Cohors I Aquitanorum Biturigum

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The Cohors I Aquitanorum Biturigum [civium Romanorum] [equitata] ( German  1st cohort of the Aquitanians of the Biturigen [the Roman citizens] [partially mounted] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is evidenced by military diplomas , inscriptions and brick stamps. In the military diplomas and inscriptions it is referred to (with one exception) as Cohors I Biturigum .

Name components

  • Aquitanorum : the Aquitaine . When the unit was set up, the soldiers of the cohort were recruited from the various Aquitaine tribes in the Roman province of Gallia Aquitania .
  • 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 appears in the military diploma of 129.
  • equitata : partially mounted. The unit was a mixed association of infantry and cavalry. The addition appears in the inscription ( FBW-1977-499 ).

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

history

The cohort was stationed in the provinces of Germania and Germania superior (in that order). It is listed on military diplomas for the years AD 74-134.

The unit was made up of riders from the Celtic people of the Biturigians. A smaller group, the Bituriges Vivisci, settled in the area around Bordeaux ( Burdigala ) at the mouth of the Garonne , while the more important tribe, the Bituriges Cubi, lived around Bourges ( Avaricum ) in the province of Gallia Aquitania . The ancient historian Rainer Wiegels assumed that a large part of the cohort had probably been excavated from the Bituriges Cubi. The Bituriges were obviously known to be excellent horsemen, as inscriptions from the pre-Flavian period suggest. Comprehensive recruiting measures, especially among the Aquitani, took place at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Vespasian (69–79). At that time the Cohors I Aquitanorum Biturigum equitata was probably also recruited.

The first evidence of unity in Germania is based on a diploma dated May 21, 74. In the document, the cohort is listed as part of the troops (see Roman Armed Forces in Germania ) that were stationed in the province. The diploma names the unit as Cohors I Aquitanorum Biturigum , which was probably under the command of the Mainz Legion Command. According to the archaeologist Dieter Planck , the cohort was probably already stationed under Vespasian in the Upper Germanic Rottweil. There it is called Cohors I Biturigum on brick stamps . Military diplomas dated between 90 and 134 still prove the unity in Upper Germany. It seemed to Wiegels that the cohort had abandoned the designation of its area of ​​origin (Aquitanorum) since 90 AD. According to archaeologist Philipp Filtzinger, the cohort remained in Rottweil until the beginning of the 2nd century AD. An altar for Vulcanus , which was dragged to Freiburg im Breisgau and was built into a building in the old town until the 1960s , probably came from there . Since the consecration stone was very likely already built by the cohort during the time of the Flavians (69–96), it can be assumed that, given the long service life of the auxiliary soldiers, many Bituriges were still at the consecration in of the force were active. The subsequent addition to the inscription and its translation comes from Wiegels:

Volcano
aram
coh (ors) I Bitur (igum)
eq (nitata) [cu] r (avit).

Translation: "The mounted first cohort of the Biturigen donated an altar to the volcano."

Probably under Emperor Hadrian (117-138) or already under Emperor Trajan (98-117), the unit was then ordered to Langenhain . After excavations in the camp village of Fort Langenhain, Rainer Wiegels were able to date the bronze weapon shields no. 3 and 4 more precisely and assign them to the reign of Emperor Commodus (180-192). Accordingly, the Cohors I (Aquitanorum) Biturigum equitata could still be found for this period in Langenhain. Wiegels speculated that the troops apparently remained in Langenhain until the Limes Falls . Another recovered label, No. 2, also names a member of the above-mentioned unit after these conclusions. In addition, the weapon label No. 3 (... cohortis I Biturigum turmae ...) conveys the information that the cohort was partially mounted.

Locations

Locations of the cohort in Germania were possibly:

Bricks with the stamp of the unit were found in Arae Flaviae and Langenhain.

Members of the cohort

The following members of the cohort are known.

