Cohors IX Batavorum

Fragment of a military diploma from 156/157 AD in the Gäubodenmuseum in Straubing ( CIL 16, 183 )

The Cohors IX (or VIIII ) Batavorum [exploratorum] [milliaria] [equitata] ( German 9th cohort of the Batavians [the scouts] [1000 men] [partly mounted] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is attested by military diplomas and inscriptions.

Name components

Batavorum : The soldiers of the cohort were recruited from the Batavian people when the unit was set up .

exploratorum : the scout or scout. The addition appears in the inscription ( CIL 3, 11918 ).

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. In the military diplomas, the symbol is used instead of milliaria . ${\ displaystyle \ infty}$

equitata : partially mounted. The unit was a mixed association of infantry and cavalry. The addition appears in the inscription ( CIL 3, 11918 ).

The unit was a Cohors milliaria equitata . The nominal strength of the unit was therefore 1040 men, consisting of 10 Centurien infantry with 80 men each and 8 tower cavalry with 30 riders each.

history

Following the power struggles to succeed Emperor Nero (54-68) and the suppression of the Batavian end 70 n. Chr., Wherein the Batavian auxiliaries had placed a dubious behavior of the day was the unit together with its sister associations by Britannia relocated. The troops were last there in Fort Vindolanda . At this location it is documented by several Vindolanda tablets that can be dated to the late 80s and early 90s (period II) and the period from 95 to 105 AD (period III). The tables show that the unit was a Cohors quingenaria in period II and a Cohors milliaria in period III ; d. that is, during this period their nominal strength was increased from 480/600 to 800/1040 men. Recent studies show that the Batavians withdrew from Vindolanda soon after July 16, 105. The locations for the next few years are uncertain.

The first reliable evidence of unity in the Raetia province is based on a military diploma dated to AD 116. In the diploma, the cohort is listed as part of the troops (see Raetisches Heer ) that were stationed in Raetia. Additional military diplomas dated 139/140, 140, 140/150, 147, 151/170, 153, 154/161, 156, 157, 157/161, 160, 161/163, 166 and 167/168 prove unity in the same province.

Another important document for the presence of the Batavians in Raetia is a votive altar for Jupiter that was walled up in the St. Andrew's Church in Weissenburg until 1892 . He names a Marcus Victorius Provincialis as the troop commander ( Praefectus cohortis ) of the Cohors IX Batavorum equitata milliaria exploratorum . The altar is mostly dated to the years from 104 to 106 AD and is considered by many researchers as conclusive evidence that the troops came directly to Raetia after their deployment in Britain. In 1985 the archaeologist Claus-Michael Hüssen expressed the assumption that the Cohors IX Batavorum equitata milliaria exploratorum in the short-term occupied wood and earth fort on the Breit in Weißenburg could have garrisoned it. This 3.2 hectare, single-phase camp existed between AD 98 and 110/120, according to Huss.

The last mentioned is the unit called Cohors novae Batavorum in the Notitia dignitatum under the direction of a tribune for the Batavis site (Passau) as part of the troops that are under the command of the Dux Raetiae .

Locations

The locations of the cohort in Britannia were:

Vindolanda (Chesterholm): Several Vindolanda tablets prove the presence of the cohort in Vindolanda in period II and III. Table II / 155 shows that on April 25 of an indefinite year 343 men were assigned to work in a fabrica . The timing of the withdrawal of the cohort from Vindolanda is uncertain (see section Uncertainties ).

Locations of the cohort in Moesia superior were possibly:

Buridava ( Stolniceni ): (see section uncertainties )

Cohort locations in Raetia may have been:

Batavis ( Passau ): The unit may have been stationed in Batavis between 117/125 and 254; it is also listed in the Notitia dignitatum for this location.
Ruffenhofen : The unit may have been stationed in Ruffenhofen between 118/119 and 175.
Weissenburg Castle : The unit was possibly stationed in Weissenburg between 100/110 and 117/125.
Weissenburg wooden fort

Members of the cohort

The following members of the cohort are known.

Commanders

The commanders had the rank of prefect or tribune .

