Everything about The Contubernium totally explained
The
contubernium was the smallest organized unit of
soldiers in the
Roman Army and was comprised of eight legionaries, comparable to the modern
squad, known as an
octet. It was led by a
Decanus. Two "servants" (actually comparable to modern support troops) were assigned to each octet. They were responsible for the care of the octet's pack mule, making sure the legionaries had water during the march, and often had special skills like
blacksmithing or
carpentry. Ten contubernia were grouped into a
centuria.
Soldiers of a contubernium shared a
tent, and were rewarded or punished together. If one member of the contubernium acted dishonorably in battle, that contubernium would suffer
decimation, whereby the group would be required to
draw straws, the soldier unlucky enough to draw the short straw then being stoned to death by the others.
