Ala I Thracum Victrix

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The military diploma of A.D. 133 ( CIL 16, 76 )
The diploma of AD 149 ( CIL 16, 97 )

The Ala I Thracum Victrix [civium Romanorum] ( German  1. Ala of the Thracians the victorious [of the Roman citizens] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is documented by military diplomas.

Name components
  • I : The Roman number stands for the ordinal number, the first ( Latin prima ). Hence the name of this military unit is pronounced as Ala prima ...
  • Thracum : the Thracian . The soldiers of the Ala were recruited from the Thracian people on the territory of the Roman province of Thrace when the unit was established .
  • victrix : the victorious. The addition appears in all military diplomas with one exception.
  • civium Romanorum : the Roman citizen. The soldiers of the unit had been granted Roman citizenship at one point in time. However, this did not apply to soldiers who were accepted into the unit after this point in time. They received Roman citizenship only with their honorable farewell ( Honesta missio ) after 25 years of service. The addition appears in the military diplomas of 159.

Since there is no reference to the addition of milliaria (1000 men) to the name , the unit was an Ala quingenaria . The nominal strength of the Ala was 480 men, consisting of 16 towers with 30 riders each.

history

The Ala was stationed in the provinces of Noricum and Pannonia superior (in that order). It is listed on military diplomas for the years 79 to 163 AD.

The unit was probably set up under Claudius (41-54). The nickname Victrix is likely to have acquired it under Claudius or Vespasian (69-79), possibly during uprisings in Germania or northern Gaul. The first evidence of unity in Noricum is based on diplomas dated 79. In the diplomas, the Ala is listed as part of the troops (see Roman Forces in Noricum ) that were stationed in the province. Another diploma, dated 95, proves unity in the same province.

At an unspecified point in time, the Ala was relocated to the province of Pannonia superior , where it is first proven by a diploma dated 126. The diploma lists the Ala as part of the troops (see Roman Forces in Pannonia ) that were stationed in the province. Further diplomas, dated 133 to 163, prove unity in the same province.

From the diplomas of 159 it can be seen that 25 years earlier an exceptionally large number of recruits had been accepted into the Ala. Since no fighting is known in Pannonia in the period 132/134, a vexillation of the unit was presumably moved to the province of Iudaea to take part in the suppression of the Bar Kochba uprising .

Locations

Locations of the Ala in Noricum were possibly:

Locations of the Ala in Pannonia may have been:

Members of the Ala

The following members of the Ala are known:

Commanders

Others

  • Cotus, a soldier: a diploma of 79 ( RMM 3 ) was issued to him.
  • Dese, a soldier: a diploma of 159 ( RMD 5, 424 ) was issued for him.
  • Gusula, a soldier: a diploma of 79 ( ZPE-146-239 ) was issued to him.
  • Suris, a soldier: a diploma of 159 ( RMD 5, 422 ) was issued for him.

See also

Web links

Commons : Ala I Thracum Victrix  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to Barbara Pferdehirt , the addition sag (ittaria) c (ivium) R (omanorum) in the diploma of 151 ( RMM 32 ) is a mistake by the engraver, as there are other errors in this diploma. On the diploma, the text was prescribed in ink and the engraver should have engraved a SACCR instead of a prescribed VICTR . The diploma of 159 ( AE 2004, 1905 ) is the only one of six diplomas in which the unit is listed for that year in which it bears the addition sag (ittariorum) .
  2. ↑ The soldier Gusula , released in 79, had been recruited at least 25 years earlier.
  3. ↑ According to Werner Eck, it is also conceivable that members of the Ala I Thracum victrix were sent to other units in Iudaea in order to close any gaps that had arisen there as quickly as possible with soldiers who were already trained. The missing personnel in the own ranks was then replaced by new recruits at Ala I Thracum victrix , who could then be trained in peace.
  4. ↑ a b John Spaul assigns Tiberius Claudius Aplo and Tiberius Claudius Vanamius to the Ala I Thracum victrix . The reading of the inscription ( CIL 3, 4244 ) in the Clauss-Slaby epigraphy database is Ala IH (ispanorum) .
  5. ↑ The assignment of the soldier to the unit is uncertain.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barbara Pferdehirt : Roman military diplomas and dismissal certificates in the collection of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum. (=  Catalogs of prehistoric antiquities 37), 2 volumes, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-88467-086-7 Volume 1, p. 94.
  2. ↑ John EH Spaul: Ala The Auxiliary Cavalry units of the pre-Diocletianic Imperial Roman Army. Nectoreca Press, Andover 1994, ISBN 0-9525062-0-3 , pp. 226-227.
  3. ^ Jörg Scheuerbrandt : Exercitus. Tasks, organization and command structure of Roman armies during the imperial era. Dissertation, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau 2003/2004, p. 162 table 6 ( PDF p. 164 ).
  4. ↑ Military diplomas from the years 79 ( RMM 3 , ZPE-146-239 ), 95 ( AE 2009, 993 ), 126 ( RMD 4, 236 ), 133 ( CIL 16, 76 , CIL 16, 77 ), 134 ( RMD 4, 250 ), 138 ( CIL 16, 84 ), 146 ( CIL 16, 178 ), 148 ( CIL 16, 96 ), 149 ( CIL 16, 97 ), 151 ( RMM 32 ), 154 ( CIL 16, 104 ), 154 / 161 ( RMD 3, 174 ), 155/156 ( RMD 5, 416 ), 156/160 ( RMM 42 ), 159 ( AE 2004, 1904 , AE 2004, 1905 , RMD 5, 422 , RMD 5, 423 , RMD 5, 424 , ZPE-181-194 ), 161 ( RMD 3, 176 , RMD 5, 430 , RMD 5, 431 ) and 163 ( RMD 1, 62 ).
  5. ↑ a b Peter Weiß : Two complete constitutions for the troops in Noricum (8 Sept. 79) and Pannonia inferior (27 Sept. 154) In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik . Volume 146 (2004), pp. 239-254, here pp. 245-246.
  6. ↑ Werner Eck : Judäa - Syria Palestine A Province's Confrontation with Roman Politics and Culture , Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-16-153026-5 , pp. 236-237.