ABSTRACT
The Roman state always possessed an army, comprising men selected from among its citizens. Military service was both a duty and a privilege, and was initially unpaid. Soldiers served mostly for short periods, but as the Roman domains grew they were retained longer under arms. The norm in the Late Republic was six years continuous service. No epitaphs appear to survive of men who specifically describe themselves as soldiers, before the mid first century Bc. In part the reason must be that reference to military service, in an age when most adult males had served in some capacity for a few years, was not considered essential information. After the end of the civil wars which marred the final generation of the Late Republic, the army became a professional long-service force, based in increasingly permanent stations in the frontier provinces, and most of it soon along the outermost limits of those provinces.
