Centurion

This is a word often met with in the gospel; and the meaning is, that the man who was a Centurion, commanded, or governed, an hundred soldiers.

an officer in the Roman army, who, as the term indicates, had the command of a hundred men, Mat 8:5, &c.

Centu´rion, a Roman military officer in command of a hundred men, as the title implies. Cornelius, the first Gentile convert to Christianity, held this rank (Act 10:1; Act 10:22). Other Centurions are mentioned in Mat 8:5; Mat 8:8; Mat 8:13; Mat 27:54; Luk 7:2; Luk 7:6; Act 21:32; Act 22:25-26; Act 23:17; Act 23:23; Act 24:23; Act 27:1; Act 27:6; Act 27:11; Act 27:31; Act 27:43; Act 28:16

A Roman officer commanding a hundred soldiers; similar to "captain" in modern times. Several centurions are mentioned with honor in the New Testament, Mar 15:39 ; Luk 7:1-10 ; and the first fruits to Christ from the Gentiles was the generous and devout Cornelius, Mal 10:1-48 .\par

Centurion. See Army.

It is a propriety in the New Testament that centurions are so often favorably noticed. Good conduct was generally the cause of their promotion to the command of a century (properly 100 men). Truthful straightforwardness would make them open to conviction. For instance, the one whose faith Jesus so commends in Matthew 8; Cornelius, whom Peter was by vision sent to, and who is described as "devout, fearing God with all his house, giving much alms to the people, and praying to God always" (Acts 10); Julius, the centurion of Augustus’ band, who entreated Paul courteously and saved his life when threatened by the soldiers (Act 27:1; Act 27:3-42; Act 27:43). In Act 24:23 translate "the centurion," namely, the commander of the horse who had conveyed Paul to Caesarea after the other of the two centurions had come back with the infantry (compare Act 23:23; Act 23:32). The centurion at the Lord’s crucifixion uttered the testimony so remarkable from a Gentile: "certainly this was a righteous man"; Luke’s explanation (Luk 23:47) of what a Gentile would mean by saying, "Truly this was the Son of God" (Mat 27:54).

(ἑκατοντάρχης and ἑκατόνταρχος, a translation of the Latin centurio, which also occurs in the Graecized form κεντυρίων, Mar 15:39; Mar 15:44-45), a Roman military officer in command of a hundred mnen, as the title implies. The number under him, however, was not always uniform, being enlarged or lessened according to circumstances (see Smith’s Dict. of Class. Antiq. s.v.). Cornelius, the first Gentile convert to Christianity, held this rank (Act 10:1; Act 10:22). SEE CORNELIUS. Other centurions are mentioned in Mat 8:5; Mat 8:8; Mat 8:13; Luk 7:2; Luk 7:6; Act 21:32; Act 22:25-26; Act 23:17; Act 23:23; Act 24:23; Act 27:1; Act 27:6; Act 27:11; Act 27:31; Act 27:43; Act 28:16. SEE ARMY. The centurion at our Savior’s cross (Mat 27:54; Luk 23:47) is said to have been named Longinus (see the treatises on this point by Goetze and by Möller, Obss.philol. Rost. 1696, p.4 sq.). SEE CAPTAIN.

Centurion. The commander of a century or military company, of which there were 60 in a Roman legion. At first there were, as the name implies, 100 men in each century; subsequently the number varied according, to the strength of the legion. Mat 8:5; Mat 27:54; Act 10:1; Act 22:25; Act 23:23; Act 27:1.

An officer over (about) 100 men: they were promoted to this office because of their good conduct and trustworthiness, and it is to be remarked how often centurions are favourably noticed in the Gospels and the Acts. Mat 8:5-13; Luk 23:47; Act 10:1; Act 10:22; Act 27:6, etc.

CENTURION (Lat. centurio; in Mark always κεντυρίων [Mar 15:39; Mar 15:44-45]; in Matt^{. [Note: Matthew’s (i.e. prob. Rogers’) Bible 1537.]} and Luke and Acts ἑκατοντάρχης acc. to יא, or ἑκατόνταρχος in other uncials; the latter form being more Attic, the former more frequent in Hellenistic [cf. Blass, Gram., English translation p. 28, on fluctuation between first and second declensions]; in Polybius the centurion is called ταξίαρχος).—As the name denotes, a centurion was an officer in the Roman army who had command of a centuria containing 100 men. The legion at its full strength consisted of about 6000 foot-soldiers, consequently it included 60 centurions. These were of different ranks or degrees of promotion and importance, according to the position occupied in battle by their special company or maniple. Though laughed at for their hob-nailed shoes and thick calves (Juv. Sat. xvi. 14. 24) and for their general unkempt roughness (ib. xiv. 194), these officers were the very ‘backbone of the army.’ Their badge of office was the vine-rod (vitis), which they freely used on the men, even without the authorization of the tribune (cf. Tacitus Annal. i. 23). Polybius describes the ideal centurion as ‘not so much overventuresome and fond of danger as possessing the faculty for command, steady and serious (βαθεῖς ταῖς ψυχαῖς); not prone to rush into battle nor eager to strike the first blow, but ready to die in defence of their posts if their men are overborne by numbers and hard pressed’ (vi. 24; cf. Vegetius, ii. 14).

