Roman Legionary Pay

A Roman legionary under Augustus earned 225 denarii a year, raised to 300 under Domitian, modest above subsistence but sweetened by discharge bonuses.

Overview

Pay was annual, deducted for food, clothing and gear, meaning net cash could be thin, but the system's real economics were the completion reward: a discharge bonus of 3,000 denarii after twenty to twenty-five years, enough to buy land or open a business. Centurions earned a multiple, roughly ten to twenty times, and prefects more still. Rates stayed remarkably stable for two centuries, declining in real terms during inflationary crises. Comparisons suggest ordinary soldiers lived better than common laborers but not richly. Figures are approximate scholarly reconstructions from surviving accounts.