Cohors Aelia Expedita

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The Cohors Aelia Expedita [milliaria] ( German  Aelian cohort of lightly armed men [1000 men] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is evidenced by an inscription.

Name components

  • Aelia : The honorary title refers to Antoninus Pius , whose full name as Roman Emperor Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius is. Of the total of nine cohorts with this name affix, the Cohors Aelia Expedita and the Cohors I Aelia Singularium are the only two that received this designation from Antoninus Pius.
  • Expedita : the soldiers of the unit were lightly armed. The addition may go back to scouts (Latin exploratores ) who were included in the cohort.
  • milliaria : 1000 men. Depending on whether it is an infantry cohort ( Cohors milliaria peditata ) or a mixed association of infantry and cavalry ( Cohors milliaria equitata ), the nominal strength of the unit was either 800 or 1040 men. The addition does not appear in the inscription, but since the one known commander was a tribune , this is assumed.

Since there is no reference to the addition of equitata (partially mounted) to the name , it can be assumed that it is a pure infantry cohort ( Cohors milliaria peditata ). The nominal strength of the unit was therefore 800 men, consisting of 10 centuries of infantry with 80 men each.

history

The cohort may have been formed after the suppression of an uprising in Mauritania during the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161).

Locations

The locations of the cohort are not known. The only known inscription that can be safely assigned to the unit was found in Caesarea in the province of Mauretania Caesariensis . Another inscription, possibly attributable to the cohort, was found in Albulae ( CIL 8, 21666 ).

Commanders

A commander of the unit, P. Aelius Marcianus is known by the inscription. He was in the rank of tribune .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Paul A. Holder: Auxiliary units entitled Aelia In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik . Volume 122 (1998), pp. 253-262, here pp. 253, 257/58 ( PDF ).
  2. ↑ RW Davies: A LOST INSCRIPTION FROM AUCHENDAVY. (PDF 261 KB) www.euppublishing.com, p. 2 (104) , accessed on January 24, 2017 (English).