Cohors XII Palaestinorum

The Cohors XII Palaestinorum [Severiana Alexandriana] ( German 12th cohort from Syria Palaestina [the Severian Alexandrian] ) was a Roman auxiliary unit . It is documented by a papyrus .

Name components

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

XII : The Roman number stands for the ordinal number the twelfth ( Latin duodecima ). Hence the name of this military unit is pronounced as Cohors duodecima ...

Palaestinorum : from Syria Palestine . When the unit was set up, the soldiers of the cohort were presumably recruited in the Roman province of Syria Palestine .

Severiana Alexandriana : the Severian Alexandrian. An honorary title that refers to Severus Alexander (222-235).

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 probably set up under either Septimius Severus (193-211) or Severus Alexander (222-235). The only evidence of unity is based on a papyrus found in Dura Europos in the province of Mesopotamia , which is dated to AD 232.

Locations

Cohort locations in Mesopotamia may have been:

Qatna: the papyrus shows that the unit had its winter camp in Qatna (on the Chabur ).

Members of the cohort

The papyrus represents a marriage contract between a soldier of the unit named Aurelius Alexander and an Aurelia Marcellina who was the widow of another soldier.

Remarks

↑ Peter M. Edwell thinks it is possible that the unit was set up for Severus Alexander's campaign against the Persians. According to Thomas Tews, the Cohors XII Palaestinorum was part of a series of cohorts that were excavated in various regions under Septimius Severus; this series probably also included the Cohors IX Maurorum and the Cohors XX Palmyrenorum .

Individual evidence

↑ Kai Juntunen: The Origin of Cohors IX Maurorum and the Severan Frontier of Mesopotamia In: Limes XXII. Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies (Ruse, Bulgaria, September 2012), Sofia 2015, pp. 419–423, here p. 419 ( online ).
^ ^A ^b Peter M. Edwell: Between Rome and Persia: The middle Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Palmyra under Roman control , Routledge, 2008, p. 164.
↑ Thomas Tews: The legions and auxiliary troops under the Severern In: B. Pferdehirt - M. Scholz (Ed.), Citizenship and Crisis. The Constitutio Antoniniana in 212 AD and its domestic political consequences. Book accompanying the exhibition in the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum September 20, 2012 to January 1, 2013, Mosaiksteine 9 (Mainz 2012), 2012, pp. 41–44, here p. 43 ( online ).
^ Nigel Pollard: Soldiers, Cities, and Civilians in Roman Syria , The University of Michigan Press, 2000, p. 157.

[GE1-4] Peter M. Edwell thinks it is possible that the unit was set up for Severus Alexander's campaign against the Persians. According to Thomas Tews, the Cohors XII Palaestinorum was part of a series of cohorts that were excavated in various regions under Septimius Severus; this series probably also included the Cohors IX Maurorum and the Cohors XX Palmyrenorum .

[kj-1] Kai Juntunen: The Origin of Cohors IX Maurorum and the Severan Frontier of Mesopotamia In: Limes XXII. Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies (Ruse, Bulgaria, September 2012), Sofia 2015, pp. 419–423, here p. 419 ( online ).

[pe-2] A ^b Peter M. Edwell: Between Rome and Persia: The middle Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Palmyra under Roman control , Routledge, 2008, p. 164.

[tt-3] Thomas Tews: The legions and auxiliary troops under the Severern In: B. Pferdehirt - M. Scholz (Ed.), Citizenship and Crisis. The Constitutio Antoniniana in 212 AD and its domestic political consequences. Book accompanying the exhibition in the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum September 20, 2012 to January 1, 2013, Mosaiksteine 9 (Mainz 2012), 2012, pp. 41–44, here p. 43 ( online ).

[np-5] Nigel Pollard: Soldiers, Cities, and Civilians in Roman Syria , The University of Michigan Press, 2000, p. 157.