centurionnoun [ C ]
uk/senˈtjʊə.ri.ən/us/senˈtʊr.i.ən/an officer in the army of ancient Rome who was responsible for 100 soldiers
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Ancient history: before 500 AD
- ancient
- antiquity
- archaic
- Celt
- classical
- gladiator
- Grecian
- Hellenic
- Hippocrates
- legion
- mummy
- necropolis
- neoclassical
- Neogene
- Romano-
- sarcophagus
- Saturnalia
- the Bronze Age
- the Christian era
- the Iron Age
See more results »
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Soldiers in the past
Examples from literature
- A centurion carried a staff made of a vine-branch, for disciplinary purposes.
- An urgent demand arose that the customary fees to centurions for granting furlough should be abolished, for they constituted a sort of annual tax upon the common soldier.
- The cohorts chose each their centurions: two senators were placed at the head of each cohort.
- The other centurions marched each at the head of his company, glittering with their armour and decorations.
- When he was centurion, Trajan had summoned him to enter his presence before the prefects, whereupon he said: "It is a shame for you, Caesar, to be talking with a centurion, while the prefects stand outside."