History and deployment Accensi appear to have evolved from the old fifth class of the army under the
Etruscan kings when it was reformed by
Marcus Furius Camillus.
Camillan system In the early
Camillan system of organisation of the 3rd and 4th centuries BC, men were sorted into classes according to wealth, the
accensi being the poorest. They fought as
skirmishers, wearing only a tunic and sometimes carrying a small round shield. The
accensi stood in the last line of the legion, behind the front line of
hastati, the second line of
principes, the third of
triarii and the fourth of
rorarii. In a
pitched battle, the
leves, javelin armed skirmishers who were attached to maniples of
hastati, would form up at the front of the legion and harass the enemy with javelin fire and cover the advance of the
hastati,
spear armed infantry. If the
hastati failed to break the enemy, they would fall back and let the
principes, heavier and more experienced infantry, take over. If the
principes did not break them, they would retire behind the
triarii, who would then engage the enemy in turn—hence the expression
rem ad Triarios redisse, "it has come to the
triarii"—signalling an act of desperation. The
equites, cavalrymen, were used as flankers and to pursue routing enemies. The
rorarii, the poorer reserve soldiers, and
accensi, the least dependable troops armed with
slings, would be used in a support role, providing mass and supporting wavering areas of the line.
Polybian system By the time of the later
Polybian system of the 2nd century BC,
accensi had been phased out.
Velites, light skirmishers, would now fulfill skirmishing duties and troops that would usually have gone into the accensi would now be excluded from service. == Civil servants ==