Cohors I Thracum (Iudaea)

This article covers the Cohors I Thracum stationed in the provinces of Iudaea and Aegyptus . For other units with this name see Cohors I Thracum .

The military diploma of 90 AD ( RMD 5, 332 )

The Cohors I Thracum [equitata] ( German  1st cohort of the Thracians [partly mounted] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is documented by military diplomas and a papyrus .

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 ...

• Thracum : the Thracian . The soldiers of the cohort were recruited from the Thracian people on the territory of the Roman province of Thrace when the unit was established .

• equitata : partially mounted. The unit was a mixed association of infantry and cavalry.

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 Iudaea and Aegyptus (in that order). It is listed on military diplomas for the years AD 86 to 90.

The first evidence of unity in Iudaea is based on a diploma dated 86. In the diploma, the cohort is listed as part of the troops (see Roman Armed Forces in Syria ) that were stationed in the province. Other diplomas, dated 87 to 90, prove unity in the same province.

At an unspecified point in time, the unit was moved to the province of Aegyptus , where it is evidenced by a papyrus dated to 127.

Locations

The unit's locations in Aegyptus were:

• Contrapollonospolis : the unit was stationed here on May 1st, 127, according to a papyrus.

Members of the cohort

The following members of the cohort are known:

C (aius) Antonius Maximus, a custos armorum C (aius) Iulius Marcellus, a Cornicularius Gaius Barga, a soldier Farsuleus, a centurion Longus, a centurion M (arcus) Arrius Antonius

M (arcus) Lucretius Clemens, a horseman Numerius Alexaei, a soldier Rufus, a Decurio Silvanus, a Decurio Sulla, a centurion Tharseas Bammogaei, a soldier

See also

• List of Roman auxiliary units
• Roman forces in Aegyptus
• Roman forces in Syria

Web links

Commons : Cohors I Thracum (Iudaea)  - 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. ↑ The scenario given here assumes that the Cohors I Thracum (Iudaea) can be distinguished from both the Cohors I Thracum (Arabia) and the Cohors I Thracum milliaria .
2. ↑ In Contrapollonospolis on July 8th, 131 the Cohors I Augusta Praetoria Lusitanorum is already recorded .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} John Spaul , Cohors², pp. 353-354, 359-360.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} 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. 136, 173 Table 15 ( PDF ).
3. ↑ Military diplomas of the years 86 ( CIL 16, 33 ), 87 ( SCI-2012-54 , ZPE-170-201 ) and 90 ( RMD 5, 332 ).
4. ↑ ^{a b c} p.diog.1 = HGV P.Diog. 1 = Trismegistos 15712. Papyri.info, accessed on October 16, 2019 (English).