| Post; Recruitment
Recruitment for any Legionary formation at any time during the empires existence was en masse. Men of applicable age presented themselves at the alotted time in the alotted place (usually amphitheatres or permanent garrisson structure) and were then and there sworn into the service of the empire. Because of the rigid nature of service periods a Legion would be refounded every 16 (later 20) years and the the peoples of the areas responsible for providing the recruits would have plenty of advance warning about when and where the recruiting would take place.A legion would serve for its alotted time period (barring disbandment, destruction or other wise) and the veterans would then be repatriated to their homelands or settled in areas newly conquered (to boost the indegenous populace with Roman citizens who were armed and fully capable of defending themselves). As was often the case, ex-soldiers would frequently reenlist in their legion and would often go on to serve for their entire lives, there is a record of one Centurion of the 3rd Augusta dying in harness ('In harness' meaning under arms, derived from the leather weapon harness used to carry the Gladius and other weapons.) at the age of 66
Legions also had distinct recruiting grounds, Gaius Julius Caeser's famous Legio X recruited from the Roman province of Pater Espana (Father Spain) up until the 2nd century AD when they switched to Syria (A matter of expediency, the Legion had been stationed there for decades). |