Limitanei

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Roman follis with the portrait of Diocletian, minted in Treveris (Trier) around 300 AD (Classic Numismatic Group, Inc., CNG)
Solidus with portrait of Emperor Constantine, minted 326
Figurine of a late Roman officer of the 5th century, Museum Lauriacum
A limitaneus of the late 3rd century AD (re-enactment reconstruction)
Detail of a late antique mosaic depicting a hunting scene, the figure with shield and lance probably shows a Roman soldier of the 4th century (Villa del Casale, Piazza Armerina , Sicily)
Detail of the late antique hunting mosaic, the two figures probably represent Roman officers of the 4th century
Depiction of a late Roman soldier in De Rebus Bellicis
Army leaders of the Comitatenses and Limitanei in the 5th century AD.
Late Roman officer's helmet ( comb helmet ) from the 4th century AD, found in the Wertach ( Germanic National Museum Nuremberg )
Late Roman crested helmet of the Intercisa II type
Late Roman horsemen on the hunt, mosaic in the Villa del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Sicily (4th century)
Cavalryman, late 3rd and early 4th century, (re-enactment reconstruction)

The units called Limitanei ( Latin for "border guards") together with the Comitatenses formed the Roman land army of late antiquity . In contrast to the Comitatenses (the mobile field army), they were not stationed at strategically important points in the hinterland, but directly on the border.

development

Under Septimius Severus , the military was granted numerous new privileges with far-reaching consequences. Soldiers with Roman citizenship were u. a. the marriage was allowed while still active in the army. That is why they were now allowed to live with their families in the camp villages outside of their work. Since the units were now largely supplemented locally, this also encouraged the border troops to settle down, which was unthinkable in earlier centuries. Under Severus Alexander these privileges were extended. The plots of land originally only granted on revocation from the state land ( ager publicus ) have now become hereditary.

The term limitanei can be proven for the first time for the year 363. It referred to troops that were stationed at the borders ( limites ) under the command of the duces. However, it is not clear when this term was first used. However, they must have been introduced into the Roman army beforehand. Were the border guards stationed at flow limits (eg. As the Ripa Danuvi Provinciae Norici ) designate the sources it as Ripenses or " Riparienses milites " (= bank guards from lat. Ripa for riverside), sometimes they are also called Castellani or burgarii referred . The first evidence of agricultural limits dates back to the year 443, although it has not been proven that their fighting strength decreased because of this. The allocation of real estate also guaranteed their supply. These lands needed effective cultivation and protection, which turned the soldiers into farmers and landowners. This is also confirmed by the fundi limitrophi (the arable land assigned to the garrisons). According to a decree of Valentinian I from the year 364 ( Codex Theodosianus VII 20. 8 ) a veteran was entitled to four oxen and 50 modii of grain, sufficient for sowing on 10–12 yoke, a veteran " protector primae " received two pairs Ox and 100 modii of grain. This is also confirmed by Annonimus Valesianus. At the end of this transformation process, the forts had changed from accommodation to mere places of duty and the soldiers had become local border guards ( limitaneus ).

The final separation into a moving and border army goes back to the emperors Diocletian and Constantine the Great , especially the latter who brought the corresponding reforms to a conclusion. Under Diocletian, the limits had already been partially released from the power of disposal of the governors ( praeses provinciae ) and placed under the duces . A law from 372 stipulated that recruits who were unfit for the field army should instead be enlisted in the border army. It also happened that comitatenses were degraded to limitanei as a punitive measure . On the other hand, experts like Yann Le Bohec today assume that older research overestimated the separation and quality differences between border and field armies: it was "an absurdity invented in the 19th century by historians inexperienced in military matters has been."

By Denis van Berchem , the governor of the old school had not until the reign of Constantine the disposal of the elderly - in the principality - established alae and cohorts held that traditionally among the auxiliary troops ( auxilia included). All new regular troop units, however, such as B. the equites and also the legions , which were now far more numerous but smaller, were under the command of Duces .

