Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum
The Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum [sagittaria] [milliaria] ( German 1st Aelian cohort of javelin throwers [archers] [1000 men] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is documented by military diplomas.
Name components
- Aelia : The honorary designation refers to Emperor Hadrian , whose full name is Publius Aelius Hadrianus . A total of 9 cohorts with this suffix are known; 7 the designation Aelia was given by Hadrian and 2 by Antoninus Pius .
- Gaesatorum : [the] javelin thrower . The soldiers of the cohort were during installation of the unit in the field of Roman provinces Raetia and Gaul recruited from the tribes for their use of Gaesums were famous, a union peers. (see also Gaesati )
- sagittaria : [the / from] archers. In the military diplomas the abbreviation sag is given. The addition appears in the military diplomas of 133 ( CIL 16, 76 , CIL 16, 77 ) and 161 ( AE 1994, 1393 , AE 2001, 1640 ) for the province of Pannonia superior .
- 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.
Since there is no reference to the addition of equitata (partially mounted) to the name , it can be assumed that it is a pure infantry cohort ( Cohors milliaria peditata ). The nominal strength of the unit was therefore 800 men, consisting of 10 centuries of infantry with 80 men each.
history
The first evidence of unity in the province of Pannonia superior is based on a military diploma dated to the year 126 AD. In the diploma, the cohort is listed as part of the troops (see Roman Armed Forces in Pannonia ) that were stationed in Pannonia superior under the governor Lucius Cornelius Latinianus .
The recruitment of the 126 dismissed soldiers must then have taken place at 101; H. the unit existed before Hadrian's reign. For the beginnings of the unit there are therefore the following assumptions:
- the cohort was established under Trajan and received the honorary title of Aelia under Hadrian when the unit excelled in combat.
- the cohort was set up under Hadrian. The 126 discharged soldiers formed the core (cadre) of this new unit when it was set up.
- it could originally have been a numerus gaesatorum that was set up under Trajan for the Dacian wars. Under Hadrian this unit was then upgraded to a cohort.
Further military diplomas, dated 133 (see section Uncertainties ), 134 and 161, prove the unity in Pannonia superior under the governors Cornelius Proculus and Marcus Nonius Macrinus .
The first evidence of unity in the province of Dacia Porolissensis is based on a military diploma dated to the year 133. In the diploma, the cohort is listed as part of the troops (see Roman Armed Forces in Dacia ) that were stationed in Dacia Porolissensis under the governor Flavius Italicus . Other military diplomas dated 151, 154, 161 and 164 demonstrate unity in the same province.
Temporal sequence
The chronological order of the military diplomas (and thus of the provinces in which the cohort was stationed) is as follows:
- 126: Pannonia superior
- 133: Dacia Porolissensis , as Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum (see section Uncertainties )
- 133: Pannonia superior, as Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum sagittaria
- 134: Pannonia superior
- 151: Dacia Porolissensis
- 154: Dacia Porolissensis
- 161: Dacia Porolissensis, as Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum (see section Uncertainties )
- 161: Pannonia superior, as Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum sagittaria
- 164: Dacia Porolissensis
Locations
Locations of the cohort in the provinces of Pannonia superior and Dacia Porolissensis are not known.
Commanders
No commanders of the unit are known.
Uncertainties
Military diplomas from 133
The reading of a unit listed on the military diplomas of 133 is controversial. The name can be taken as I Ael (ia) Gaes (atorum) (milliaria) sag (ittariorum) ( CIL 16, 76 , CIL 16, 77 ) or as Cohors I Ael. Caes . (milliaria) say. to be read. Depending on the reading, the unit is then interpreted either as Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum or as Cohors I Aelia Sagittariorum and the two military diplomas are assigned to the preferred unit.
In the diplomas of 133 for Pannonia superior, the cohort is listed as Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum sagittaria . In the diploma of 133 for Dacia Porolissensis, the cohort is listed as Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum . It is not known in which province Unit 133 was first stationed.
Military diplomas from 161
In the diplomas of 161 for Pannonia superior, the cohort is listed as Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum sagittaria . In the diploma of 161 for Dacia Porolissensis, the cohort is listed as Cohors I Aelia Gaesatorum . It is not known in which province Unit 161 was first stationed.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Paul A. Holder: Auxiliary units entitled Aelia In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik . Volume 122 (1998), pp. 253-263, here pp. 253, 258, 261 ( PDF ).
- ↑ a b c d Jörg Scheuerbrandt: Exercitus. Tasks, organization and command structure of Roman armies during the imperial era. Dissertation, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau 2003/2004, pp. 162, 170 ( PDF p. 164 table 6, 172 table 12 ).
- ↑ a b Pannonia superior: Military diplomas of the years 126 ( AE 1995, 1823 ), 133 ( CIL 16, 76 , CIL 16, 77 ), 134 (RMD-04 250) and 161 ( AE 1994, 1393 , AE 2001, 1640 ) .
- ^ Ovidiu Țentea, Florian Matei-Popescu: Alae et Cohortes Daciae et Moesiae. A review and update of J. Spaul's Ala and Cohors In: Acta Musei Napocensis 39-40 / I Cluj-Napoca, 2002-2003 (2004), pp. 259-296, here pp. 281-282 ( online ).
- ↑ Dacia Porolissensis: Military diplomas of the years 133 ( AE 1967, 390 ), 151 ( AE 2001, 1705 ), 154 ( CIL 16, 110 ), 161 ( AE 1994, 1487 ) and 164 ( CIL 16, 185 ).