A Roman military unit consisting of soldiers who shared a tent; a group of tent-mates in a legion.
From Latin 'contubernium,' derived from 'con-' (together) and 'taberna' (tent). In the Roman army, eight soldiers formed one contubernium, the smallest administrative unit.
A contubernium was the original 'squad'—eight Roman soldiers living and fighting together formed such a tight unit that their loyalty to each other often exceeded their loyalty to Rome itself, which military leaders found both useful and threatening.
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