optio

An optio (plural optiones; , from optare, "to choose", because an optio was chosen by his centurion), sometimes anglicized option (though rarely, to avoid confusion with "option"), was a soldier in the Roman army who held a position similar to that of a company's executive officer in modern armies. The optio seems to have held a rank roughly equivalent to that of a modern lieutenant, reflective of his status as the second in command of the century in which he served. The main function of an optio was as an optio centuriae, the second-in-command of a century, although there were many other positions an optio could hold.