Cohors II Aurelia Classica

The Cohors II Aurelia Classica ( German 2nd cohort the Aurelian of the fleet members ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is documented by military diplomas.

Name components

Cohors : The cohort was an infantry unit of the auxiliary troops in the Roman army .

II : The Roman number stands for the ordinal number, the second ( Latin secunda ). Hence the name of this military unit is pronounced as Cohors secunda ...

Aurelia : The honorary title refers to Antoninus Pius , whose birth name was Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus .

Classica : The soldiers of the cohort were recruited from members of the fleet (Latin classis ) when the unit was set up .

Since there are no references to the additions to the name milliaria (1000 men) and equitata (partially mounted), it can be assumed that it is a Cohors quingenaria peditata , a pure infantry cohort. The nominal strength of the unit was 480 men, consisting of 6 Centuries with 80 men each.

history

The cohort was stationed in the province of Arabia . It is listed on military diplomas for the years 142-145 AD.

The unit was either reorganized by Antoninus Pius (138-161) after the Bar Kochba uprising or an already existing Cohors classica milliaria was in the last year of Hadrian's reign (117-138) in the Cohors I Aelia Classica and the Split Cohors II Aurelia Classica .

Locations

The locations of the cohort are not known.

Members of the cohort

Members of the cohort are not known.

Remarks

^ According to Peter Weiß, Michael P. Speidel, the soldiers under Antoninus Pius were recruited from the members of one of the provincial fleets that were already stationed in Arabia ; this probably happened in the course of a military reorganization of the province of Arabia . According to Werner Eck, Andreas Pangerl, it is conceivable that an already existing Cohors classica milliaria was split up in 138 after Antoninus Pius was adopted by Hadrian.

Individual evidence

↑ Military diplomas of the years 142 ( ZPE-150-254 ) and 145 (unpublished).

↑ ^a ^b Peter Weiß , Michael P. Speidel : The first military diploma for Arabia In: Journal for papyrology and epigraphy . Volume 150 (2004), pp. 253-264, here pp. 259-263.

↑ Werner Eck , Andreas Pangerl: A diploma fragment from the time of Hadrian, probably issued for a veteran of the province of Arabia in: ZPE, Volume 209 (2019), pp. 258–262, here pp. 260–261 ( online ).

[GE1-4] According to Peter Weiß, Michael P. Speidel, the soldiers under Antoninus Pius were recruited from the members of one of the provincial fleets that were already stationed in Arabia ; this probably happened in the course of a military reorganization of the province of Arabia . According to Werner Eck, Andreas Pangerl, it is conceivable that an already existing Cohors classica milliaria was split up in 138 after Antoninus Pius was adopted by Hadrian.

[MD-1] Military diplomas of the years 142 ( ZPE-150-254 ) and 145 (unpublished).

[pw-2] Peter Weiß , Michael P. Speidel : The first military diploma for Arabia In: Journal for papyrology and epigraphy . Volume 150 (2004), pp. 253-264, here pp. 259-263.

[we1-3] Werner Eck , Andreas Pangerl: A diploma fragment from the time of Hadrian, probably issued for a veteran of the province of Arabia in: ZPE, Volume 209 (2019), pp. 258–262, here pp. 260–261 ( online ).