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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bart9349, post: 1991344, member: 5682&quot;]I never thought about legionary pay in the fourth century.</p><p><br /></p><p>This statement from the first article got my attention:</p><p><br /></p><p><i>D</i>espite the number of coins found, the financial value, however, would not have been great, amounting to four gold coins (solidi) which would have provided the ration of two soldiers for one year or a worker’s pay for two years.</p><p><br /></p><p>What was the legionaries&#039; pay in the 340&#039;s (in nummi or folles)?</p><p><br /></p><p>I got this quote from wikipedia (not always the most reliable source, of course):</p><p><br /></p><p><i>...[T]he stipendium, paid in debased silver denarii, was under Diocletian worth far less than in the 2nd century. It lost its residual value under Constantine and ceased to be paid regularly in mid-4th century.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>The soldier&#039;s sole substantial disposable income came from the donativa, or cash bonuses handed out periodically by the emperors, as these were paid in gold solidi (which were never debased), or in pure silver. There was a regular donative of 5 solidi every five years of an Augustus reign (i.e. one solidus p.a.) Also, on the accession of a new Augustus, 5 solidi plus a pound of silver (worth 4 solidi, totaling 9 solidi) were paid. The 12 Augusti that ruled the West between 284 and 395 averaged about nine years per reign. Thus the accession donatives would have averaged about 1 solidus p.a. The late soldier&#039;s disposable income would thus have averaged at least 2 solidi per annum. It is also possible, but undocumented, that the accession bonus was paid for each Augustus and/or a bonus for each Caesar. The documented income of 2 solidi was only a quarter of the disposable income of a 2nd-century legionary (which was the equivalent of c. 8 solidi). The late soldier&#039;s discharge package (which included a small plot of land) was also minuscule compared with a 2nd-century legionary&#039;s, worth just a tenth of the latter&#039;s.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Roman_army" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Roman_army" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Roman_army</a></p><p><br /></p><p>I am sure the inconsistent payment to a poorly supplied military with an already debased fiat coinage did little for the morale of an already overextended army.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>guy[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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