Evocatus

"Evocatus" (plural "Evocati") was the Latin term for a soldier in the Roman army who had served out his time and obtained a discharge ("missio") but had voluntarily enlisted again at the invitation of the consul or other commander. [Dio Cassius, "Roman History" [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/45*.html#12 45.12] ]

Apparently, there always existed a considerable number of evocati in every army of importance, and when the general was a favorite among the soldiers, the number of veterans who joined his standard naturally increased. The evocati were released, like the vexillarii, from the common military duties of fortifying the camp, making roads, et cetera, [Tacitus, "Annals", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+1.36 1.36] ] and held a higher rank in the army than the common legionary soldiers. They are sometimes written of in conjunction with the equites Romani, [Julius Caesar, "Commentarii de Bello Gallico" [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Caes.+Gal.+7.65 7.65] ] and sometimes classed with the centurions. [Julius Caesar, "Commentarii de Bello Civili", ] They appear to have been frequently promoted to the rank of centurion. Thus, Pompey induced a great many of the veterans who had served under him in former years to join his standard at the outbreak of the civil war with the promise of rewards and the command of centuries. ["ordinum", Julius Caesar, "Commentarii de Bello Civili", ] Not all evocati could, however, have held the rank of centurion, [Ib. ] nor could they belong to certain cohorts in the army. Cicero [Cicero, "Epistulae ad Familiares", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Cic.+Fam.+3.6 3.6 §5] ] speaks of a "Praefectus evocatorum", [Cicero, "Epistulae ad Familiares", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Cic.+Fam.+15.4 15.4 §3] ; Julius Caesar, "Commentarii de Bello Civili" ; Suetonius, "Lives of the Twelve Caesars": "Augustus" [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus*.html#56 56] ; Justus Lipsius, "De Militia Romana 1.8] an officer in charge of the evocati.

The name "evocati" was also applied to a select body of young men of the equestrian order who were appointed by Emperor Domitian to guard his bedchamber. [Suetonius, "Lives of the Twelve Caesars": "Domitian", [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Domitian*.html#10 10] ] This body is supposed by some writers to have existed under succeeding emperors and to have been the same as that consisting of those known as "Evocati Augusti". [Hyginus, "de Lim." p209; Johann Caspar Orelli, "Inscript." No. 3495, 153]

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"This article incorporates public domain text from "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities" by William Smith, 1875"

From the HBO TV series Rome, Lucius Vorenus is initiated into the evocati by an elderly priest, who performs an elaborate ceremony at the Temple of Mars.

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