From the middle of the 4th century onwards, the auxilia , which in the early late antiquity consisted in particular of Germanic warriors and until the 3rd century had put most of the border troops on the limites , are no longer mentioned in the relevant sources. Soldiers from outside the empire now joined the regular army, unlike in the principate , which explains the larger number of Germanic tribes in the higher ranks, which was previously associated with a "barbarization" of the Roman army.

In Westrom the limit units had largely dissolved in the late 5th century because the state could no longer pay them, or they were integrated into the armies of the Germanic successor states (e.g. on the Rhine border). In the east they can be traced in the Kyrenaica (partly as kastresianoi ) in Palestine and in the provinces of western North Africa until at least the late 6th century. After the destruction of the Vandal Empire , Justinian immediately set up new units there in 534. Their tasks had not changed, they returned there as sedentary garrison or border troops, each of whose numbers were under the command of a dux ; the supreme command lay with a magister militum per Africam . Your tax privileges are also likely to have been retained. Even the names had changed little: limitanei , castresiani , riparenses castriciani and castellani . A few years later, however, Prokop claims that Justinian had taken the limitanei on the Persian front from his "military character". If Prokop's information on this point can be trusted at all, it was probably a measure of a financial nature that only became effective in individual regions, especially since Justinian erroneously assumed after the Eternal Peace of 532 that he had permanently calmed the Persian front. In the course of the massive political and military upheavals at the end of late antiquity (around the year 630), the limitanei also disappeared in Eastern Europe.

Structure, function and tactics

The armed forces were roughly divided into two groups; the better trained and better paid units of the laterculum maius had higher combat strength and were stationed in more important places and in larger centers, the units of the laterculum minus with low combat value were mostly in outposts and villages. The limits were in

  • legiones ,
  • cohortes ,
  • alae ,
  • auxilia ,
  • equites ,
  • limites ,
  • milites ,
  • gentes (barbarian tribes under the command of their own officers),
  • numeri and
  • cunei

organized.

The task of the limitanei consisted primarily of border surveillance and the defense against minor enemy attacks. The soldiers were responsible for the daily patrols and carried out the usual garrison service in the fortresses. In addition, they were entrusted with police tasks, which included maintaining internal security, monitoring the streets and supporting state officials such as tax collectors and magistrates. In the event of a more massive breakthrough, they should at least hold up or hinder the invaders until help from the Comitatenses and Palatinii arrived, or, if this was not possible, hold important bases, cities or pass crossings and then support the field army operating in their area until the enemy was destroyed or driven out. They were unable to cope with invasions of entire peoples. Since they were in the border area and thus close to the enemy, they had more opportunities to gain combat experience, at least in terms of constant guerrilla warfare. This experience was probably less valuable on organized campaigns, during sieges and in major battles; these tasks were largely reserved for the field army.

The breaking up of major intrusions, even if they comprised only a few thousand warriors, was exclusively the business of the Comitatenses , who were stationed in bases behind the Limes. If these were routed or destroyed by the intruders, the border guards had no choice but to barricade themselves with the civilian population and as much supplies as possible in their fortresses and to be relieved soon by the approach of the emperor or one of them His army masters ( Magister militum ) commanded the palace army ( palatini) , which could drive the invaders out again or at least force them to conclude a peace treaty. If they ventured out of their forts beforehand, they were usually certain of annihilation. They were no longer a direct threat to successfully penetrated enemy armies, but in many cases they were able to block important pass crossings or traffic routes or prevent the intruders from being able to obtain food from the surrounding area for a long time. For most barbarian tribes in the early 4th century it was difficult and time-consuming to successfully besiege a Limes fort if it was defended resolutely by its garrison. As a rule, the limits therefore served their purpose. Even if their numbers were usually insufficient to repel a major raid or military invasion without support, they have often proven their worth in smaller clashes.

