What unit from the Roman Army consisting of centuries enjoyed more prestige than the Roman navy?
Roman navy The Roman navy (Latin: "Classis" , lit. "fleet") comprised the naval forces of the Ancient Roman state. The navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean basin, but it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions. Throughout their history, the Romans remained a primarily land-based people and relied partially on their more nautically inclined subjects, such as the Greeks and the Egyptians, to build their ships. Because of that, the navy was never completely embraced by the Roman state, and deemed somewhat "un-Roman".
Alares Alares, in antiquity, are supposed to by some authors to have been a kind of militia or soldiery among the Romans; so called from "ala", a wing, because of their lightness and swiftness in combat.