Vision

The cubicula assigned to Constantine was barely large enough to contain a sleeping pallet which could be rolled up in the daytime, enlarging the living space somewhat and the military gear the slave shortly brought him. Pegs had been set into the walls upon which to hang the gear and a closet at one side afforded room for the clothing he had brought. A basin of earthenware stood upon a table in the comer, and beside it a bucket in which water could be carried from a nearby fountain filled by a pipe connected to the aqueduct bringing water into Nicomedia from a lake in the hills.

Constantine had no illusions about the program upon which he was embarking. At the age of seventeen, strong and healthy Roman youths undertook an obligation for military service which they bore with time out, in periods of peace until they were sixty. The last fifteen years of service were usually devoted to garrison duty, though not always in the neighborhood of their homes. Campaigns in the north were largely carried out in summer, so a soldier was often at home during the cold weather and obliged to fend for himself.

Outer garment by day and blanket by night

As an officer candidate, or cadet, Constantine could look forward to a somewhat less rigorous life than the common soldier, if he won his commission at the end of the training period. Once commissioned, he would have his own servant and sleep in a tent during campaigns, while the common soldier merely rolled up under a shelter of boughs, if he were lucky, in the heavy cloak that was both outer garment by day and blanket by night. But commissioned or not, he would share the food of the legions, unless he was fortunate enough to have private funds for purchasing something better. And even though an officer, he could not escape the rigors of a campaign and the dangers of battle.

Since he had learned to walk, Constantine had followed the routine prescribed by custom for young Romans, with emphasis upon running, jumping, climbing, and swimming. In Naissus, these activities had largely been pursued in friendly competition with his fellows, both in school and out. But now that he was enrolled for actual military training, he knew the program would be far more rigorous.

His initial military equipment was much less, however, than the some seventyfive pounds of weight carried by a soldier on the march, consisting of weapons, axe, spade, shield, armor, helmet, scythe, cooking pot, rations for a week or longer, and two stout palisades, or sharpened staves. The latter not only formed part of the framework upon which the pack was carried but were also used in building breastworks and other fortifications, as well as setting up a wall of wood around a night’s encampment.

Read More about Penetrating gray eyes of the Master at Arms