A discens was a soldier of the military of ancient Rome

Military of ancient Rome

The Roman military was intertwined with the Roman state much more closely than in a modern European nation. Josephus describes the Roman people being as if they were "born ready armed." and the Romans were for long periods prepared to engage in almost continuous warfare, absorbing massive losses...

 who was in training to become an immunis

Immunes

Ancient Rome's military was highly advanced for its time, divided into multiple units to maximize efficiency and power. One such unit was the immune class. By definition, the immunes were legionary soldiers who possessed specialized skills, qualifying them to perform duties atypical of a Roman...

, or specialist within the army.

Immunes took up the trades and skills of engineers, field medics, carpenter

Carpenter

A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

s, and craftsmen. However, they were also fully trained and would be expected to fight in the infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

if necessary. The discentes were probably exempted, like the immunes, from standard combat and camp duties since their main occupation would have been time-consuming technical training.

Some known classes include:

• Discens Architecti - Trainee engineer or artillerist.
• Discens Armaturae - Trainee weapons instructor.
• Discens Aquiliferum (or Aquiliferorum) - Trainee eagle standard-bearer.
• Discens Bucinatorem - Trainee trumpeteer.
• Discens Capsariorum - Trainee medical orderly.
• Discens Epibatae - Trainee marine.
• Discens Equitum - Trainee cavalryman.
• Discens Lanchiariorum - Trainee javelin-thrower.
• Discens Mensorem - Trainee surveyor.
• Discens Phalangarium - A soldier training as a phalangarius during the 3rd century AD several experiments were conducted with Macedonian phalanx tactics, apparently requiring special training in weapons handling and drill.
• Discens Signiferorum (or discentes signiferorum) - Trainee standard-bearer.