Cohors II Cyrrhestarum

The Cohors II Cyrrhestarum [sagittariorum or sagittaria] ( German  2nd cohort from Cyrrhus [the archer ] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is documented by inscriptions.

Name components

• Cyrrhestarum : from Cyrrhus . The soldiers of the cohort were recruited from the city of Cyrrhus and its surroundings when the unit was set up .

• sagittariorum or sagittaria : [the / from] archer.

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

history

The cohort was probably set up in the late reign of the Emperor Augustus and moved to the province of Dalmatia during the Pannonian Uprising ; it probably remained there until it was dissolved. Due to the few surviving inscriptions, the unit probably did not last long; possibly it was already dissolved before Vespasian (69–79).

Locations

Locations of the cohort in Dalmatia were possibly:

• Burnum
• Tilurium

Members of the cohort

The following members of the cohort are known.

Beres, an archer ( CIL 3, 8734 ) C (aius) Iulius Andromachus, a soldier ( AE 1994, 1358 ) C (aius) Iulius Mara, a veteran (around 50/80) ( AE 2009, 1015 ) C (aius) Iulius Theodorus, a soldier (around 51/100) ( AE 1994, 1357 )

Dacnas, a soldier ( AE 1925, 132 ) Heras, a soldier M (arcus) Pytha, a soldier ( CIL 3, 14934 ) Stieu, a soldier ( AE 1961, 303 )

See also

• List of Roman auxiliary units

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Ivan Matijević: Two unpublished inscriptions of the cohors II Cyrrhestarum from Dalmatia In: Diadora 23 Cluj-Napoca, (2009), pp. 35-44, here pp. 38, 41-42 ( online ).
2. ^ ^{A b c} John Spaul: Cohors² The evidence for and a short history of the auxiliary infantry units of the Imperial Roman Army , British Archaeological Reports 2000, BAR International Series (Book 841), ISBN 978-1841710464 , pp. 422, 431.