Dux Raetiae primae et secundae

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Army leaders of the Comitatenses and Limitanei in the 5th century AD.
Late Roman officer's helmet (Berkasovo type) from the 1st half of the 4th century, Muzej Vojvodine, Novi Sad
Notitia Dignitatum: Representation of the Rhaetian castles Augustanis, Phebianis, Submuntorio, Vallato, Ripa prima, Cambidano, Guntia, Foetibus, Teriolis and Quintanis
The area of ​​responsibility of the Dux (Raetia I and II) at the beginning of the 5th century
Antoninian des Gallienus , minted around 260. On the lapel the image of a stork, the heraldic animal of leg (io) III Ital (ica) P (ia) F (idelis)

The Dux provinciae Raetiae primae et secundae , "Army commander of the first and second province of Raetia", was the official title of the late Roman border troop commander (dux limitis) of the province of Raetia . The office was introduced around 310 as part of the state reforms begun by Emperor Diocletian (284–305). The Dux Raetiae was subordinate to the Magister militum .

function

The province was civilly and militarily subordinate to a procurator with knight rank up to around 170 , then, due to the stationing of the legio III Italica , a senator , a governor with greater authority. According to the Notitia Dignitatum, after the division of the province under Diocletian, the civil administration was under two praesides of equal rank . The " Dux limitis " of Raetia controlled the military administration and commanded the limitanei in the border forts and two guard rider units of the Comitatenses (equites stablesiani iuniores / seniores) . In contrast to his counterpart in Ufernoricum / Pannonnia I, des Dux Pannoniae Primae et Norici Ripensis , who, according to the late antique state manual Notitia Dignitatum, had no internal Norse garrisons under his command, he commanded the armed forces of both Rhaetian sub-provinces. In the hierarchy of the imperial court, the Dux belonged to the highest rank of the Viri spectabiles .

Well-known Duces:

headquarters

So far it is unclear in research whether or for how long the headquarters of the Raetian military administration was established in Regensburg or in Augsburg, the old provincial capital of Rhaetia. Two finds from the Constantinian era have become known from Augsburg, which indicate that the Dux and his staff were based there. In 1897 two late Roman crested helmets were found in a gravel pit near Augsburg-Pfersee , richly decorated and covered with gold-plated silver sheet. The officer's helmet from Deurne , comparable in its time and design , was found south of this Dutch city in 1910. Due to the incised name mark , its bearer could be assigned to a guard cavalry unit (Equites Stablesiani) . It is possible that a ring of honor of Emperor Constantine I found in a field - also near Augsburg - with the inscription Fidem Constantino ("In Treue für Konstantin") belonged to a follower of the Dux . Until 2003, for example, three rings with the same inscription were discovered in the Constantinian residence city of Treveri / Trier , which could give clues to the relationship between its wearer and the imperial family. A taping tape from a late antique sword scabbard from Pfärrle, decorated with a niello , may once have belonged to a high-ranking officer. During excavations in Regensburg / Niedermünster, in the north-east corner of the legionary camp built in 179, representative building remains were uncovered in 2008. It is assumed that it was a separate inner or residual fort . What makes the finding particularly remarkable is the fact that the later agilofingian Palatinate was also located in this area . The excavators believe that the findings in Niedermünster are a sound indication that the Dux Raetiae and his staff were located in Regensburg until the end of the Roman military presence in Raetia around 475.

Administrative staff

The Officium (administrative staff) of the Dux comprised the following offices:

  • Principem ex officiis magistrorum militum praesentalium alternis annis (head of the office, reappointed every two years by the army master)
  • Numerarios duos, ex utrisque officiis praesentalibus singulos (two book guides )
  • Commentariensem ex utrisque officiis alternis annis (legal scholar, appointed for two years)
  • Adiutorem (assistant)
  • Subadiuuam (assistant)
  • Regrendarium (administrator)
  • Exceptores (lawyers)
  • Singulares et reliquos officiales (bodyguards and other officials)

Border organization

The Raetian border was divided into several military districts, headed by an officer with the rank of prefect of a troops of higher rank, a legion, an Ala (equestrian troop) or an association called " milites ". The cohorts (infantry) commanded by tribunes were subordinate to him.

