Note 565 — Chapter IV · THE CENTURIES AND THE CLASSES
Reading edition
There were four legions each with 4000 infantry and 300 horse at the opening of the First Punic War; Polyb. i. 16. 2. Four legions fought against Pyrrhus at Asculum, 279; Dion. Hal. xx. 1. This was the normal number for the Samnite wars; cf. Mommsen, Röm. Staatsr. iii. 477.