But interesting . . . a Roman soldier's pay stubb was found. . .
Was this soldier a snuffy who could not hang onto his equipment and had to pay it back or was this typical? I suspect it might have been the first to some degree. I remember when I was a very young sergeant, back when Christ was a corporal, we had a soldier in my platoon (fortunately not in my squad) who lost all his TA-50 (personal equipment). . . not once, but twice. . . everything! How could he have done that was beyond me. His sergeant made him put his name on every piece of equipment . . . which should have done the trick, however one day I was walking up the stairs and I spotted a piece of gear on the steps. . . yup it was his. In 1974 it cost $300 to replace all the equipment. As a sergeant with 2 years of service I took home $349 a month.
The Roman Army, both west and east, is interesting to study, and soldiers being soldiers, some things just never change.
In the research I did on the Roman Army I found a story about a Centurion in the 1st century AD whose troops nicknamed him 'Bring Another.' The symbol of rank for a Roman centurion was the vine stick, which was somewhat substantial in strength and was used, from time to time, for corporal punishment in the unit.
This centurion was so nicknamed because when he really laid into a recalcitrant he sometimes broke his vinestick. He would then say to another legionary to 'bring another' for him. Hence the nickname. I guess he carried spares just for that occasion.
That also reminds me of the swagger stick US Marine officers and SNCOs used to carry in the good old days up to at least the Korean War. Its use was finally forbidden as some SNCOs would casually use it to correct minor faults in formation, such as to turn a Marine's wrist to the proper position of attention with a quick snap and thwack of the SNCOs swagger stick.
It was a very useful piece of equipment...😁
The story of 'bring another' is often told but the background generally overlooked. It's from Tacitus, "The Annals" Book I, Ch. 23. The legions in Pannonia (8th, 9th and 15th Legion) mutinied against service conditions after they learnt of the death of Augustus, and 'bring another' ('cedo alteram, real name: Lucilius) was killed by the mutineers.