Roman officer putting defence group in race (7)
I believe the answer is:
tribune
'roman officer' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'defence group in race' is the wordplay.
'defence group' becomes 'un' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'race' becomes 'tribe' (I've seen this before).
'un' inserted inside 'tribe' is 'TRIBUNE'.
'putting' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tribune that I've seen before include "Ancient Roman official, church dais" , "Classic guardian?" , "Official upholder of the people's rights" , "Senior officer in a Roman legion" , "basilica" .)