Comitatenses
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The Comitatenses ( Latin for "companions") together with the Limitanei formed the Roman army of late antiquity .
definition
The name was derived from the sacer comitatus , the "holy entourage" of the emperor, who accompanied him into the field and was at his immediate disposal. The epitaph of a horseman in Thyatira who was stationed in Anchialos in Thrace indicates that the term comitatenses had been in use since the late 3rd century. The first armies of cavalry associations were set up by the soldier emperors during the imperial crisis of the 3rd century . Gallienus (253–268 AD) took the first step towards the creation of a mobile reaction force with the creation of a cavalry army detached from the border army at his special disposal. The strategic reserves of Diocletian and his co-regent Maximian were not yet as numerous as the comitatenses of the 4th century, but were made up of particularly powerful units, most of which were among the elite regions of the Danube Army. Often the only written source for these troops is the Notitia Dignitatum , in which their organization, names and shields were handed down, such as that of the Minervii . The measures for the final establishment of this new armed force were only initiated or completed under Diocletian and Constantine I.
development
The late Roman army structure essentially arose out of practice, instead of setting entire legions only vexillationes for combat deployment in other regions: Until the middle of the 3rd century, the provincial forces were still under the command of senatorial governors . For larger campaigns, units from several provinces had to be brought together, which were usually placed under the command of the ruling emperor for the duration of the campaign and returned to their main camps after the end of the fighting. In 271 Aurelian moved east with some legions, the Praetorians, and cavalry units to break Palmyra's resistance . Some researchers are of the opinion that Diocletian and his co-emperors may have gradually expanded the sacer comitatus after the example of Aurelian since 284 . From the reign of Gallienus, the Roman rulers were often on campaigns and (as the core of an intervention army) needed troops constantly available in their vicinity. This included B. the legio II Parthica , which was supported by vexillationes of other legions and by newly formed units ( Illyriciani ). The legio II Parthica , already established by Septimius Severus and stationed near Rome, was, together with the Praetorian Guard , one of the forerunners of the comitatenses of the 4th century.
causes
Partly as a result of the territorial expansion of the Roman Empire under the Severans , but mainly due to the high losses in the civil wars of the 3rd century, there was a lack of soldiers everywhere at the borders. In addition, the supply routes were very long and communication between the individual army units on the Limes was sluggish. This situation encouraged warriors beyond the borders of the Rhine and Danube to increasingly massive raids in the Reich territory. In the Orient , a threatening situation was looming : The Parthian dynasty of the Arsacids was forcibly replaced by the Sassanids under their founder Ardaschir I (224–240), who tried to drive the Romans back out of northern Mesopotamia, which the Severans had annexed . In 252 Shapur I invaded the Roman Empire, quickly subjugated Armenia and sacked large areas of Asia Minor, Syria and finally one of the most important metropolises of the Roman east, Antioch . The new emperor Valerian had to react strongly to this threat to Roman rule in the east. He therefore transferred the government responsibility for the western provinces to his eldest son Gallienus , so that he could devote his unrestricted attention to the defense of the Sassanids. According to some researchers, however, the aggression actually came from the Romans; but in any case it is certain that Valerian had been preparing a great Persian war since about 256. For this purpose, u. a. Large contingents of the Roman armies of the Rhine and Danube were also enlisted in Valerian's expeditionary army and marched eastward, where they suffered a catastrophic defeat in 260.
The practice of relocating powerful units in the east has ensured a steady reduction in the size of the garrisons on the Rhine-Danube Limes since 230, at the same time the advances of Germanic looters increased more and more and increasingly overwhelmed the possibilities of those who remained at their posts, in Border guards were noticeably reduced in their manpower. The Roman military organization was poorly or not at all prepared for the new threat in the north. The army had too few powerful cavalry units to be able to quickly fight enemies inside the empire who had already crossed the border and who roamed the provinces almost unhindered, robbing and pillaging as soon as they had left the Limes behind them. Gallienus therefore relocated a large part of the available troops to the rear and designated Mediolanum as the headquarters of his newly formed and mounted reaction force. In addition, around 260 the - probably already largely devastated - Dekumatenland was abandoned ( Limesfall ) in order to shorten the border line and relocate it again behind the protection of the great rivers Rhine, Main and Danube ( Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes ).
