Cohors I Helvetiorum

The inscription of Gaius Sanctinius Aeternus

The Cohors I Helvetiorum ( German 1st cohort of the Helvetians ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is evidenced by inscriptions and brick stamps.

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 ...

Helvetiorum : the Helvetier . The soldiers of the cohort were recruited from the Helvetii people on the territory of the Roman province of Raetia when the unit was established .

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 Germania superior province . It is listed in inscriptions for the years AD 148 to 175/177.

The unit was probably initially stationed in the Heilbronn-Böckingen fort , where it is evidenced by an inscription that is dated to 148; the cohort may have been set up recently. At this location she was assigned the Numerus Brittonum Murrensium .

Around 159/161 the cohort was relocated to one of the forts in Öhringen in the course of a shift of the Limes to the east . The Numerus Brittonum Murrensium will probably have followed its cohort there. In Öhringen, the unit is documented for the last time by two inscriptions that are dated to 175/177. At this location she was assigned the Numerus Brittonum Aurelianensium , which is listed in the inscriptions together with the cohort.

Locations

Since the cohort's stamps came to light in both the Öhringen-West and Öhringen-Ost castles, their direct garrison location on the outskirts of the Vicus Aurelianus (Öhringen) is unknown. Known possible locations of the cohort in Germania superior were:

Heilbronn-Böckingen fort : two inscriptions were found here.
Kastell Öhringen-West: two inscriptions and bricks with the stamp of the unit were found here.
Kastell Öhringen-Ost: The first bricks with the stamp of the unit were found here as early as 1769; others came to light during excavations by the Reich Limes Commission and in the 1950s.

Members of the cohort

The following members of the cohort are known.

Gaius Sanctinius Aeternus , probably a prefect
Gaius Valerius Titus , a centurion of an (unknown) legion

Publius Nasellius Proclianus , a centurion of Legio VIII Augusta
Valerius Citus , a centurion of Legio VIII Augusta

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

↑ The assignment to the unit is presumed, but is not certain.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b John Spaul , Cohors², pp. 174, 184
↑ ^a ^b ^c Marcus Reuter : Studies on the numbers of the Roman Army in the Middle Imperial Era, dissertation, In: Reports of the Roman-Germanic Commission 80, 1999, pp. 359–569, here pp. 442–444, 453.
↑ Hans Schönberger : The Roman fort Öhringen-West (Bürgkastell) . In: Report of the Roman-Germanic Commission 53, 1972/1973, pp. 233–296; here: p. 292.
↑ Inscriptions from Böckingen ( CIL 13, 6472 , CIL 13, 6475 ).
^ Inscriptions from Öhringen ( CIL 13, 6542 , CIL 13, 6543 ).
^ Bricks from Öhringen : stamp COH I HEL ( AE 1897, 00148e , CIL 13, 12442 ).
↑ Christian Ernst Hanßelmann : Continuation of the evidence of how far the Romans' power, in which wars waged with various German peoples, also penetrated into what is now the East Franconian, especially Hohenlohe Land, shown from those in the years 1768, 1769 and 1770. strange Roman monuments and other remnants still further discovered and hitherto unknown. Messerer, Schwäbisch Hall 1774; Pp. 133-134.
^ Gustav Müller , Hans Schönberger: Investigations at the fort Butzbach . (= Limes research 2) Mann, Berlin, 1962, p. 121, footnote 279.

[AN1-9] The assignment to the unit is presumed, but is not certain.

[jsp-1] A ^b John Spaul , Cohors², pp. 174, 184

[mr-2] Marcus Reuter : Studies on the numbers of the Roman Army in the Middle Imperial Era, dissertation, In: Reports of the Roman-Germanic Commission 80, 1999, pp. 359–569, here pp. 442–444, 453.

[Schönberger_1973_292-3] Hans Schönberger : The Roman fort Öhringen-West (Bürgkastell) . In: Report of the Roman-Germanic Commission 53, 1972/1973, pp. 233–296; here: p. 292.

[IN-ST1-4] Inscriptions from Böckingen ( CIL 13, 6472 , CIL 13, 6475 ).

[IN-ST2-5] Inscriptions from Öhringen ( CIL 13, 6542 , CIL 13, 6543 ).

[ZI-ST2-6] Bricks from Öhringen : stamp COH I HEL ( AE 1897, 00148e , CIL 13, 12442 ).

[7] Christian Ernst Hanßelmann : Continuation of the evidence of how far the Romans' power, in which wars waged with various German peoples, also penetrated into what is now the East Franconian, especially Hohenlohe Land, shown from those in the years 1768, 1769 and 1770. strange Roman monuments and other remnants still further discovered and hitherto unknown. Messerer, Schwäbisch Hall 1774; Pp. 133-134.

[Müller_1962_121-8] Gustav Müller , Hans Schönberger: Investigations at the fort Butzbach . (= Limes research 2) Mann, Berlin, 1962, p. 121, footnote 279.