  • " pars superior ": The upper section stretched along the banks of the Danube. It was also divided into a " ripa prima " (west of Eining Fort) and a " ripa secunda " (from Eining down the Danube) - not specifically mentioned in the Notitia .
  • "pars media": The middle section from the Iller to Vemania .
  • " pars inferior ": The lower section, probably from the lower reaches of the Argen to Lake Constance .

troops

The Notitia Dignitatum shows the distribution of the troops stationed in late ancient Raetia. What is striking is the disappearance of most auxiliary troops and their replacement by units that were probably newly established at the end of the 3rd century. Until the 5th century, only those troops remained that had been on the south bank of the Danube in the 3rd century and not directly on the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes.

The old troops still existed:

In the course of the Diocletian-Constantinian reforms, the Legio III Italica was split into six sub-units. A residual force was initially in their main camp barracks . All other units were reorganizations as their nicknames (Herculea, Valeria) suggest. The ala I Raetorum Flavia was named after the gentile name of Constantine I. Completely new names appeared, such as the equites Stablesiani ( cloakroom ) and the numerus barcariorum . From the time of Constantine I, mostly Germanic mercenaries were recruited for the Rhaetian army. This resulted in an evaluation of the grave finds from Günzburg and Neuburg. The largest units were in Submuntorio and Vallato , each with a legion vexillation of the legio III Italica and an equestrian division of the guard. These two fortresses were also already south of the Danube. On the river itself, Passau , Eining, Günzburg and several forts that can no longer be precisely located today were manned. In the far east of the province there was a Limitanei unit at the Inn crossing at Pons Aeni . A flotilla of guard ships operated from Brecantia on Lake Constance .

The apparently outdated troop list of this Dux seems to have been inserted uncorrected into the last version of the Notitia Dignitatum, since some of the limit units had long since been moved to other forts. Particularly noteworthy here are the five vexillations of the Legion tertia Italica , from which the Tertiani Italica in the army of Comes Illyrici seems to descend.

Distributio Numerorum

According to the ND Occ. the Dux had 21 units available:

Officers / units / castles comment Illustration
Infantry / Fleet:
Praefectus legionis tertiae Italicae partis superioris, Castra Regina , nunc (= nun in) Vallato The remaining troops of the Legio III Italica that were moved from their main camp in Regensburg to Vallato sometime in the 5th century . Presumably a previously undiscovered fort near Weltenburg .
Shield sign unknown
Praefectus legionis tertiae Italicae partis superioris deputatae ripae primae, Submuntorio
Shield sign unknown
Praefectus legionis tertiae Italicae pro parte media praetendentis a Vimania Cassiliacum usque, Cambidano
Shield sign unknown
Praefectus militum Ursariensium, Guntiae The Prefect probably commanded the same unit listed as Ursarienses in the list of the Gallic part of the Magister Equitum's army .
Sign of the Ursarienses, ND troop list of the Magister peditum praesentalis
Praefectus legionis tertiae Italicae transvectioni specierum deputatae, Foetibus A vexillation of the Rhaetian legion lay in Füssen to secure supplies .
Shield sign unknown
Praefectus legionis tertiae Italicae transvectioni specierum deputatae, Teriolis A vexillation of the Rhaetian parent legion was probably from 300 onwards to secure supplies in the Inn Valley . Their prefect may also have been responsible for managing the warehouses in Veldidena .
Shield sign unknown
Tribunus cohortis novae Batavorum, Batavis
Shield sign unknown
Tribunus cohortis tertiae Brittonum, Abusina
Shield sign unknown
Tribunus cohortis sextae Valeriaae Raetorum, Venaxamodorum The Raeti are listed in the Notitia Dignitatum under the units of the Magister Peditum as auxilia palatina . They were probably extracted from the cohorts given here, which had Raetorum in their unit designation, or they are perhaps the result of a merger of several Raetian units.
Shield sign unknown
Tribunus cohortis primae Herculeae Raetorum, Parroduno
Shield sign unknown
Tribunus cohortis quintae Valeriae Frygum, Pinianis
Shield sign unknown
Tribunus cohortis tertiae Herculeae Pannoniorum, Caelio The addition of Herculea to the name suggests that this unit was set up under the Tetrarchs . It was probably originally part of the army of Diocletian's co-regent Maximian , whose nickname Herculius (of Hercules ) was.
Shield sign unknown
Tribunus gentis per Raetias deputatae, Teriolis Whether the gens refers to the Celtic Breonen people is still disputed. Presumably the tribune commanded a militia ( populares or gentiles ) that was raised on site .
Shield sign unknown
Tribunus cohortis Herculeae Pannoniorum, Arbore
Shield sign unknown
Praefectus numeri barbaricariorum, Confluentibus siue Brecantia Barbaricariorum actually means "gold sticker" (see brocade fabric ). Although several fabricae (factory) are mentioned in the civil part of the Notitia, this seems more than strange as a name for a military unit. As is so often the case in the Notitia, the copyist made a typing error. In reality it is probably meant to be a numerus barcariorum . Barcariourum ("Schiffer") would also be a far more appropriate name for a naval unit. The flotilla should have been stationed at its two locations ( Brigantium headquarters ) until around 401 .
Shield sign unknown
cavalry
Equites stablesiani seniores, Augustanis (cloakroom)
Shield sign unknown
Equites stablesiani iuniores, Ponte Aoni , nunc (= now) Febians ( cloakroom )
Shield sign unknown
Equites stablesiani iuniores, Submuntorio (cloakroom)
Shield sign unknown
Praefectus alae primae Flaviae Raetorum, Quintanis
Shield sign unknown
Praefectus alae secundae Valeriae singularis, Vallatio
Shield sign unknown
Praefectus alae secundae Valeriae Sequanorum, Vimania
Shield sign unknown