expansion
At the time of the Tetrarchy it was recognized that an army lined up along the borders was no longer sufficient to defend the empire and was increasingly difficult to finance. There were also not enough soldiers available for this. At the beginning of the 4th century people started to create their own field or mobile army without permanent garrisons, which in the event of a crisis would support the border units ( limitanei ) and above all pursue and destroy enemies who had already penetrated into the interior of the empire. Until then, this had been the task of the border troops, but each time this involved dangerous exposure of the Limes . In addition, it could also be used quickly in the case of usurpations, against which Limes troops had to be deployed again, which subsequently led back to the problem of the understaffed border fort and encouraged barbaric invaders and looters to make new incursions into the empire. How many of these mobile units were placed among the Tetrarchs is unknown. It is likely that vexillations of new (and much smaller) elite regions ( legio Herculiani or legio Ioviani ) - those recruited under Diocletian and Maximian - were initially used . Diocletian also introduced a new tax system ( Capitatio-Iugatio ) and carried a mixture of court and core troops, the so-called " comitatus ", with him during campaigns , in order to be able to counter threats faster and more flexibly than his predecessors - an example that too the other tetrarchs should follow. or which under Constantine I should lead to an army reform and a new division into mobile field army and border troops.
After long struggles, Constantine I was ultimately able to assert himself as sole ruler over the entire empire. After the victory over Maxentius and the subsequent takeover of the entire western part of the empire, the name Comitatenses appears in the sources for the first time . In the eventual Codex Theodosianus . (7,20,4) in this context ripenses, comitatenses, protectores, alares and cohortales are cited, which means that the use of the term can be reliably dated to the year 325. Constantine combined five vexillations of legionary troops and ten auxilia to form an association called comitatus . They had a higher status than the border troops. Within the Comitatus, the cavalry ranked higher than the infantry. His army reform, which legitimized the improvised measures in the course of the previous century and incorporated them into a uniform system throughout the empire, was to have a decisive influence on the Roman army until its dissolution (especially in the western empire).
The mobile field army was given a clearly defined organizational structure under Constantine. His comitatenses were always at his side and were strictly separated from the border troops. The quartering in relation to the neuralgic areas was retained. In order to secure the loyalty of these troops, he entrusted his three sons and his nephew with the command. For the first time a new type of troops (with the old name) was added, the auxilia , heavily armored infantrymen, mostly consisting of Germanic mercenaries, who were also considered elite fighters. Thanks to the loyalty of the Comitatenses - now also immensely important internally - Constantine was able to secure his sole rule over the long term. It also won the support of the provinces, who hoped that these new forces could solve their security problems. Apparently, however, the soldiers preferred to enroll with the Limitanei , which explains the higher pay of the Comitatenses . A higher incentive had to be created for the recruits to register for the field army, which often operated far from home. His presumptive successors finally divided the field army among themselves, each of which was placed under the command of a magister militum , with a subordinate magister equitum for the cavalry. Soon several army masters were appointed, both for the field armies and for the praesentales , the troops that protected the respective emperors. In order to be able to stand up to the Persians, Constantius II (337–361) set up a field army on the eastern border in addition to his praesentales . After the murder of Constans (337-350), Constantius II had another field army set up for Illyricum .
In contrast to the early days of the empire, when only Roman citizens were allowed to serve in the legions, every man capable of military service, regardless of his origin, could now join the field army and rise to the highest offices. As a result, generals of barbaric descent increasingly appeared in the chronicles from the 4th century onwards. Occasionally they were accused of striving for the imperial purple, but mostly they wrestled with civilian politicians for power and influence in the shadow of the throne. The sources often claimed that these men were disloyal to the Empire. However, there is nothing to indicate that this was true. Some of them lived in the second generation in the empire and had enjoyed the classical upbringing and education of the Roman upper class.
The accommodation of the comitatenses in the cities, often far inland, who in some cases had not seen soldiers for a hundred years, is sharply criticized by Zosimos . Citizens are put under great pressure by billeting and the friction that inevitably occurs when the military and civilians meet. In addition, the soldiers very quickly got used to the comfortable life in their stations, which allegedly suffered from their combat effectiveness. The accusation that Constantine weakened the border defense in this way is unfounded, as there were always incursions that could later only be stopped or contained thanks to the efforts of the Comitatenses. Under the successors of Constantine, they were strengthened even further and smaller armies of movement were created for particularly endangered provinces. When the empire fell to the sons of Constantine or was ruled jointly, the imperial comitatus was also divided.
function
As a rule, the Comitatenses operated as a locomotive army. They were stationed at strategically important points in the hinterland and formed the core of the late Roman army. If the enemy broke through the border, it was their task as a kind of rapid reaction force to catch the invaders and to smash them or drive them away again. Since they - in contrast to the Limitanei - were not used permanently in a certain border region, they were usually not used for police and administrative tasks. Later, more mobile armies were set up, as the palace armies ( Palatinii ) could not cope alone with problems occurring at the same time in far apart provinces.
