ITALIAN BAND

A unit of the Roman army in which Cornelius of Caesarea served as a centurion. In the Bible’s only reference to it, Cornelius is said to have been “an army officer of the Italian band, as it was called.” (Acts 10:1) This was probably a cohort, so named to distinguish it from the regular Roman legions. A cohort in full strength consisted of about 1,000 men, that is, about one-sixth the size of a legion. As its name implies, this cohort was probably made up of volunteers mustered in Italy, having Roman citizenship either as freeborn men or as freedmen.

The scripture does not say this Italian band was stationed at Caesarea. It only says that Cornelius, one of its army officers had his home in Caesarea.—Acts 10:1, 2, 22, 24.