 It appears that the navy was considered to be slightly less prestigious than the "auxilia" but, like the "auxilia", troops could gain citizenship on discharge upon retirement.In terms of structure, each ship was staffed by a group of men approximately equivalent to a century, with ten ships forming a naval squadron.Through the final years of the 1st century AD, the legions remained the backbone of the Roman army, although the "auxilia" in fact outnumbered them by up to half as much again.