Strategy and tactics
The defense strategy that developed in the 4th century was also new. The Limitanei had to ensure peace and order on the Limes and fend off minor attacks. In the event of a major burglary, you should identify the most important forts, cities and key positions such as B. hold pass crossings and then destroy or drive out the enemy together with the comitatenses.
The greatest difficulty here was to track down the mostly small prey communities in order to then suddenly attack them in order to be able to put them down with the least possible loss. This required a skilful approach by the scouting troops (exploratores) and close cooperation between the officers at all levels of command. Those attackers who were nevertheless able to escape across the border into their own territory without major defeats and losses enjoyed great prestige among their tribal members and were therefore soon ready to take new actions again. The fact that the Romans usually only intervened when the opponents were already deep inside the provinces was probably not the result of an ingenious strategy, but rather shows the inability of the army to stifle such breakthroughs at the beginning. But once the Comitatenses had tracked down the enemy and pursued them, they often systematically hounded even the smallest group to death down to the last man. The Romans had an advantage in this type of warfare, as their well-organized logistics allowed them to supply their armies adequately at any time of the year.
However, the daily marching performance of the Comitatenses should not be imagined as too great. None of these armies could be faster than their infantry, or what was an even greater limitation, the entourage. Apart from that, their operational capability was further restricted by the often difficult provision of the necessary supplies for the troops. Larger campaigns required a preparation time of at least a year. The detachment of a mobile field army disrupted the economy and administrative operations of a region far less than in earlier times when a whole legion withdrew from its ancestral garrison.
With the change in the organization of the troops, there was also a change in tactics. Smaller units allowed for much more flexible warfare. Most campaigns now consisted mainly of raid-like commando actions. If it came to a bigger battle, all units fought in rank and file and the Comitatenses functioned again as heavy line infantry of the classic style. Some cohorts in the new units were also trained as light infantry. In battle, they could then be put together quickly as the situation required. Such specialists were e.g. B .:
- sagittarii (archers),
- exculatores or
- lanciarii (spear bearer),
- funditores (slingers) and
- balistarii (field artillerymen).
cavalry
The cavalry made up about a third of the late Roman units, but since the strength of cavalry units was always less than that of comparable infantry units, the actual number of cavalrymen only made up about a quarter of the soldiers; but they caused by far the greatest cost. About half of the riders were assigned to the heavy cavalry, which operated under different names, u. a. scutarii , promoti and stablesiani . Their armament mostly consisted of a spear or lance, plus a sword, and they were usually armored with chain mail. Bows were not used for independent ranged attacks, but to assist the attack. There were also mounted archers ( equites sagittarii ) and several types of light cavalry. The cavalry units of the Comitatenses were among the vexillationes comitatenses .
The lightly armed units were called
- Equites Scutarii ,
- Equites Promoti ,
- Equites sagittarii (15%),
- Equites Mauri (2%),
- Equites Dalmatae (7%) and
- Equites stablesiani (61% of the equestrian units)
designated.
The field armies also had heavy cavalry with shock attack capability, these units were called
- Cataphracti and
- Clibanarii and were mainly represented in the east.
The guard units ( scholae palatinae ) were all mounted. There were five of these in the west and seven in the east, one each clibanarius and sagittarius .
In the field army the proportion of mounted soldiers was about 20%. There is no precise information about the strength of such units; it probably fluctuated greatly depending on the duration of the mission. A late Roman vexillatio should have regularly had 400–500 men and thus roughly corresponded to an ala quingenaria of the mid-imperial auxiliary associations. Around AD 400 there were over 47 vexillationes in the west of the empire (23 of them in the North African provinces alone), and a total of 43 in the east. Adding the scholae palatinae would add up to 45,000–50,000 comitatenses on horseback for the entire empire . The cavalry should have made up about a quarter of the crew in the late Roman army. From the 5th century onwards, the cavalry is said to have finally asserted priority over the infantry and the pedes (foot troops) have lost their status as the backbone of the army. Nevertheless, the field armies of the east around 478 - in addition to 8,000 riders - still had over 30,000 infantrymen in their ranks. There are no exact figures for the 4th century, but the proportions are likely to have been quite similar. It is estimated that Julian the Apostate deployed 3,000 horsemen and 10,000 infantrymen in the Battle of Strasbourg (357). It was not until Justinian I increased the number of cavalrymen in the 6th century, but when exactly is still unclear.
infantry
The infantry of the comitatenses resembled the traditional heavy legion infantry, armed with spear and sword, protected by chain mail, shields and helmets. However, they were no longer organized in the traditional large units of the legions , but in smaller units of 1,000 to 1,200 men who had different names ( legio , auxilia or just numerus ). Each of these units was supported by archers and skirmishers. If necessary, the heavy infantry could get rid of part of their armor, as happened according to Zosimos during the Gothic War in the 370s. The infantry sat down from the
- legiones comitatenses , the
- auxilia comitatensia and the
- legiones pseudocomitatenses
together. The nominal strength is difficult to estimate from today's perspective, it probably counted - for both parts of the empire added together - around 150,000 men.
