The Auxilia of the Roman Imperial ArmyCheesman, George Leonard
History
The Auxilia of the Roman Imperial Army
Cheesman, George Leonard
Rome -- Army; Rome -- Colonies
When we come to the second century there is no more room for doubt;
for all cohorts and alae on the Pannonian frontier, leaving out of
account, as before, the oriental regiments, local recruiting has become
practically universal. Seventy per cent. of the recruits come from the
two Pannonian provinces, the majority from the Azali and the Eravisci,
tribes which never gave their name to an auxiliary regiment. Even
the Thracian regiments, which might have maintained their original
character without much difficulty, form no exception to the rule. In
Dacia the exceptionally large auxiliary garrison[233] could not be
supported entirely by local levies, but the deficiency was mostly made
up in the nearest available recruiting-grounds of Moesia and Thrace.
A few examples may be adduced from other provinces to show that the
methods employed on the Danube frontier were not exceptional. In
Germania Superior three soldiers of the Alae I and II Flaviae Geminae
describe themselves as Baetasius, Elvetius, and Secuanus, and the
Raetian diploma of the year 107 was granted to a Boian who had served
in the Ala I Hispanorum Auriana.[234] In Africa a soldier of the
Cohors VII Lusitanorum gives ‘castris’ as his place of origin, as do
the majority of the veterans discharged during the second century from
the African legion III Augusta.[235] Concerning the Eastern provinces
we have very little evidence, but it may be noted that of the large
number of regiments raised by Trajan in this part of the Empire the
majority remained stationed in the East throughout the following
century, and there is no reason to suppose that they were not kept up
by local levies.[236]
The recruiting of the legions during the second century seems to have
followed the same lines. The high proportion of men of Legio III
Augusta in Africa who give ‘castris’ as their birthplace has already
been noted. Similarly of 39 soldiers discharged from Legio II Traiana
at Alexandria in 194, 22 come from the ‘castra’, 8 from the Greek
towns in Egypt, and only 9 were not born in the province.[237] Of
133 soldiers discharged in the following year from Legio VII Claudia
stationed at Viminacium, 104 come from Upper or Lower Moesia, and
of the remainder all but one come from the Danubian provinces.[238]
Further evidence on the recruiting-area of the auxilia during this
period can be obtained from another source, the inscriptions of the
Equites Singulares Imperatoris. This corps, which seems to have been
raised towards the end of the first century, possibly by Domitian,[239]
formed thenceforward a part of the imperial guard, and was stationed
at Rome. It was recruited mainly from the same area as the auxiliary
alae, and a certain number of the men were selected from them.[240] On
a hundred epitaphs of members of this corps who recorded their place of
origin, the provinces are represented in the following proportions:[241]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account