A. Caecilius Faustinus, a prefect
Flavius Cerialis, a prefect (Tab.Vindol. I, 102-116, II, 225-290)
Flavius Genialis, a prefect (Tab.Vindol. I, 123-125, II, 217-224,263)

M (arcus) Victorius Provincialis, a prefect ( CIL 3, 11918 )
[Titius?] Modestus, a prefect (160 AD)
Τ. Πορκιος Κορνηλιανος, a Χειλιαρχος (or T. Porcius Aelianus, around 200/250) (CIG 3.6771)

Officers and NCOs

Arquitttius, a Optio (Tab.Vindol.II, 129)
Candidus, an option (Table Vindol. II, 148)
Crescens, a centurion (Tab.Vindol. II, 128)
Felicio, a centurion (Tab.Vindol. II, 138)
Flavianus, a centurion (Tab.Vindol. II, 172)

Martinus, a Decurio
Masculus, a Decurio (Tab.Vindol. II, 565)
Priscinus, a centurion (Tab.Vindol. II, 173)
Verecundus, an option (Tab.Vindol. II, 173)
Vitalis, a Decurio (Tab.Vindol. II, 138)

Others

Aventinus, a soldier (Tab.Vindol. II, 172)
Buccus, a soldier (Tab.Vindol. II, 176)
Frontinus, a horseman
Gannallius, a soldier (Tab.Vindol. II, 169)
.... the son of Villmo, the Helvetii, a horseman (160 AD)

Lucius, a soldier
Messicus, a soldier (Tab.Vindol. II, 175)
Victor, a curator

Uncertainties

Contrary to the considerations of the ancient historians Karlheinz Dietz and Karl Strobel , who assumed that the unit had been used directly in Trajan's First Dacian War (101/102 AD), the British ancient historian Anthony R. Birley emphasized that the cohort was only was withdrawn from Vindolanda around 105 to reinforce the armies on the Danube in the Second Dacian War. According to Alan K. Bowman and David Thomas, it is said to be uncertain when the unit left Britain. With this statement, the two ancient historians relied on the correctness of the dating of two brick stamps from the province of Moesia superior , which are said to be 102/106 AD.

These older studies have now been partially obsolete. Anthony R. Birley noted in 2002 that the cohort left soon after July 16, 105 . Bernd Steidl based his ideas presented in 2016 on this statement . However, there is still no clear evidence of where the troops went from Britain. The later period in Raetia from 116 AD on, however, is again certain. The archaeologist and historian Dimitrie Tudor (1908–1982) added two brick stamps that came to light in Bîrseşti in Romania and at the Stolniceni fort at the foot of the Southern Carpathians as C (ohors) · IX [B (atavorum)] (retro) and [C ( ohors)] IX B (atavorum) (retro). and dated it to 102/106 AD. In this sense, John Spaul gave Buridava (Stolniceni) as the location of the troops in the 3rd century. After a detailed examination, Dietz took over Tudor's reading and came to the same conclusion as this one. However, the epigraphist Florian Matei-Popescu contradicted this in 2005. According to his results, the Batavians are said to have been transferred from Britain to Raetia and stayed there. During his investigation he found that only one CI was sufficiently preserved on the brick stamp found in Stolniceni , so that other assignments are also possible. A brick found in Bîrseşti with the stamp CORSMB could also be assigned to the Cohors I Nerviana Augusta milliaria Brittonum . The archaeologist Farkas István Gergő followed Matei-Popescu in this regard and also considered it more likely that the cohort had been moved from Britain directly to Raetia.

As early as 2002, Massimo Biancardi had a somewhat different opinion, according to which the cohort first came to Raetia, but then a vexillation was decoupled from the troop body in order to be deployed in Moesia inferior. Finally, the remaining troops were also moved to Moesia inferior. Steidl saw Biancardi's view as problematic, since the short period of time spoke against a stay in Raetia. The troops would have arrived in Raetien in August 105 at the earliest and are no longer mentioned in the Weissenburg diploma of June 30, 107. Noteworthy in this context is the above-mentioned Jupiter altar from Weißenburg, which names the troops.