In late antiquity , the Legion's appearance changed fundamentally. As a result of Diocletian's army reform , the number of legions was greatly increased (to around 60), although their nominal strength had to be reduced in return. As already mentioned above, the new legions were likely to have consisted of around 1000 men, which was probably also a consequence of the numerous divisions of the empire, which led to an increasing fragmentation of the associations.
The auxilia were now largely similar to those of the late republic or the numeri of the early imperial era. These were mainly Germanic mercenaries, who now made up the most numerous and powerful part of the comitian infantry.
The legiones pseudocomitatenses (see also Limitanei ) were units of the border army, which, due to their good performance, were taken over into the movement army for a certain period of time, but still had to be content with a lower status. It is known that comitatenses units could be returned to the status of pseudocomitatenses after their deployment ; the historian Ammianus Marcellinus also reports of units that were threatened with demotion to limitanei .
List of the legiones comitatenses mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum
| Magister Peditum (West) | Magister Militum per Orientem (East) | Magister Militum per Thracias (East) |
|---|---|---|
|
Undecimani ; |
Quinta Macedonica ; |
Prima Maximiana Thebaeorum ; |
Guard troops
The imperial bodyguards of this time were known under the name Scholae , more precisely Schola Protectores Domestici or also as Obsequium (Latin for "obedience, allegiance"). They formed the personal bodyguard of the emperor and replaced the Praetorians dissolved by Constantine the Great in 312 . The forerunners of the Comitatenses had also developed from the comitatus , formed from the Imperial Guard and other, mostly mounted, elite associations in the course of the 3rd century. These units, the scholae palatinae , took the place of the old Praetorian Guard, which perished in 312 AD in the battle of the Milvian Bridge with Maxentius . Even after Constantine's death, some deserved units received the honorary name Palatinii, but were not accepted into the imperial guard. In the Notitia Dignitatum the number of these scholae is given as five for the west and seven for the east of the empire. The team strength of a schola was 500 men. Traditionally recruited from Germanic peoples, they were almost exclusively mounted. Like their predecessors, the Praetorians and Equites Singulares Augusti , they functioned as palace guard and rapid reaction or police force of the emperor for special missions and as a war school for officers who were later also intended for higher tasks at court or in administration. They were called palatinii ("imperial") and although they ranked above the regular units, they did not enjoy any privileges. At the end of the 5th century the scholae palatinae degenerated into a pure parade troop. That is why Emperor Leo I set up a new guard, the excubitores, to replace it around 460 .
Units of the Scholae
| West (around 420) | East (around 390) |
|---|---|
|
Scola scutariorum prima |
Scola scutariorum prima |
Unit designations
The terms " seniorum " and " iuniorum " indicate the same origin of the respective units. When the territory of the empire was divided between Valentinian I (western empire) and his brother and co-regent Valens (eastern empire) in 364 , this also happened with the army. The main units in the west were called seniores ("the older ones"), while the iuniores ("the younger ones ") were their eastern counterparts .
Most of these units, however, were named after the respective ethnic groups from which they were recruited, as was the case before, and the special armament and honorary names and emperors given due to extraordinary achievements were often included in the naming.
Typical additional designations that went back to the 3rd century were:
- stablesiani (from stabulum "stable"),
- promoti (literally: "selected or displaced", originally assigned to the mobile army),
- scutarii ("shield bearer") and
- sagittarii ("archers").
These names were also used by Scholae and Limitan troops.
Officers and ranks
Comitatenses consisted of both newly established and veteran units. It therefore had to be ensured that both complemented each other or at least could exist side by side in combat. For this purpose, the command structures had to be set up similarly. Each comitatenses - Regiment was as comparable cavalry units also in campaigns with another a kind Brigade summarized by a comes was headed. These brigades were probably only tactical and strategic units, nothing has come down to us of a specially assigned staff. At the head of each army group there was a Magister militum who was only responsible to the emperor. Unlike in the west, it was possible to keep this under control in the east. In Westrom there had been a supreme army master since Stilicho , who later rose to become the de facto ruler.