Ostrogoth Empire

Despite the dissolution of the western Roman military and civil administration, the office of the Rhaetian Dux continued to exist after 476. After the Ostrogoth king Theodoric seized power in Italy in 493, Raetia was initially just a buffer zone for Italy - more or less left to its own devices . The provincial contingent apparently largely recruited from the Romansh population probably had little in common with the organizational structure of the limitanei of late antiquity. The Dux acted as his - largely independent - commander and, like much of the late Roman provincial order, was taken over into the Eastern Gothic military administration. As governors, the Ostrogothic Duces were also responsible for the jurisdiction, especially over the Gothic part of the population. However, unlike their Visigoth relatives, they only held a temporary command. The official seat was relocated to the metropolis of Raetia I , Curia / Chur ( Theodoricopolis ?) After the foothills of the Alps were abandoned. Theodoric installed a man by the name of Servatius as the new commander for the Rhaetian provincial contingent. Servatius probably also had civil powers, since no praeses in office alongside him can be proven in the sources at that time . His area of ​​command included the Raetia I and the alpine regions of the Raetia II . The office of the Rhaetian Dux probably expired at the end of the Ostrogoth rule, but was later revived after Rhaetia ceded to the Frankish Empire.

Remarks

  1. ^ Karlheinz Dietz: Regensburg in Roman times . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 1979, ISBN 3791705997 , p. 130.
  2. ↑ Michael Mackensen: The province of Raetien in late antiquity . In: The Romans between the Alps and the North Sea . Zabern, Mainz 2000, p. 214.
  3. ↑ Occ. XXXIV.
  4. ↑ Marcus Junkelmann : The riders of Rome. Part III: Accessories, riding style, armament. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1992, ISBN 3-8053-1288-1 , p. 161 (picture p. 160).
  5. ^ A b Hans-Jörg Kellner: Augsburg, provincial capital of Raetia . In: Rise and Fall of the Roman World: History and Culture of Rome as Reflected in Recent Research. Volume 2, Verlag Walter de Gruyter. Berlin 1976, ISBN 3110071975 , p. 707.
  6. ↑ Lothar Schwinden: Kaisertreue II. A third finger ring from Trier with the inscription fidem Constantino. In: Finds and excavations in the Trier district , Issue 35, 2003. pp. 50–57.
  7. ^ Michaela Konrad: The excavations under the Niedermünster in Regensburg. 2: Buildings and finds from the Roman period . (Munich Contributions to Pre- and Early History 57). Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-10757-5 .
  8. ↑ a b Thomas Fischer, Erika Riedmeier Fischer: The Roman Limes in Bavaria . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2008. ISBN 978-3-7917-2120-0 . P. 45.
  9. ^ Officium autem habet idem vir spectabilis dux hoc modo
  10. ↑ Occ. XXXV.
  11. ↑ Keller 1979.
  12. ↑ sub dispositions
  13. ^ Anton Höck: 2003, p. 79.
  14. ↑ Martin Bitschnau , Hannes Obermair : Tiroler Urkundenbuch, II. Department: The documents on the history of the Inn, Eisack and Pustertal valleys. Volume 1: By the year 1140 . Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 2009, ISBN 978-3-7030-0469-8 , p. 4 No. 4 .
  15. ^ Franz Glaser: 2008, p. 614.
  16. ↑ cf. ND Occ. 154.6, Numerus barcariorum Tigrisiensium
  17. ↑ Herwig Wolfram: Goten , pp. 392, 316, 497f.
  18. ^ Arnold Hugh Martin Jones : The Later Roman Empire 284-602 , 1964, p. 660.