From a study by Hugh Elton it emerges that in related sources when the raids by marauding barbarians are mentioned almost always fewer than 400 warriors are mentioned; Groups of this size could (one of the border guards usually numerus normally including 200 to 300 man) stopped or be fought locally. Large-scale raids on the empire, on the other hand, required longer preparation time and more complex logistics. This also increased the risk that the Romans would find out about it through their intelligence and espionage network and were able to take countermeasures in good time. But once a major attack got under way (e.g. in 406 AD on the Rhine or 502 on the Persian front), it could often no longer be stopped or only with great difficulty. The borders were too long and the number of late antique Limes units too small to be able to contain massive incursions again immediately. It took a certain time before enough comitatenses arrived, also because of the long communication and approach routes. The Roman border army could more easily cope with smaller groups. In addition, almost all attacks by the barbarians did not pursue the goal of permanently annexing Roman territory, it was only about capturing; often the deployment of the imperial palace army on the border was enough to induce them to retreat without a fight. What followed was then (at least until the 4th century) a Roman campaign of retaliation.

Commanders and officers

Comitatenses and Limitanei 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. The relevant army master ( magister militum ) was the commander in chief of the Limitanei . They were directly subordinate to the orders of section commanders, the duces limitis (see dux ), who monitored one or sometimes several of the - now much smaller - border provinces into which the late Roman Empire was divided. Some of these duces later received the higher rank of comites militare (e.g. the Comes litoris Saxonici per Britanniam ). These officers were influential men in the everyday life of the provinces and responsible for everything that fell within the remit of the Roman troops stationed in one place for a long time. A section of the border or fort was commanded by a praepositus limitis (originally the name for an officer who was only in command of a unit temporarily or as a substitute). Other names for commanders of the individual troop units were:

Below that there were ranks like

  • the centurio (to which 100 men were subordinate),
  • the decurio ,
  • the draconarius or signifer (standard bearer),
  • the semissalis and
  • den tiro (recruit).

The extent of the authority of these ranks is not clearly passed down.

infantry

Presumably the Limitanei infantry were less heavily armed than the foot troops of the mobile army, but there is no conclusive evidence of this. The light infantry was particularly widespread among the border troops, as they often had to do patrol duty. Contrary to earlier assumptions, the Limitanei were not militia officers , this thesis is largely considered obsolete according to the latest research, but rather regular units of the Roman army, which is also underlined by the fact that they kept the Comitaneses up to the 6th century Campaigns, v. a. in the east. The classification as "fortified farmers" probably goes back to a misinterpretation of isolated and incomplete ancient texts. In general, one cannot necessarily speak of a strict separation between a "fixed location" and a "mobile" late antique army. It can hardly be assumed that the border guards did not move out of the vicinity of their fort when they reported a - not too far away - barbarian attack. Overall, the Limitanei were often poorly trained and inexperienced, which is why they are said to have been less regarded than their comrades in the movement army and were accordingly paid lower; however, this assumption - again mainly supported by older research - has meanwhile been questioned. Benjamin Knör even takes the view that the soldiers actually gave preference to joining the Limitanei , since the arduous service in the field army, which constantly roamed around the Reich and was often involved in battles, was probably not very desirable in the long term. This would also explain the higher salaries of the Comitatenses . It is also known that in times of crisis of the 5th century in the West for lack of troops and money, most Limitanei deducted from the limits placed in the mobile armies and comitatenses were upgraded without the ancient sources would talk of that this had reduced the fighting strength of the troops.

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. According to the information in the Notitia Dignitatum , the riders must have had a share of almost 50% of the Limitanei in the late 4th century, since one of the Limitanei's main activities was carrying out patrols. Their status was also lower than that of the cavalry units in the field army.

Pseudocomitatenses

The Limitanei usually did not take part in major battles . If necessary, however, as already mentioned above, their most powerful units were incorporated into the field army as pseudocomitatenses ; But they did not automatically enjoy the full privileges of the combat troops. Such units are attested (the East) for the first time in the year 365 n. Chr., Where she embassies to Emperor Valentinian I mentioned. In the west the pseudocomitatenses appear only in the Notitia Dignitatum . However, it is very likely that such contingents were mobilized earlier (e.g. in civil wars). However, this cannot be proven, since the often long-lasting deployments in the field armies increased the chance of being "promoted" to regular comitatenses . It is known that comitatenses could be reverted to the status of pseudocomitatenses after their deployment ; the historian Ammianus Marcellinus also reports of units that were threatened with demotion to limitanei .

