{{Short description|Wealthy equestrian or high-ranking official in ancient Rome}}
'''Ducenarius''' (pl. ''ducenarii'') was a social and military position in ancient Rome. The term ''ducenarius'' means "containing two hundred."
The term was used as far back as the age of Augustus, and it was initially used to refer to wealthy equestrians who possessed at least two hundred thousand sesterces.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cassius Dio, Roman History 55.13 |url=https://lexundria.com/dio/55.13/cy |access-date=2023-04-16 |website=lexundria.com}}</ref> By the time of the Late Roman Empire it was the name of an equestrian rank, as well as a type of non-commissioned officer in the Roman military.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Watson |first1=George Ronald |last2=Campbell |first2=Brian |date=2015-12-22 |title=ducenarii |url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-2311 |access-date=2023-04-16 |website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.2311|isbn=978-0-19-938113-5 }}</ref> During this period, former ducenarii could still retain the title, and people who never held the office could gain the title. It also became a rank used by the civilian courier service known as the ''agentes in rebus''.
While a ducenarius was originally an officer within the ranks of the ''domesticus'', by the third century CE, the title was used to describe any high-ranking official in the Roman government.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444338386 |title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History |date=2013-01-21 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-4051-7935-5 |editor-last=Bagnall |editor-first=Roger S |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah19067.pub2 |s2cid=246027280 |editor-last2=Brodersen |editor-first2=Kai |editor-last3=Champion |editor-first3=Craige B |editor-last4=Erskine |editor-first4=Andrew |editor-last5=Huebner |editor-first5=Sabine R |editor-link5=Sabine R. Huebner }}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Ancient Roman titles Category:Military ranks of ancient Rome Category:Domestici