Cohors I Aelia Classica (Arabia)

The Cohors I Aelia Classica ( German 1st cohort the Aelic 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 .

I : The Roman number stands for the ordinal number, the first ( Latin prima ). Hence the name of this military unit is pronounced as Cohors prima ...

Aelia : The honorary designation refers to Emperor Hadrian , whose full name is Publius Aelius Hadrianus .

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 Hadrian (117-138) or an already existing Cohors classica milliaria was divided into the Cohors I Aelia Classica and the Cohors II Aurelia Classica in the last year of his reign . The new cohort was probably stationed in the province of Arabia from the beginning and was probably intended as a relief or as a replacement for units that actively participated in the suppression of the Jewish uprising.

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 Hadrian were recruited from members of one of the provincial fleets, probably from the classis Alexandrina or the classis Syriaca ; this probably happened during the Bar Kochba uprising , when there was an urgent need for new soldiers and one had to fall back on the fleet as a personnel reserve. 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↑ Military diplomas of the years 142 ( ZPE-150-254 ) and 145 (unpublished).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 ^c Peter Weiß , Michael P. Speidel : The first military diploma for Arabia in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (ZPE), 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 Hadrian were recruited from members of one of the provincial fleets, probably from the classis Alexandrina or the classis Syriaca ; this probably happened during the Bar Kochba uprising , when there was an urgent need for new soldiers and one had to fall back on the fleet as a personnel reserve. 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] A ^b ^c Peter Weiß , Michael P. Speidel : The first military diploma for Arabia in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (ZPE), 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 ).