Accensi

In the later Roman Republic the term was used for civil servants who assisted the elected magistrates, particularly in the courts, where they acted as ushers and clerks.

Accensi appear to have evolved from the old fifth class of the army under the Etruscan kings when it was reformed by Marcus Furius Camillus.

It is likely that engagements with the Samnites and a crushing defeat at the hands of the Gauls taught the Romans the importance of flexibility and the inadequacy of the phalanx on the rough, hilly ground of central Italy.

[1][2] In the early Camillan system of organisation of the 3rd and 4th centuries BC, men were sorted into classes according to wealth, the accensi being the poorest.

If the hastati failed to break the enemy, they would fall back and let the principes, heavier and more experienced infantry, take over.

[1] As with the lictors, Accensi were usually professional civil servants, providing assistance to the elected magistrates during their term in office.

A depiction of a Roman formation c. 340 BC. Units of hastati form the front of the formation, backed up by lines of principes , triarii and rorarii . The accensi form the rearmost units.