Commanders

Others

Further cohorts with the designation Cohors I Aquitanorum

There were three other cohorts with this designation:

See also

literature

  • Jörg Scheuerbrandt : Exercitus. Tasks, organization and command structure of Roman armies during the imperial era . Dissertation, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg im Breisgau 2003/2004, p. 159; Table 3.
  • 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. 139-140, 145.
  • Rainer Wiegels : Small military inscriptions . In: Hans-Günther Simon , Heinz-Jürgen Köhler : A crockery depot of the 3rd century. Excavations in the camp village of Fort Langenhain. (= Materials for Roman-Germanic ceramics 2), Habelt, Bonn 1991, ISBN 3-7749-2556-9 , pp. 156-165.
  • Rainer Wiegels: A kidnapped Volcanus altar in Freiburg im Breisgau . In: Find reports from Baden-Württemberg 3, 1977, pp. 498–505.
  • Dietwulf Baatz , Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann : Die Römer in Hessen , Theiss, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3806202672 , p. 456.
  • Ernst Stein , Emil Ritterling : The imperial officials and troops in Roman Germany under the principate. Presented by Ernst Stein using E. Ritterling's estate . Hakkert, Amsterdam 1965, p. 171.
  • Karl Körber: The Roman inscriptions and sculptures found in the years 1914 and 1915 in the antiquity museum of the city of Mainz . In: Mainzer Zeitschrift 10, 1915, pp. 112–114; here: p. 114.

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to John Spaul, Veronianus was a centurion .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b 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. 139-140, 145
  2. ^ 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. 159 table 3 ( PDF p. 161 ).
  3. ↑ Military diplomas of the years 74 ( CIL 16, 20 ), 90 ( CIL 16, 36 , RMD 5, 333 ), 129 ( RMD 2, 90 ) and 134 ( CIL 16, 80 ).
  4. ↑ a b c Rainer Wiegels : A kidnapped Volcanus altar in Freiburg im Breisgau . In: Find reports from Baden-Württemberg 3, 1977, pp. 498–505; here: p. 500.
  5. ↑ see: alae Claudiae novae miscellaneae , CIL 3, 2065 ; equs alae Longinianae , CIL 13, 8092 ; eques alae II Thracum , CIL 8, 21024 .
  6. ^ A b Rainer Wiegels : A kidnapped Volcanus altar in Freiburg im Breisgau . In: Find reports from Baden-Württemberg 3, 1977, pp. 498–505; here: p. 501.
  7. ^ A b Rainer Wiegels : A kidnapped Volcanus altar in Freiburg im Breisgau . In: Find reports from Baden-Württemberg 3, 1977, pp. 498–505; here: p. 505.
  8. ↑ a b c d Niklot Krohn: Volcanus - god of the forge? In: Thomas Stöllner , Gabriele Körlin , Gero Steffens, Jan Cierny (eds.): Man and Mining. People and mining. Studies in honor of Gerd Weisgerber on occasion of his 65th birthday (=  Der Anschnitt , supplement No. 16, 2003; = publications from the German Mining Museum Bochum 114), p. 267.
  9. ↑ Volker crown Mayer: contributions to the social history of the Roman Mainz (=  European university writings 3) Long, Frankfurt, Bern, New York, 1983, ISBN 3-8204-7777-2 , p. 16
  10. ↑ Dieter Planck : Arae Flaviae. New investigations into the history of the Roman Rottweil . Müller & Gräff, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 3-875-32-0611 , p. 40.
  11. ^ Philipp Filtzinger : Roman times . In: Meinrad Schaab , Hansmartin Schwarzmaier (ed.) U. a .: Handbook of Baden-Württemberg History . Volume 1: General History. Part 1: From prehistoric times to the end of the Hohenstaufen. Edited on behalf of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-608-91465-X , pp. 131-190; here: p. 154.
  12. ↑ a b Rainer Wiegels : Small military inscriptions . In: Hans-Günther Simon , Heinz-Jürgen Köhler : A crockery depot of the 3rd century. Excavations in the camp village of Fort Langenhain. (= Materials for Roman-Germanic ceramics 2), Habelt, Bonn 1991, ISBN 3-7749-2556-9 , pp. 156-165; here: p. 163.
  13. ↑ Waffenschildchen No. 3: AE 1992, 1293 .
  14. ↑ Waffenschildchen No. 4: AE 1992, 1294 .
  15. ↑ The "Cohors I Biturigum Aquitanorum equitata" was with Dietwulf Baatz and Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann in Langenhain. See: Dietwulf Baatz, Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann: Die Römer in Hessen , Theiss, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3806202672 , p. 456.
  16. ↑ Waffenschildchen No. 2: AE 1992, 1291 .
  17. ↑ Bronzeschildchen: ( AE , 1992, 1292 , AE , 1992, 1293 , AE , 1992, 1294 , CIL 13, 7436 ).
  18. ↑ Brick stamp : Arae Flaviae ( CIL 13, 12421 , HS 84a , HS 84b ), Langenhain ( CIL 13, 12422 ).