Cohors II Thracum (Syria)

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The Cohors II Thracum [civium Romanorum] ( German  2nd cohort of the Thracians [of the Roman citizens] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is documented by military diplomas.

Name components
  • 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 ...
  • Thracum : the Thracian . The soldiers of the cohort were recruited from the Thracian people on the territory of the Roman province of Thrace when the unit was established .
  • 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 occurs in diplomas from 88 to 93.
  • equitata : partially mounted. The unit was possibly a mixed formation of infantry and cavalry.

Since there is no evidence of the addition of milliaria (1000 men) to the name , the unit was either a Cohors quingenaria peditata or a Cohors quingenaria equitata . The nominal strength of the cohort was either 480 men, consisting of 6 centuries of infantry with 80 men each or 600 men (480 infantry and 120 riders), consisting of 6 centuries of infantry and 4 tower cavalry with 30 riders each.

history

The cohort was stationed in Syria Province . It is listed on military diplomas for the years 88 to 93 AD.

The first evidence of unity in Syria is based on a diploma dated 88. In the diploma, the cohort is listed as part of the troops (see Roman Armed Forces in Syria ) that were stationed in the province. Other diplomas, dated 91 to 93, prove unity in the same province.

The further whereabouts of the cohort is unclear.

Locations

The locations of the cohort are not known.

Members of the cohort

Members of the cohort are not known.

See also

literature

  • 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 978-1-84171-046-4

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b According to Peter White , it would also be possible that this is the inscription (in CIL 3, 600 ) listed Cohors II Thracum the Cohors II Thracum (Syria) is not, as commonly believed, the Cohors II Thracum Syriaca . In this case the unit would have been a Cohors quingenaria equitata .
  2. ↑ The scenario given here is based on two cohorts: the Cohors II Thracum (Aegyptus) , which was stationed in the provinces of Iudaea and Aegyptus , and the Cohors II Thracum (Syria) , which was stationed in the province of Syria .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Military diplomas of the years 88 ( CIL 16, 35 ), 91 ( Chiron-2006-221 , RMD 1, 4 ) and 93 ( ZPE-165-219 ).
  2. ↑ John Spaul , Cohors², pp. 353-354, 369-370.
  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. 172 table 14 ( PDF, p. 174 ).
  4. ↑ Peter Weiß : The auxiliaries of the Syrian army from Domitian to Antoninus Pius. An interim balance after the new military diplomas In: Chiron , Volume 36 (2006), pp. 249–298, here p. 275 (footnote 54), 285–286.