Cohors I Hamiorum (Britannia)

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The tombstone of the archer from Vercovicium
The inscription fragment of Agrippa

The Cohors I Hamiorum [sagittariorum or sagittaria] ( German  1st cohort from Hama [the archers] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is evidenced by military diplomas and inscriptions.

Name components
  • 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 ...
  • Hamiorum : from Hama . The soldiers of the cohort were recruited from the city of Hama and the surrounding area when the unit was set up.
  • sagittariorum or sagittaria : the archer. The addition appears in the military diplomas from 122 to 132 and an inscription.

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 Britannia . It is listed on military diplomas for the years 122 to 158 AD.

There are various conjectures about the early history of the unit. The first evidence of unity in Britain is based on diplomas dated 122. The diplomas list the cohort as part of the troops (see Roman Forces in Britannia ) that were stationed in the province. Further diplomas, dated 124 to 158, prove unity in the same province.

The last reliable evidence of unity is based on inscriptions that are dated to 163/166. It is possible that the cohort took part in the battle of Lugdunum on the side of Clodius Albinus in 197 and was destroyed in the process.

Locations

Cohort locations in Britain may have been:

  • Bar Hill : three inscriptions were found here.
  • Magnis ( Carvoran ): several inscriptions have been found here.
  • Vercovicium (Housesteads): the depiction of an archer on an (unlabeled) tombstone was found here.

The cohort was initially stationed in Magnis, where it is found 136/138. She was relocated to Bar Hill (on Antonine Wall ) at an unspecified time , but was again stationed in Magnis by 163/166 at the latest.

Members of the cohort

The following members of the cohort are known:

Commanders

Others

  • Iul (ius) Ca [], a centurion ( RIB 1816 )
  • Iul (ius) Pollio ( RIB 1783 )
  • Longinus, a foot soldier: the diploma of 132 was issued to him.

See also

Web links

Commons : Cohors I Hamiorum  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

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. ↑ According to Anthony Birley and David John Marchant, the Cohors I Hamiorum was the only unit of archers stationed in the province of Britannia .
  2. ↑ Paul Holder assumed that the cohort was part of the invading army that began to conquer Britain around AD 43. Anthony Birley thinks it is conceivable that the unit took part in Trajan's Dacer wars and then remained stationed in the Danube region until it came to Britain around 118 together with the new governor, Quintus Pompeius Falco .
  3. ↑ The dating of the inscription ( RIB 1791 ) is controversial. According to Anthony Birley, 169/176 or 180/192 are possible, the RIB, however, gives 197/217. If Donatianus was the unit's commander (see below), the cohort might have been stationed in Britain around 197/217.
  4. ↑ According to Anthony Birley, the unit could be used relatively quickly from their camp Magnis as support for other units along Hadrian's Wall .
  5. ↑ According to David John Marchant, this is the only representation of an archer from Roman times that has been found on the territory of the former province of Britannia . Presumably the archer pictured was therefore a soldier in the Cohors I Hamiorum .
  6. ↑ The assignment of Donatianus to the Cohors I Hamiorum is controversial.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Inscription with sagittariorum or sagittaria ( RIB 1778 )
  2. ^ A b John Spaul , Cohors², pp. 401-402, 408-409.
  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. 157 Table 1 ( PDF ).
  4. ^ Paul A. Holder : A Roman Military Diploma from Ravenglass, Cumbria. In: Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. Volume 79, number 1 (1997), pp. 3–42, here p. 16 ( PDF ).
  5. ↑ Military diplomas of the years 122 ( AE 2008, 800 , CIL 16, 69 ), 124 ( CIL 16, 70 ), 127 ( RMD 4, 240 , ZPE-162-225 ), 132 ( ZPE-174-189 ), 135 ( CIL 16, 82 ) and 158 ( RMD 5, 420 ).
  6. ↑ Inscriptions ( RIB 1792 , RIB 1809 )
  7. ^ A b c Anthony Birley : The cohors I Hamiorum in Britain In: ACTA CLASSICA LV (2012), pp. 1–16, here pp. 3, 8–10, 13, 15–16 ( online ).
  8. ↑ Inscriptions from Bar Hill ( RIB 2166 , RIB 2167 , RIB 2172 )
  9. ↑ Inscriptions from Magnis ( RIB 1778 , RIB 1780 , RIB 1783 , RIB 1791 , RIB 1792 , RIB 1809 , RIB 1810 , RIB 1816 , RIB 1818 , RIB 1820 )
  10. ↑ David John Marchant: Roman weaponry in the province of Britain from the second century to the fifth century AD. Dissertation, University of Durham 1991, Volume II, pp. 9, 16-17 ( PDF ).
  11. ↑ Werner Eck , Paul Holder, Andreas Pangerl: A Diploma for the Army of Britain in 132 and Hadrian's Return to Rome from the East In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik , Volume 174 (2010), pp. 189-200, here pp. 195-196 ( online ).