See also

literature

  • Richard Heuberger : Raetia in antiquity and the early Middle Ages . Volume 1. (Schlernschriften 20). Wagner, Innsbruck 1932. New print Scientia-Verlag, Aalen 1971.
  • Richard Heuberger: The Ostrogoth Raetia . In: Klio . Volume 30, 1937, pp. 77-109.
  • Hans-Jörg Kellner : Augsburg, provincial capital of Raetia . In: Rise and Fall of the Roman World . Volume II, 5, 2. de Gruyter, Berlin 1976, ISBN 3-11-007197-5 , p. 707.
  • Gideon Maier: Officials and rulers in Romania Gothica: Comparative studies on the institutions of the East Germanic migration empires . Steiner, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-515-08505-X , pp. 235-237.
  • Ludwig Wamser , Christof wing , Bernward Ziegaus (ed.): The Romans between the Alps and the North Sea. Civilizational legacy of a European military power . Catalog manual for the state exhibition of the Free State of Bavaria Rosenheim 2000. Zabern, Mainz 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2615-7 . In it: Michael Mackensen : The province of Raetien in late antiquity . P. 213–218 and Thomas Schmidts : Teutons in the late Roman army . Pp. 219-225.
  • Herwig Wolfram : Salzburg, Bavaria, Austria: The Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum and the sources of their time . Oldenbourg, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-486-64833-0 .
  • Province of Upper Austria (Ed.): Severin between Roman times and the migration of peoples . Catalog for the state exhibition in the Enns City Museum, Linz 1982, in it: Günther Dembski : Coin minting and circulation in the Danube region of the 5th century , p. 209.
  • Norbert Hasler, Jörg Heiligmann , Markus Höneisen, Urs Leuzinger, Helmut Swozilek (eds.): Under the protection of mighty walls, late Roman forts in the Lake Constance area , catalog for the exhibition in the Archaeological State Museum Baden-Württemberg, April 30, 2005 to November 1, 2005, publisher Frauenfeld, ISBN 3-9522941-1-X , Darin: Timo Hembach: Time of Change - the Lake Constance area on the way from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages , pp. 54–58.
  • Andreas Kraus (Hrsg.): Handbook of Bavarian history . Volume 3, Part 2: History of Swabia up to the end of the 18th century . 3. Edition. CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-39452-3 , pp. 91-95.
  • Anton Höck: Archaeological research in Teriola. Rescue excavations on the Martinsbühel near Zirl from 1993 to 1997. Late Roman finds and findings on the fort . (= Find reports from Austria material booklet A 14). Berger, Horn 2003, ISBN 3-85028-370-4 .
    • therein u. a .: Thomas Reitmaier: Bridge, ford or ferry? A contribution to the Inn crossing at Teriola / Martinsbühel in ancient times. Pp. 101-103 ( full text ).
  • Franz Glaser : Castra and hill settlements in Carinthia and North Tyrol. In: Heiko Steuer, Volker Bierbrauer (ed.): Hill settlements between antiquity and the Middle Ages from the Ardennes to the Adriatic Sea (= Real Lexicon of Germanic Antiquity. Supplementary volumes . Volume 58). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-020235-9 , pp. 595–642 (on Teriolis : pp. 614–616; excerpt from Google Books ).
  • Michael S. DuBois: Auxillae: A Compendium of Non-Legionary Units of the Roman Empire. Lulu Press 2015, ISBN 978-1-329-63758-0 .
  • Michael Zerjadtke: The Dux office in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages: The ducatus in the field of tension between Roman influence and its own development. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2018.

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