The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

C u lt u re o f t h e R o m a n A r m y 159
there were standard musical compositions for parades and festivals, but the majority
of the meager information that has come down to us concerns musical
instruments used for tactical signals.
The three main instru m ents com m on ly used in the Roman army are the
tuba, the cornu, and the bucina, played respectively by the tubicen, the cornicen,
and the bucinator. The tuba was a straight trumpet, while the cornu was an almost
circular instrument that wrapped right around the player’s arm, with a bar
ac ross the middle for gri p. Very little is known abo ut the bu ci n a , but it was
probably used to give signals in camp (Frontinus, Stratagems 5.17; Tacitus, Annals
15.30; Vegetius, Epitoma Rei Militaris 2.22; 3.5).
L i tera ry sources reveal that the Romans used these instru m ents to sound
reveille (cock-crow) and for the changing of the guard when in camps or forts
(Frontinus, Stratagems 1.1.9; Josephus, Jewish War 3.5.3). Tacitus (Annals 1.28)
records an occasion when the light of the moon seemed to wane, and to ward
off the evil omens, soldiers blew on every kind of trumpet and clattered brass
instruments, whereupon the moon obligingly brightened for a short time. The
main responsibilities of the tubicen were to sound the advance and the retreat,
and the signal to leave camp. In Caesar’s army at the battle of Thapsus, before
the Caesarians engaged, the overenthusiastic tubicen on the right wing sounded
the charge without orders from Caesar himself, and from then on it was impossible
to hold the soldiers back.
According to Vegetius (Epitoma Rei Militaris 2.22), each legion had thirtysix
horn blowers (cornicines), and Arrian (14.4) says that there were thirty-eight
trumpeters (tubicines)—three for the officers, three in the legionary cavalry, five
in the First Cohort, and the rest assigned to the remaining cohorts (Le Bohec,
1 9 9 4 ) . Certain tu bi ci n e s or tru m pet players are recorded on inscri pti on s . Two
grave s tones from different parts of the Empire record tu bi ci n e s and inclu de a
carved “portrait” of each soldier carrying his tuba. One was found at Cologne,
commemorating Caius Vettienus, tubicen exs (sic) leg[ione], but unfortunately
the legi on is not named (I L S 2 3 5 1 ) . The other was found in the Ch ers on e s e ,
near Sebastopol, recording Aurelius Salvianus, tubicen of legio XI Claudia, who
served for thirteen years and died aged thirty-six (ILS 2352). The tubicines of legio
III Augusta are recorded on an inscription (ILS 9096), and from the fort of
Bri getio on the Danu be , the tu bi ci n e s of an unnamed legi on , prob a bly I Ad iutrix,
set up a corporate dedication to Minerva (ILS 2353). Significantly, they
called themselves a society or college of trumpet players (scola tubicinum), indicating
a sense of corporate identity, if not an actual college. This sense of cohesion
was enhanced by a ceremony called the tubilustrium, which was carried out
probably every year, to purify the instruments. This was not a purely military
observance, since the tubilustrium was celebrated in Rome to purify the trumpets
used in religious ceremonies.