The cavalry in the west was initially commanded by the magister equitum , the infantry by the magister peditum . The scholae palatinae , which were subordinate to the magister officiorum, were excluded from this . This separation was later lifted, so that a magister militum united all the armed forces under its command.
The field army in the province was subordinate to a Comes . In some cases, a Comes was also responsible for more than one province (e.g. the Comes Britanniarum ) and, in the event of war, was also authorized to issue instructions to the Duces' limitanei.
A cavalry vexillatio was led by a tribunus , assisted by a primicerius . In one of his pamphlets ( Contra Ionam , 19), the church father Jerome listed all cavalry ranks of the late 4th century:
- tiro (recruit),
- eques ,
- circitor ,
- biarchus ,
- centenarius ,
- ducenarius ,
- senator ,
- primicerius ,
- tribunus .
- draconarius ( standard bearer).
The mobile field armies in the 5th century
According to the Notitia Dignitatum, the Eastern Empire commanded five mobile armies, two were assigned directly to the imperial court, while the Western Empire had a total of seven, including three relatively small armies.
At the beginning of the 5th century, the Notitia Dignitatum recorded a total of 12 such armies for the whole empire, for the east:
- a Praesentalis army
(ie which was directly available to the emperor), barracked near Constantinople , consisting of 12 cavalry and 24 infantry units.
In addition, there were three regional armies stationed in the east
- Thrace Province (7 cavalry and 21 infantry units),
- in the eastern Illyricum (2 cavalry and 24 infantry units)
- and in Orientum , Asia Minor and in the Middle East (10 cavalry and 21 infantry units).
There were two great armies in the west:
Regional armies were in
- Britain (6 cavalry and 3 infantry units),
- in the western Illyricum (22 infantry units),
- Spain (16 infantry units),
- Mauretania Tingitana (3 cavalry and 4 infantry units)
- and in Africa (19 cavalry units).
Remarks
- ↑ CIL 3, 405 = Tituli Asiae Minoris (TAM) 5, 2, 1122 ; see. Alan Douglas Lee: Was in late antiquity. A social history. Blackwell, Oxford 2007, p. 11.
- ↑ A. Lee 2007, p. 11
- ^ W. Treadgold 1995, p. 10, Krause 2000, p. 401, P. Rance 2007, 348f, M. Whitby 2005, p. 361.
- ↑ Peter Heather : The fall of the Roman Empire (= Rororo 62665). Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-499-62665-4 , p. 254.
- ↑ Zosimos Hist. Nova 2, 34
- ↑ H. Elton 1996, pp. 106f.
- ↑ H. Elton 1996, 105f.
- ↑ Almost certainly the same unit that appears in the Western Army. Presumably she was transferred to the West after the lists of the Eastern Notitia Dignitatum were completed.
- ↑ Treadgold 1995, p. 90
literature
- JB Campbell: Comitatenses. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 3, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01473-8 , column 93 f.
- John Casey: The Legions in the Later Roman Empire (= Caerleon Lecture 4th). National Museum of Wales, Cardiff 1991, ISBN 0-7200-0353-9 .
- Terence Coello: Unit Sizes in the Late Roman Army (= British Archaeological Reports. International Series 645). Tempus Reparatum, Oxford 1996, ISBN 0-86054-830-9 .
- Adrian Goldsworthy : The Wars of the Romans. Brandenburgisches Verlags-Haus, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89488-136-4 .
- Dietrich Hoffmann : The late Roman movement army and the Notitia dignitatum (= Epigraphic Studies 7, ISSN 0071-0989 ). 2 volumes. Rheinland-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1969–1970, (At the same time: Basel, Univ., Diss., 1958: Army organization and troop units of the late Roman Empire, with special consideration of the Notitia dignitatum. ).
- AHM Jones : The Later Roman Empire. 3 volumes. Blackwell, Oxford 1964, pp. 607-686.
- Karen Piepenbrink : Constantine the Great and His Time. 2nd revised edition. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2007, ISBN 978-3-534-20905-7 .
- Roger SO Tomlin: The army of the late Empire. In: John Wacher (Ed.): The Roman World. Volume 1. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1987, ISBN 0-7102-0894-4 , pp. 107-133.
- Otto Seeck : Comitatenses 1 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IV, 1, Stuttgart 1900, Col. 619-622.
- Warren Tredgold: Byzantium and its army 284-1081. Stanford Univ. Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8047-2420-2 .
- Michael Whitby: The Late Roman Army. The Classical Review, 55/2, 2005-2010.
- Lee, Alan Douglas: War in late antiquity, a social history. Blackwell, Oxford 2007. ISBN 978-0-631-22926-1 .