Ralf Scharf does not rule out that the pseudocomitatenses were automatically promoted to regular comitatenses after a certain period . Wages and meals were about two-thirds of what the comitatenses received . However, the question arises here as to how it was possible to permanently integrate entire limit units into the field army, as this actually had to result in this section of the border being completely bared by troops. The border guards were also mostly deeply rooted in their stationing locations, as they were often recruited in the immediate vicinity and their families also came from there. So many questions remain open so far.

Garrison life

Despite the apparently lower reputation, lower wages and lower rations, the life of the border guards was - for the conditions at the time - halfway bearable. Their relatives benefited directly from food and protection. Limitanei, who in addition to their service also worked their own farms, are documented for the first time since 443. After their retirement they could also expect the family farm to be largely tax exempt. The overwhelming majority (but by no means always) were recruited in the immediate vicinity, their sons served in the same units and rarely, if at all, had to leave home for longer. On the other hand, they had little money and rarely had the opportunity to steal.

However, due to the service in often remote and isolated outposts, they were largely at the mercy of their commanders. These were not infrequently corrupt, shortened, etc. a. arbitrarily took the rations and put the profit from them in their own pockets. Many soldiers were therefore forced to pursue a sideline. Sources from the 6th century report u. a. from the family of Flavius ​​Patermunthus, whose male relatives also worked as river boatmen in addition to serving in the army. Since they were mainly engaged in this activity, they could only perform their military duties to a limited extent. There is also a report of a soldier from the Eastern Roman unit of the transtigritani who had rented a bakery from a member of the clibanarii leones .

Although many forts in late antiquity were small in size, they made the presence of the imperial army clearly visible in large areas. Most of the Limitanei were housed directly in such forts or in fortified towns on the Limes (cf. for example Donau-Iller-Rhein-Limes ). Some forts in Britain that have remained in use for a very long time (such as Housesteads and Great Chesters on Hadrian's Wall ) show signs of extensive renovations to their team barracks towards the end of the 3rd century AD. A number of rooms arranged in pairs according to the classic design ( contubernium ) were replaced by six separate accommodations - all with their own outer walls and roof - and separated from one another by a narrow passage. At Housesteads, these shelters measure 8 to 12 meters in length and 3.6 to 15.15 meters in width. The number of these buildings, most of which also had a fireplace or hearth, was less than that of the barracks blocks of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Such buildings were easier to erect and maintain than old and dilapidated half-timbered barracks to be restored . It is estimated that two soldiers and their relatives could be accommodated in these dwellings, which may also be explained by the fact that the late antique units became smaller and smaller in substance.