The centurions mentioned in the NT are attractive specimens of the manly, serious-minded, generous Roman. In the Gospel narrative two centurions find a place. The one (Mat 8:5-13 || Luk 7:1-10) resident in Capernaum may probably have been in Herod’s service; but in any case he was a Gentile, for in his humble faith Jesus sees the first-fruits of a world redeemed, and recognizes that even if ‘the children of the kingdom’ prefer the outer darkness to the light and joy within, the provided feast will still be furnished with guests. The distinctive characteristic of this centurion’s faith was his persuasion that a word of command uttered by Jesus could set in motion forces sufficient for the emergency, even as the κέλευσμα of the Roman officer at once accomplished his will. The μόνον εἰπὲ λόγῳ is the key to the incident, and absolutely differentiates this centurion from the βασιλικός of Joh 4:46, who insisted that Jesus should ‘go down’ and heal his son.

The centurion charged with superintending the crucifixion of Jesus (Mar 15:39 || Mat 27:54 || Luk 23:47) paid so striking and unexpected a tribute to His greatness, that it finds a place in each of the Synoptic Gospels. The terms of the tribute are best understood from the account of St. Luke, who frequently preserves what is evidently the original form of a saying. Certainly ‘son of God’ in the mouth of a Roman could mean little more than St. Luke’s ‘just man.’ But the expression ‘son of God’ might be suggested by the ‘Father’ in our Lord’s last cry.

Literature.—Ramsay’s Rom^{. [Note: Roman.]} Autiq. s.v.; St. George Stock’s Caesar de B. Gall. pp. 208–215; J. E. B. Mayor’a Juvenal, notes on passages cited above.

Marcus Dods.

CENTURION.—A centurion was a Roman military officer, corresponding in the number of infantry commanded by him (100) to the modern ‘captain,’ but in his status like our non-commissioned officers. The passage to the higher ranks was even more difficult in his case than it is amongst our non-commissioned officers. However, the chief centurion of a legion. known as the ‘centurion of the first (chief) pike,’ was sometimes promoted to the equestrian order. The Capernaum centurion (Mat 8:5-13, Luk 7:2-10) was probably in Herod’s army, not in the Roman army strictly so called. Some of those mentioned in the NT were on special service in command of their units, and separated from the cohorts or legions of which they formed a part.

A. Souter.

An officer in the Roman army in command of a body of men, numbering from 50 to 100; although not a commissioned officer in the modern sense, he corresponds somewhat to the present captain. Centurions are mentioned five times in the New Testament: Matthew 8 and 27; Acts 10, 21, and 27.