According to Steidl, it should also be considered why this special unit should have been sent to the front late after the carefully planned and long-started offensive in Dacia. As Matei-Popescu pointed out in 2005, the two controversial brick stamps, whose reading on the original is apparently no longer possible, can no longer be checked today. So far it is impossible to clarify where the troops were sent to immediately after their deployment in Britain.

Web links

Commons : Cohors IX Batavorum - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Vindolanda Tablets Online. vindolanda.csad.ox.ac.uk, accessed on March 13, 2017 .

literature

Bernd Steidl A military diploma from the vicus of the Ruffenhofen fort on the Raetian Limes. On the dislocation of the cohors VIIII Batavorum milliaria exploratorum in the 2nd century AD. In: Bayerische Prognistorblätter 81, 2016, pp. 147–170 ( online ).
Florian Matei-Popescu: On the presence of the cohort IX Batavorum milliaria equitata in Moesia inferior . In: Acta Musei Napocensis 41-42, 2004-2005, pp. 55-60.
Massimo Biancardi : Per una possibile correzione a CIL III 11918 . In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 140, 2002, pp. 245-251.

Remarks

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Bernd Steidl : A military diploma from the vicus of the Ruffenhofen fort on the Raetian Limes. On the dislocation of the cohors VIIII Batavorum milliaria exploratorum in the 2nd century AD. In: Bayerische Prognistorblätter 81, 2016, pp. 147-170; here: pp. 150, 153, 154.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 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 , pp. 205-206, 215-216

^ 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. 160 table 4 ( PDF p. 162 ).

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Farkas István Gergő: THE ROMAN ARMY IN RAETIA Dissertation, University of Pécs Faculty of Humanities 2015, pp. 141–142, 243–259, 382–387 ( PDF 19.1 MB, pp. 144–145, 246–262, 385–390 ( Memento of the original dated December 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and remove then this note. ). @1@ 2

↑ Military diplomas of the years 116 ( RMD 3, 155 , RMD 4, 229 ), 139/140 ( RMD 3, 164 ), 140 ( RMD 5, 387 ), 140/150 ( CIL 16, 187 ), 147 ( CIL 16, 94 ), 151/170 ( RMD 1, 51 ), 153 ( RMD 1, 46 ), 154/161 ( CIL 16, 117 ), 156 ( CIL 16, 183 ), 157 ( RMD 3, 170 , RMD 4, 275 , RMM 38 ), 157/161 ( RMD 5, 434 ), 160 ( RMD 4, 278 ), 161/163 ( RMD 2, 112 ), 166 ( CIL 16, 121 ) and 167/168 ( RMD 1, 68 ) .

↑ The dating of the military diplomas follows the information in the Clauss-Slaby epigraphic database (EDCS). The details given by John Spaul and Jörg Scheuerbrandt differ for individual diplomas both from one another and from the EDCS (for details see the disc page).

^ ^A ^b Claus-Michael Hüssen : New results of the excavations in the wooden fort of Weißenburg in Bavaria. Weissenburg-Gunzenhausen district, Middle Franconia . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 1985 (1986), pp. 108-109 .; here: p. 108.

^ Notitia dignitatum in partibus Occidentis 35 ( online ).

↑ ^a ^b ^c Alan Bowman, David Thomas: The Vindolanda Writing Tablets (= Tabulae Vindolandenses II), London 1994. pp. 22-24. Vindolanda Tablets Online, accessed July 26, 2017 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d See in the article the section Garrison or Troops as well as the individual references and literature given there.

^ AE 1969/70, 552 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c Florian Matei-Popescu: On the presence of the cohort IX Batavorum milliaria equitata in Moesia inferior . In: Acta Musei Napocensis 41-42, 2004-2005, pp. 55-60. ( online ).

↑ Massimo Biancardi : Per una possibile correzione a CIL III 11918 . In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 140, 2002, pp. 245-251.

[bs-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Bernd Steidl : A military diploma from the vicus of the Ruffenhofen fort on the Raetian Limes. On the dislocation of the cohors VIIII Batavorum milliaria exploratorum in the 2nd century AD. In: Bayerische Prognistorblätter 81, 2016, pp. 147-170; here: pp. 150, 153, 154.

[jsp-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 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 , pp. 205-206, 215-216

[js-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. 160 table 4 ( PDF p. 162 ).