaced by the frumentarii as police in the third century.[15] As bodyguards, they were tasked with clearing the emperor's pathway of crowds. To do this, they used a type of non-lethal spear known as a lancea.[16][17] They also served as scouts, executioners, torturers, and assassins.[18] During their operations, they worked in small numbers. Usually in pairs or as individuals.[9] The speculatores were trained by an official known as a centurio exercitator to become skilled in fighting, horseriding, parading, and escorting.[19] Three other officials had important roles in the speculatores. These were the centurio and the centurio speculatorum,[20] centurio trecenarius, and the centurio speculatorum equitarum.[21] There were around 300 members of the speculatores.[22][23] They were chosen based on their discretion and loyalty.[24] Many speculatores would go on to become couriers.[25][26] Their duties lead to them becoming feared and despised by the populace.[18]
References
- ^ Rankov 2015, p. 1.
- ^ Fuhrmann 2011, p. 119.
- ^ Hurley 2014, p. 193.
- ^ Golding 1951, p. 478-485.
- ^ Nelis-Clément 2015, p. 3.
- ^ Sheldon 2015, p. 13.
- ^ Rankov 1990, p. 167.
- ^ Sheldon 2004, p. 18.
- ^ a b Sheldon 2004, p. 165.
- ^ Triplat 2019, p. 458.
- ^ Rankov 2016, p. 24.
- ^ Kyrychenko 2014.
- ^ Ng 2012, p. 2.
- ^ Cowan 2014, p. 33.
- ^ Sheldon 2004, p. 167.
- ^ Speidel 2002.
- ^ Wolff 2015, p. 2.
- ^ a b Bunson 2014, p. 512.
- ^ Speidel 2002, p. 34, 56.
- ^ Coulston 2018, p. 177.
- ^ Cowan 2014, p. 32-33.
- ^ Bunson 2014, p. 315-316.
- ^ Busch 2007, p. 315-316.
- ^ Sheldon 2004, p. 122.
- ^ Sheldon 2004, p. 144.
- ^ Cairo 2015, p. 1.
Bibliography
- Bunson, Matthew (2014-05-14). Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4381-1027-1.
- Busch, Alexandra (2007-01-01). 'Militia in Urbe'. The military presence in Rome. Brill. ISBN 978-90-474-3039-1.
- Cairo, Giambattista (2015-03-04), "Non-Commissioned Officers, NCOs: Republic", The Encyclopedia of the Roman Army, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. 673–704, doi:10.1002/9781118318140.wbra1060, ISBN 9781118318140, retrieved 2022-09-03
- Cowan, Ross (2014-01-20). Roman Guardsman 62 BC–AD 324. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78200-927-6.
- Fuhrmann, Christopher J. (2011-12-13). ""I brought peace to the provinces": Augustus and the Rhetoric of Imperial Peace". Policing the Roman Empire: Soldiers, Administration, and Public Order. pp. 88–121. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199737840.003.0004. ISBN 978-0-19-973784-0.
- Coulston, Jon (2018-07-24), Holleran, Claire; Claridge, Amanda (eds.), "The Army in Imperial Rome", A Companion to the City of Rome, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. 173–195, doi:10.1002/9781118300664.ch8, ISBN 978-1-118-30066-4, S2CID 165452135, retrieved 2022-09-03
- Golding, F. Campbell (1951). "III. The Radiological Diagnosis of the Reticuloses". The British Journal of Radiology. 24 (285): 478–485. doi:10.1259/0007-1285-24-285-478. ISSN 0007-1285. PMID 14878999.
- Hurley, Donna (July 2014). "Rhetorics of Assassination: Ironic Reversal and the Emperor Gaius". Retrieved 2022-09-03.
- Kyrychenko, Alexander (2014-08-19). The Roman Army and the Expansion of the Gospel: The Role of the Centurion in Luke-Acts. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-037475-9.
- Nelis-Clément, Jocelyne (2015-03-04), "Non-Commissioned Officers, NCOs: Principate", in Le Bohec, Yann (ed.), The Encyclopedia of the Roman Army, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. 673–704, doi:10.1002/9781118318140.wbra1059, ISBN 978-1-118-31814-0, retrieved 2022-09-03
- Ng, Michael (2012-10-26), "Praetorian cohorts", in Bagnall, Roger S.; Brodersen, Kai; Champion, Craige B.; Erskine, Andrew (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, pp. wbeah19141, doi:10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah19141, ISBN 978-1-4051-7935-5, retrieved 2022-09-03
- Rankov, Boris (2015-03-04), "Praetorian Cohorts", in Le Bohec, Yann (ed.), The Encyclopedia of the Roman Army, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. 763–796, doi:10.1002/9781118318140.wbra1200, ISBN 978-1-118-31814-0, retrieved 2022-09-03
- Rankov, N. B. (1990). "Singulares Legati Legionis: A Problem in the Interpretation of the Ti. Claudius Maximus Inscription from Philippi". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 80: 165–175. ISSN 0084-5388. JSTOR 20187217.
- Rankov, N. (2016). The beneficiarii consularis in the western provinces of the Roman Empire (Thesis). University of Oxford.
- Sheldon, Rose Mary (2004-12-16). Intelligence Activities in Ancient Rome: Trust in the Gods but Verify. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-77107-2.
- Sheldon, R. M. (2015-09-03). Espionage in the Ancient World: An Annotated Bibliography of Books and Articles in Western Languages. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-1099-3.
- Speidel, Micheal P. (2002-11-01). Riding for Caesar: The Roman Emperor's Horseguard. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-78254-2.
- Triplat, Jurica (2019). "Evidence for Roman Intelligence Services along the Eastern Adriatic Coast". Akten des 15. Internationalen Kolloquiums zum Provinzialrömischen Kunstschaffen. Der Stifter und sein Monument: Gesellschaft – Ikonographie – Chronologie. 15: 454–466.
- Wolff, Catherine (March 4, 2015), "Units: Principate", in Le Bohec, Yann (ed.), The Encyclopedia of the Roman Army, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. 1029–1056, doi:10.1002/9781118318140.wbra1563, ISBN 978-1-118-31814-0, retrieved 2022-09-03