> The Roman legions used to provide their own arms until Marius
> started enlisting proles. Even after that time, the legionary
> had more status and better equipment than the auxiliary (simply
> because their gear was more expensive).
Even in Imperial times, legionaries had fixed amounts stopped out of their pay to cover the cost of their armour.
The cost of their gear wasn't the only reason for their higher status - a cataphract cavalryman's armour cost a lot more. There were social reasons as well, because legionaries were all citizens and it was posts in the legions that formed part of the normal political career.
Units in the Lunar army seem to come from a much wider range of societies, and I'd expect there to be corresponding differences in equipment and doctrine which don't necessarily have any military reason behind them.
Andrew
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