literature

  • Robert Grosse : Roman military history from Gallienus to the beginning of the Byzantine thematic constitution. Weidmann, Berlin 1920, pp. 275-276 (Reprint. Arno Press, New York NY 1975, ISBN 0-405-07083-7 ).
  • AHM Jones : The Later Roman Empire. 284-602. A social, economic and administrative survey. 2 volumes. Reprint edition. Johns-Hopkins-University Press, Baltimore MD 1986, ISBN 0-8018-3353-1 (Vol. 1), ISBN 0-8018-3354-X (Vol. 2).
  • Benjamin Isaac : The Meaning of the Term Limes and Limitanei. In: Journal of Roman Studies . 78, 1988, pp. 125-147.
  • Simon McDowall: The Late Roman Infantrymen, 235 - 565 AD (= Warrior Series 9). Illustrated by. Gerry Embleton. Reed, London 1994, ISBN 1-85532-419-9 , pp. 19-20.
  • Alexander Demandt : History of Late Antiquity. The Roman Empire from Diocletian to Justinian 284-565 AD. CH Beck, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-44107-6 , p. 229.
  • J. Brian Campbell: Limitanei. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Metzler, Stuttgart 1996-2015, ISBN 3-476-01470-3 , Sp. 231-233.
  • Adrian Goldsworthy : The Wars of the Romans. Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Potsdam 2001, ISBN 3-89488-136-4 .
  • Adrian Goldsworthy: The Legions of Rome. The great manual for the instrument of power of a thousand-year-old empire. Verlag Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-86150-515-0 .
  • Ralf Scharf: The Dux Mogontiacensis and the Notitia Dignitatum. A study of late antique border defense (= Real Lexicon of Germanic Antiquity . Supplementary volumes. Vol. 50). de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2005, ISBN 3-11-018835-X .
  • Michael Whitby : Armies and society in the later Roman world. In: Averil Cameron, Bryan Ward-Perkins, Michael Whitby (Eds.): Late Antiquity: Empire and Successors, AD 425-600. (= The Cambridge Ancient History. Volume 14) 4th Printing. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-32591-2 , pp. 469-495.
  • Michael Whitby: The Late Roman Army. The Classical Review, 55/2, 2005-2010.
  • Yann Le Bohec: Africa in the late Imperial Era. The province on the eve of the vandal conquest. In: Claus Hattler (Red.): The Kingdom of the Vandals. Heirs to the empire in North Africa. Published by the Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe. Zabern, Mainz 2009, ISBN 978-3-8053-4083-0 , pp. 65-78.
  • Peter Heather : The fall of the Roman Empire (= Rororo 62665). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-499-62665-4 .
  • Warren Tredgold: Byzantium and its army 284-1081. Stanford Univ. Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8047-2420-2 .
  • Pat Southern: The Roman army, a social and institutional history. Santa Barbara, California 2006, ISBN 1-85109-730-9 .
  • Hugh Elton: Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Batsford, London 1996. ISBN 0-7134-7320-7

Remarks

  1. ↑ Codex Theodosianus 12, 1, 56.
  2. ↑ B. Isaac 1988, p. 146, P. Southern 2006, p. 250.
  3. ^ B. Isaac 1988, p. 146, M. Whitby 2005, p. 367.
  4. ^ De rebus bellicis V 4
  5. ↑ Codex Theodosianus 7, 22, 8.
  6. ^ Synesius, Epistle 78.
  7. ^ Yann Le Bohec: Africa in the late Imperial Era . In: Badisches Landesmuseum (Ed.): The Kingdom of the Vandals . Mainz 2009, p. 66.
  8. ↑ Denis van Berchem: On some Chapters of the Notitia Dignitatum relating to the Defense of Gaul and Britain. In: American Journal of Philology. Vol. 76, No. 2, 1955, ISSN  0002-9475 , pp. 138-147.
  9. ↑ Amendment C III 3, § 1; Malalas p. 426, 3.
  10. ↑ Codex Iustinianus 35, 14.
  11. ↑ Codex Iustinianus 11, 60, 3; see. also: Ludo Moritz Hartmann : Studies on the history of the Byzantine administration in Italy. (540-750). Hirzel, Leipzig 1889, p. 59.
  12. ↑ Codex Iustinianus 12, 35, 14.
  13. ↑ Codex Iustinianus 11, 60, 2.
  14. ↑ Peter Heather: 2011, pp. 236-237.
  15. ↑ Peter Heather: 2011, p. 207.
  16. ↑ Treadgold 1995, p. 90
  17. ^ Yann Le Bohec: 2009, p. 66, Whitby 2005, p. 361.
  18. ↑ Benjamin Isaac: 1988.
  19. ^ Benjamin Knör: The late antique officer corps (4th / 5th century). Master's thesis at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich (historical seminar, Department of Ancient History; grade 1.7), reprinted by GRIN Verlag , Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-640-57542-8 , p. 27.
  20. ^ Whitby 2005, p. 361.
  21. ↑ Scharf: 2005, p. 283.
  22. ↑ Codex Theodosianus 8, 1, 10.
  23. ↑ Scharf: 2005, p. 293.