Legionary Cohort
Immediately after the Marian reforms, a Roman legion comprised ten cohorts, known simply as "the first cohort", "the second cohort" etc. The first cohort was considered to be the most senior and prestigious, and the tenth the least.
A cohort consisted of six "centuries" or centuria 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, 80 or 100 men. It is almost certain that 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). This followed the order of seniority in the earlier legions, where the youngest and least experienced units were termed hastati, next principes, and the oldest and most experienced triarii (pilus was an alternative name for triarius, the singular of triarii).
During the 1st century AD, the command structure and make-up of the legions was formally laid down, in a form that would endure for centuries. The first cohort was now made up of five double-strength centuries totalling 800 men, the centurion of its 1st century automatically being the most senior in the legion. This century was known as the primus pilus (first file), and its centurion was known as the primus pilus (first file).
The legion at this time numbered about 5,400 men, including officers, engineers and usually a small unit of cavalry (equites; 120 men and horses).
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