Ala Indiana

The tombstone of Comnis ( AE 2014, 940 )

The Ala Indiana [Gallorum] [pia fidelis] [Antoniniana] ( German Ala des Indus [the Gauls ] [loyal and loyal] [the Antoninian] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is evidenced by military diplomas and inscriptions.

Name components

Indiana : of the Indus. The unit was set up by Iulius Indus , a member of the Treveri tribe .

Gallorum : the Gaul . The addition occurs in the military diplomas from 129 to 134.

pia fidelis : loyal and loyal. Domitian (81-96) gave the Roman armed forces in Germania inferior who remained loyal to him after the suppression of the uprising of Lucius Antonius Saturninus the honorary designation pia fidelis Domitiana . The addition appears in the military diploma of 129 and the inscription ( CIL 11, 6123 ).

Antoniniana : the Antoninian. An honorific designation that refers to Caracalla (211-217) or Elagabal (218-222). The addition appears in the inscription ( AE 2001, 1544 ).

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 Germania and Britannia . It is listed on military diplomas for the years 95/96 to 134 AD.

During the uprising of the Treveri and Haedu in 21 AD under Iulius Sacrovir and Iulius Florus , the association of Iulius Indus was formed from Treverian warriors loyal to Rome. He made a decisive contribution to the suppression of the uprising by attacking the still unorganized followers of Iulius Florus in the Arduenna silva and driving them apart. After the end of the uprising, the cavalry unit remained and was set up as a regular ala in Upper Germany .

In 43 AD she took part in the conquest of Britain. Preserved gravestones of members of the unit suggest that she was stationed in Corinium Dobunnorum , now Cirencester .

As part of the military restructuring of Lower Germany after the Batavian uprising , the ala came to the Rhine to secure the Lower German Limes . There she was probably stationed in Buruncum near Cologne . After the suppression of the uprising of Saturninus in 89 AD, she was awarded the honorary title pia fidelis by Domitian, along with all other associations in the Germania Inferior .

In the 2nd and 3rd centuries the unit was again in Upper Germany, where it was probably stationed in Mogontiacum (Mainz). In late antiquity , the trace of the Ala Indiana is lost .

Locations

Locations of the Ala in Britannia may have been:

Corinium Dobunnorum : Dannicus' tombstone was found here.

Locations of the Ala in Germania were possibly:

Buruncum ( Worringen ): The tombstone of Albanius Vitalis was found here.

Members of the Ala

The following members of the Ala are known:

Commanders

Gaius Hedius Verus , a prefect ( CIL 11, 6123 )

Others

Albanius Vitalis, a horseman ( CIL 13, 8519 )
Albanus, a Decurio (RIB 108)
Argiotalus, a horseman ( CIL 13, 6230 )
Barbius, a Decurio ( CIL 13, 8519 )
Celta, a Decurio ( AE 2014, 940 )
Comnis, a rider ( AE 2014, 940 )

Dannicus, a rider (RIB 108)
Fl (avius) Flavianus Aventinus, a Decurio ( CIL 13, 7028 )
Fronto, a horseman ( AE 1929, 130 )
Iul (ius) Paterninus, a Decurio ( CIL 13, 7257 )
L (ucius) Quintionius Severianus, a veteran and former Sesquiplicarius ( AE 2001, 1544 )
M (arcus) Ulpius Telesp (h) orus, a medicus ; he was also a doctor of the Cohors III Asturum .

literature

Joseph Aschbach : About the ala Indiana. In: Yearbooks of the Society of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland. Volume 19, Bonn 1853. pp. 55-63. ( Digitized version )

Web links

Commons : Ala Indiana - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

2525 - ala Indiana. Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB), accessed June 10, 2018 .

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b ^c ^d John EH Spaul: Ala². The Auxiliary Cavalry Units of the Pre-Diocletianic Imperial Roman Army. Nectoreca Press, Andover 1994, ISBN 0-9525062-0-3 , pp. 152-153.
↑ Jan Kees Haalebos : Traian and the auxiliary troops on the Lower Rhine A military diploma of the year 98 AD from Elst in the Over-Betuwe (Netherlands) In: Saalberg Jahrbuch, 2000/50, p. 31–72 , here p. 41– 42 ( online ).
^ ^A ^b Paul A. Holder: Exercitus Pius Fidelis: The Army of Germania Inferior in AD 89 In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik . Volume 128 (1999), pp. 237-250, here pp. 237, 240 ( PDF ).
^ Jörg Scheuerbrandt : Exercitus. Tasks, organization and command structure of Roman armies during the imperial era. Dissertation, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau 2003/2004, pp. 158–159, tables 2–3 ( PDF pp. 160–161 ).
↑ Military diplomas of the years 95/96 ( RMD 5, 336 ), 98 ( RMD 4, 216 ), 101 ( RMM 9 ), 129 ( RMD 2, 90 ) and 134 ( CIL 16, 80 ).
↑ Tacitus , Annals 3.42.
^ Jürgen Kunow : The military history of Lower Germany. In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): The Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia. 1987, p. 52.

[jsp-1] A ^b ^c ^d John EH Spaul: Ala². The Auxiliary Cavalry Units of the Pre-Diocletianic Imperial Roman Army. Nectoreca Press, Andover 1994, ISBN 0-9525062-0-3 , pp. 152-153.

[jkh-2] Jan Kees Haalebos : Traian and the auxiliary troops on the Lower Rhine A military diploma of the year 98 AD from Elst in the Over-Betuwe (Netherlands) In: Saalberg Jahrbuch, 2000/50, p. 31–72 , here p. 41– 42 ( online ).

[pah-3] A ^b Paul A. Holder: Exercitus Pius Fidelis: The Army of Germania Inferior in AD 89 In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik . Volume 128 (1999), pp. 237-250, here pp. 237, 240 ( PDF ).

[js-4] Jörg Scheuerbrandt : Exercitus. Tasks, organization and command structure of Roman armies during the imperial era. Dissertation, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau 2003/2004, pp. 158–159, tables 2–3 ( PDF pp. 160–161 ).

[MD-5] Military diplomas of the years 95/96 ( RMD 5, 336 ), 98 ( RMD 4, 216 ), 101 ( RMM 9 ), 129 ( RMD 2, 90 ) and 134 ( CIL 16, 80 ).

[6] Tacitus , Annals 3.42.

[7] Jürgen Kunow : The military history of Lower Germany. In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): The Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia. 1987, p. 52.