Cohors VII Gallorum

The Cohors VII Gallorum [pia fidelis] [equitata] [Gordiana] ( German  7th cohort of the Gauls [loyal and faithful] [partly mounted] [the Gordian] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is evidenced by military diplomas and inscriptions.

Name components

• Cohors : The cohort was an infantry unit of the auxiliary troops in the Roman army .

• VII : The Roman number stands for the ordinal number the seventh ( Latin septima ). Hence the name of this military unit is pronounced as Cohors septima ...

• Gallorum : the Gaul . The soldiers of the cohort were recruited from the various tribes of the Gauls in the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis when the unit was established .

• pia fidelis : loyal and loyal. The honorary designation was probably bestowed by Trajan during the Second Dacian War . The addition appears in an inscription.

• equitata : partially mounted. The unit was a mixed association of infantry and cavalry. The addition appears in an inscription.

• Gordiana : the Gordian. A title of honor that refers to Gordian III. (238-244) refers. The addition appears in an inscription.

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 Moesia , Moesia inferior, and Syria (in that order). It is listed on military diplomas for the years AD 75 to 156/157.

The unit may have participated in the Jewish War . She probably came to the lower Danube region in 69 with Gaius Licinius Mucianus and then stayed there.

The first evidence of unity in Moesia is based on a diploma dated 75. In the diploma, the cohort is listed as part of the troops (see Roman Armed Forces in Moesia ) that were stationed in the province. Further diplomas, dated from 77/78 to 114, prove the unit in the same province (or from 92 in Moesia inferior ).

At an unspecified point in time, the cohort was moved to Syria , possibly under Trajan for his Parthian War or due to the Bar Kochba uprising under Hadrian . The first evidence of unity in the province is based on an inscription dated 138. A diploma has shown it for the first time in 153 Syria . In the diploma, the cohort is listed as part of the troops (see Roman forces in Syria ) that were stationed in the province. Another diploma, dated 156/157, proves unity in the same province.

The last evidence of the cohort is based on an inscription dated 241/244.

Locations

Cohort locations in Syria may have been:

• Hatne: two inscriptions were found here.

Members of the cohort

The following members of the cohort are known:

Commanders

[C] laudius []: he is named on the diploma of 109 as a commander. Gaius Iulius Corinthianus, a prefect ( CIL 3, 1193 ); he was also the Tribune of the Cohors I Britannica and Prefect of the Ala I Hispanorum Campagonum .

Marcus Macrinius Avitus Catonius Vindex , a prefect Gaius Iulius Capito : he is named on the diploma of 92 as a commander. Publius Helvius Pertinax , a prefect

Others

Macrinus, a horseman: the diploma of 92 was issued to him.

Marius Celsus, a soldier ( CIL 3, 7548 )

See also

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

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 Constantin C. Petolescu, Antoniu-Teodor Popescu, Macrinus, the recipient of the diploma of 92, probably came from Apamea on the Orontes . He was inducted into the army at 67, presumably as the cohort was recruiting in areas adjacent to the conflict.
2. ↑ The assignment of Vindex to the cohort is controversial.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Paul A. Holder : Exercitus Pius Fidelis: The Army of Germania Inferior in AD 89 In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik . Volume 128 (1999), pp. 237-250, here pp. 242, 249 ( PDF pp. 8, 15 ).
2. ↑ Inscription with pia fidelis ( CIL 3, 132 ).
3. ^ Inscription with equitata ( AE 1963, 52 ).
4. ↑ ^{a b} Inscription with Gordiana ( CIL 3, 132 ).
5. ↑ Military diplomas of the years 75 ( RMD 1, 2 ), 77/78 ( AE 2011, 1118 ), 92 ( ZPE-148-269 ), 99 ( CIL 16, 45 , RMM 8 , ZPE-180-295 ), 99 / 105 ( AE 2009, 1802 ), 105 ( RMM 10 ), 107 ( AE 2009, 1803 ), 109 ( RMD 4, 219 ), 114 ( CIL 16, 58 ), 153 ( AE 2006, 1841 ) and 156/157 ( CIL 16, 106 ).
6. ↑ ^{a b c} John Spaul , Cohors², pp. 151-152, 171.
7. ^ 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. 166, 172 tables 9, 14 ( PDF ).
8. ↑ ^{a b} Constantin C. Petolescu, Antoniu-Teodor Popescu: A new military diploma for the province of Moesia inferior in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik , Volume 148 (2004), pp. 269–276, here pp. 271–272 ( online ) .
9. ↑ Inscription ( CIL 3, 131 ).
10. ↑ inscriptions Hatne ( CIL 3, 131 , CIL 3, 132 ).
11. ^ 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 p. 284 ( online ).