(Lat. Centurio, Gr. kentyrion, ekatontarkos, ekatontarkys).A Roman officer commanding a century or company, the strength of which varied from fifty to one hundred men; But in the Vulgate and the D.V. the term is also applied to an officer of the Hebrew army. In New Testament times there were sixty centurions in a legion, two to the maniple and six to the cohort. They were not all of equal rank. The centurion who commanded the first of the two centuries composing the maniple ranked above the commander of the second; the first centurion of the first maniple (triarii) of the cohort was higher than the first centurion of the second (principes), and he higher than the ranking centurion of the third (hastati), etc. There was also precedence of rank according to the number of the cohort. The chief centurion in the legion was the primipulus or first centurion of the triarii of the first cohort. He had charge of the legion’s eagle, assisted at the councils of war, and in the absence of a superior officer took command of the legion. The auxiliary cohorts had six or ten centurions according as they consisted of 500 (cohortes quingenariae) or 1000 men (cohortes milliariae). These were inferior to the legionary centurions. The centurions carried as insignia of their rank a staff made of a vine-branch, with which, on occasion, they chastised their men; whence vitis (vine) was used to designate their centurionship. Ordinarily they could rise no higher than the rank of primipulus and at the expiration of their term of service they retired into private life. With the grant of land they received and with what they acquired during the wars they were usually well off. The primipili often became wealthy enough to gain entrance into the equestrian order. The post of centurion, it should be noted, was not, as a rule, held by men of family, though occasionally a young man of rank aspiring to a higher military career served first as centurion in a legion.Of the two centurions mentioned in the Gospels only one was a Roman officer. He who asked Our Savior to cure his servant and whose faith the Savior so highly commended (Matthew 8:5 sq.; Luke 7:2 sq.), though a gentile, belonged to the army of Herod Antipas, since Capharnaum lay in this Prince’s territory. The tetrarch’s army was probably organized after the manner of the Roman auxiliary troops. The other, who commanded the detachment of soldiers at the Crucifixion (Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39,44, Luke 23:47) was of course an officer of the Imperial cohort stationed at Jerusalem (Acts 21:31). In the Acts two centurions are mentioned by name, Cornelius, centurion of "the Italian band" or cohort, the first gentile admitted into the Church (Acts 10:1 sq.) and Julius, centurion of the "band Augusta", who brought St. Paul to Rome (Acts 27:1, etc.). Others are spoken of in connection with the Apostle’s arrest and transfer to Caesarea (Acts 21:32, 22:25, 23:23). Since no legion was stationed in Palestine before the time of Vespasian, these centurions all belonged to auxiliary cohorts. For this reason it was unlikely that either Cornelius or Julius was a member of the patrician family whose name he bore; both were probably the sons of freedmen. In a number of places in the Old Testament centuriones stands in the Vulgate for sare me’oth ("captains of hundreds"), once [I Sam. (I K.), viii, 12] even for sare hamishshim ("captains of fifty"), though here the agreement of the Septuagint with the Vulgate would seem to show that the Hebrew text is defective. In several of these places the D.V. has "centurions", but in the others "captains", "captains of" or "over hundreds"; in two cases (Exodus 18:21, 25) "rulers of" or "over hundreds". The centuriones of Ex., xviii, 21, 25, Num., xxxi, 14, etc., Deut., I, 15 were both civil and military officers.----------------------------------- Smith, Dict. Gr. and Rom. Antiq. (London, 1901), I, 787, 790; Mommsen, Nomina et Gradus Centurionem, in Ephemer. Epigraph. (1879), 226-245; Mueller, Die Rangordnung und das Avancement d. Centurionem, in Philologus (1879), 126-149; Desjardins, in Melanges Graux (1884), 676-679; Marquardt, Rom. Staatsverwaltung (2nd. ed.,) 430 sq.; Mommsen and Marquardt, Manuel des Antiqu. Rom. (Paris, 1891), XI, 65, sq. F. BECHTEL Transcribed by Tom Crossett The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IIICopyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

sen-tū´ri-un: As the name implies, ἑκατοντάρχης, hekatontárchēs or ἑκατοντάρχος, hekatontárchos, κεντυρίων, kenturı́ōn, Latin centurio, was the commander of a hundred men, more or less, in a Roman legion. Matthew and Luke use the Greek word while Mark prefers the Latin form, as he does in the case of other words, seeing that he wrote primarily for Roman readers. The number of centurions in a legion was 60, that being at all epochs the number of centuries, although the number varied in the cohort or speı́rǎ. The ordinary duties of the centurion were to drill his men, inspect their arms, food and clothing, and to command them in the camp and in the field. Centurions were sometimes employed on detached service the conditions of which in the provinces are somewhat obscure. Men like Cornelius and Julius (Act 10:1; Act 27:1) may have been separated from the legion to which they properly belonged for the discharge of special duties. They and other centurions mentioned in the Gospels and the Acts (Mat 8:5; Mar 15:39, Mar 15:44, Mar 15:45; Luk 23:47) are represented by the sacred writers in a favorable light. See AUGUSTAN BAND.

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See Army.

(Matt 8)

- The main unit of the highly professional and much-feared Roman army was the 6,000 strong legion under the command of an imperial Legate. It consisted of six cohorts, each under a Tribune, with cohorts divided into "centuries" of approximately 100 soldiers commanded by a Centurion. They had the same reputation as a tough regimental sergeant-major in any modern army. A number of centurions appear in the New Testament, some quite prominently:

In the Gospels:

(1) The centurion in Matthew 8 whose servant was healed by Jesus;

(2) The centurion present at the crucifixion (Matthew 27:54); and

In the Acts of the Apostles:

(3) Cornelius from Caesarea, the first named Gentile to become a Christian through the teaching of the apostle Peter (Acts 10:1);

(4) Those centurions involved in Paul’s arrest and imprisonment in Jerusalem and his journey to Caesarea (Acts 22:25; 23:17,23); and

(5) Julius who escorts Paul to Rome (Acts 27:1)

A centurion was an officer in the Roman army. The name came from the Latin centurio, indicating that originally it was the title for an officer in charge of a hundred soldiers. The favourable references to centurions in the New Testament suggest that they may have been carefully chosen because of their quality of character. Some even became believers in Jesus Christ (Mat 8:5-13; Mat 27:54; Act 10:1-2; Act 23:17-18; Act 27:43).