among the Romans, an officer in the infantry, who commanded a century, or a hundred men. In order to have a proper notion of the centurions, it must be remembered, that every one of the thirty manipuli in a legion was divided into two ordines, or ranks; and consequently the three bodies of the hastati, principes, and triarii, into twenty orders and ten manipuli each. Now, every manipulus was allowed two centurions, or captains, one to each order or century; and, to determine the point of priority between them, they were created at two different elections. The thirty who were first made always took the precedence of their fellows; and therefore commanded the right-hand orders, as the others did the left. The triarii, or pilani, so called from their weapon the pilum, being esteemed the most honourable, had their centurions elected first, next to them the principes, and afterwards the hastati; whence they were called primus et secundus pilus, primus et secundus principes, primus et secundus hastatus, and so on. Here it may be observed, that primi ordines is sometimes used in historians for the centurions of these orders; and the centurions are sometimes styled principes ordinum, and principes centurionum. See ARMY.