Michael Speidel and Fatih Onur on the Magister Draconum

Two good studies on draconarii and the magister draconum...

The complete article from https://www.jstor.org/stable/284203?seq=1 posted here as gif images:

The following is excerpted from 

https://www.academia.edu/49012668/The_Anastasian_Military_Decree_from_Perge_in_Pamphylia_Revised_2nd_Edition:

3) “draconarii, optiones, armaturae, cornicines, tubicines, bucinatores, who obtained such titles, even though they are unfit to fulfil the said services, will not be permitted when they wish or will not be forced when they do not wish to fill the same services” (l. 46-50). This part together with the following section records a regulation concerning some ranks, which were filled by those who had special training and skills. Draconarii (δρακωνάριοι) were the officers, who were standard-bearers stationed in/near the front rank of a unit and went into combat. This required  bravery, so they were selected amongst those soldiers who fulfilled some important tasks and were rewarded with torques.160  

160 Speidel (1985, 286) stated the draconarii were chosen from amongst those soldiers who were rewarded with collars. 

4) “since every sort of corrupt solicitation and sale are inactive, we decree that suitable men should be appointed in accordance with the fitting option, in such a way that draconarii should be placed under the responsibility of the magister draconum; optiones of annonae, which are distributed in kind, under the responsibility of principia; armaturae, cornicines, tubicines and bucinatores under the responsibility of the campidoctor from whatever type of schola” (l. 50-56).

 The word principia is a general term defining the foremost ranks, the front line of soldiers. 168 This term can be identified with primi ordines or perhaps primores. 169 Principia is mentioned together with    tribuni by Ammianus Marcellinus.170 Vegetius (II.7) equated this word with principales milites – an equivalence drawn that is incorrect according to Milner171. This group of soldiers were the officers, who received their orders directly from the tribuni, and their subordinates. They should actually be the centuriones, who were the highest officers in the centuriae, since they were responsible directly for the optiones. Campidoctor was the officer responsible for the training and exercises of the soldiers, e.g. drill instructer. He was hierarchically right after the master centurio. He trained the soldiers, dealt with their organization in the camp and stood in an important position in battle array. In the early inscriptions they appear only in association with praetorian units and to the end of 6th c. only in the infantry.172 It is understood from the Perge inscription that armaturae, cornicines, tubicines and bucinatores were under the responsibility of the campidoctor of the unit, apparently supporting the position of Rance, who concluded that there was one campidoctor, who was one of the senior non-commissioned officers, in the unit and this was not a rank but a post.173 An inscription from Laodiceia Combusta records these officers could be ranked under the title of ordinarius. 174 5) “The magistri draconum, after completing the duration of two years, shall remove their ornaments and shall pass to the title provided to them according to the capacity of the matrix” (l. 56-60). The magister draconum was probably the chief of the draconari. He was ranked just below the tribunus and centuriones. However, it is not known if he directed the draconarii on the battlefield. He might have also been the officer responsible in the schola of draconarii in order to determine who should be included in the schola. This title is recorded in an inscription from Prusias ad Hypium (…μαγίστερος δρακώνον…), but Ameling reports that this title is unclear and that the owner of tomb might have been in charge of the schola draconarium. 175 Speidel, who compared this inscription to a passage from Prudentius176, thinks that the magister draconum and the magister signorum are identical.177 In any case, magister draconum was responsible for the draconarii. The description in the inscription of Perge may give some hints to his occupation. Firstly, according to the list there are ten signiferi (see above p. 158) indicating at least ten centuriae. According to Vegetius those who in the past were termed signiferi were called draconarii in his time.178 These signiferi recorded on Slab C, consequently were probably the draconarii mentioned in texts A and B, from which it is inferred that the magister draconum used to head the scholae of draconarii. This connection is clearer in Text B: (l.49-51) μηδὲ οἱ δρακωνάριοι ἢ οἱ οπτίονες ἢ οἱ <ἀρματοῦροι ἢ> κόρνικες ἢ τούβικες ἢ βουκινάτορες εἰς τὰς σχολὰς τὰ τοιαῦτα ὀνόματα λαχόντες προβένουσιν … (l.55-58) ὥστ(ε) τοὺς δρακωναρίους κινδύνῳ τοῦ μαγίστερος τῶν δρακ[ώνων] … καθιστάνε… Secondly, the draconarii in Prudentius’ poems, who became Christians, demanded that their magistri signorum and tribuni should remove their golden collars (torques). In the inscription of Perge it is stated that the magister draconum had a decoration (τὸ ὀρνάμεντον / ornamentum) representing his dignity. This decoration was probably the golden collar as Ammianus Marcellinus stated that each draconarius had a golden collar.179 In the inscription of Perge, it records that the magister draconum shall pass to the next rank removing this decoration after the specified two years of service.  

178 Veg. 2.7: Signiferi qui signa portant, quos nunc draconarios vocant. 

179 Amm. 20.4.18: torquem quo ut draconarii utebatur