Roman forces in Raetia

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The Roman forces in Raetia ( Latin exercitus Raeticus ) were in the middle of the first century. Chr. A first of auxiliary troops compiled army in the Roman province of Raetia . From 178 onwards, the Raetian army was significantly enlarged through the stationing of Legio III Italica in Castra Regina (today's Regensburg ). In late antiquity - until the dissolution of the Roman military and civil administration in 475 - the Dux Raetiae led the provincial army.

Emergence

Sesterce of Hadrian with the imprint Exercitus Raeticus

The province of Raetia was established in the first century AD. However, there is only reliable evidence of the naming of this army group on a sesterce that was minted during the reign of Emperor Hadrian between 134 and 138 AD . Further, more detailed evidence for this troop formation is provided by the evaluation, which continues to this day , of the military diplomas documented in archaeological prospecting and excavations , which are to be understood as the civil rights constitutions of individual veterans. The oldest known civil rights certificate in the province of Raetia comes from Geiselprechting and was issued on June 15, 64 AD for an honorably dismissed rider of the Ala Gemelliana, who was under the command of the Praefectus alae Quintus Pomponius Rufus. In addition to these testimonies left on bronze plaques, there are also building and grave inscriptions that provide more precise information about the troop body as well as individual members and commanders.

The military backbone of the province formed the auxiliaries , the auxiliary troops of the Roman army. These were recruited and called up early in Roman history in times of crisis and on military campaigns with dependent allies. After the alliance case was over, the allies were sent home again. This practice changed fundamentally in the early imperial era. The Roman army began to inspect and draft young men fit for military service in the conquered provinces. Military service was made palatable to the recruits by the legal right to obtain Roman citizenship for themselves, their wives and - temporarily - for their children after successfully completing their military career. The service included an above-average salary as well as a generous discharge allowance, which made it possible to build up a civilian existence, with the army also acting as a reliable buyer for many trades and farms. Long before the Roman invasion, the people of Raetia had been able to participate in the civilization status of the Mediterranean region through imported consumer goods and durables. The further Romanization took place quickly and peacefully. The offer of the army to the young male provincial residents and the advantages of the Roman way of life seem to have been taken up successfully on the whole. There were obviously no complaints or uprisings in Raetia, some of which were elsewhere.

Infantry and artillery

Rome's confidence in the newly raised auxiliary troops was very high from the start. Some auxiliaries were demonstrably equipped with the most modern weapon technology of the time and carried mechanical hand weapons ( Arcuballistae ) with them as early as the late Flavian period (69–96) . The archaeologist Dietwulf Baatz assumed that the Raetian auxiliary troops had artillery trained gun operators at particularly endangered points who could handle catapults.

cavalry

The Alae milliariae apparently did not arise before the Flavian period. They were commanded by a Praefectus and were divided into 24 towers (squadrons) per ala , each led by a decurio (captain). The rank of Praefectus could only rarely be awarded due to the few Alae milliariae and was not only in extremely high esteem, but was, as individual traditional careers show, a stepping stone to the highest offices. In rank the commander of an ala milliaria stood above the leaders of other auxiliary troops . It was assumed that the Praefectus von Aalen was also deputy governor of the province of Raetia . At least the entire western part of the Raetian Limes - from Fort Schirenhof to Fort Halheim - seems to have been subordinate to him.

Probably the most important evidence of a rider of the Ala II Flavia milliaria was discovered in Rome and dates from the 2nd century. This cavalryman, Titus Flavius ​​Quintinus, was given the great honor of being transferred from Raetia to the Imperial Guard. Today his tombstone is in Castel Gandolfo . The career of the rider Secundus, son of Sabinus, has a more common résumé. He remained in the rank of simple eques until he left the army in 153 AD . With the imperial constitution documented in a military diploma, his marriage to Secunda, daughter of Borus, was legally recognized. Since this diploma was found in Castra Regina (Regensburg), Secundus will probably have retired there.

Mission history

Mounted regiments

  • The Ala I Hispanorum Auriana excavated in Hispania was initially in Pannonia and from there was ordered to Raetia after only a short deployment time. There the regiment lay garrisoned in the Weissenburg fort without interruption . The fort was founded around 90 AD and went under in the time of the Limes falls until around 253 AD.
  • The Ala I Augusta Thracum excavated in Thrace was initially in the Kösching fort . This was founded in the spring of 80 AD. Between 121 and 125 AD at the latest, the Thracians were assigned to the neighboring province of Noricum and replaced at their location in Koesching by the Ala I Flavia Gemelliana.
  • The Ala Thracum veterana also came from Thrace . She was recalled from Raetia before 107 and then probably came to Pannonia . It is probably identical with the Ala I Thracum veterana [sagittaria] mentioned there. As a replacement, the Ala I singularium civium Romanorum Pia Fidelis was ordered from the province of Germania superior to Raetia. According to the findings, however, this cannot have been before the year 90 AD.
  • The origin of the Ala II Flavia Pia Fidelis milliaria is unclear. The oldest evidence of its existence is the above-mentioned civil rights constitution of 86 AD. The troops lay uninterrupted in the Aalen Fort, which was founded around 150/155 AD and stayed there until its fall around 259/260.

Infantry units

Only those units are named that do not yet have their own article in Wikipedia.

  • The earliest known mention of the Cohors I Breucorum is known from the constitution of May 13, 86 AD. The full name of this unit was from the 2nd century Cohors I Breucorum civium Romanorum equitata . At times she held honorary titles such as Valeria victrix and torquata ob virtutem appelata . In some inscriptions from Pfünz it is also called Cohors I Breucorum Antoniniana . The only known station of this unit is Fort Pfünz . The building inscription of the stone fort founded around 90 AD also comes from there.
  • It is possible that the Cohors II Gallorum mentioned in the Raetian civil rights constitutions is identical to the Cohors II Gallorum veterana equitata , which was stationed in Moesien at the end of the first century. A total of four units have become known under the name Cohors II Gallorum , which could lead to a great risk of confusion. The Cohors II Gallorum Pannonica , the Cohors II Gallorum Pannonica Dacica (both in Dacia ), the Cohors II Gallorum Macedonica in Moesia superior and Dacia as well as the named Cohors II Gallorum veterana equitata which was known to be stationed in Moesia inferior , Mauretania and Britannia . The Cohors II Gallorum , which so far cannot be assigned to a specific garrison location in Raetia, could have been in Straubing between 75/85 and around 90 AD before it was included in the military diplomas after 92 AD in Moesia inferior is called.

From the time of the Marcomann Wars , the Legio III Italica came to the Raetian army, which was thus significantly strengthened. The Legio III Italica with the honorary name Concors VII Pia VII Fidelis took up position in Castra Regina from 178 AD until the end of the province of Raetia. The camp there was founded by her. The Legion had a nominal strength of 6,000 soldiers, which doubled the number of the Raetian army. She also had the addition Concors (Latin "the unified") in her name and was allowed to use the pia fidelis (Latin pious and loyal ) in her legion name as a further distinction . Emperor Mark Aurel raised the troops directly in the mother country of Italy. In doing so, he broke a prerogative that had been in place for a hundred years. Apparently the threat from the Marcomann barbarians was too great.

Regular units of the Raetian army are no longer mentioned on the Augsburg victory altar , the installation of which is dated September 11, 260 AD.

In late antiquity, the Raetian army was commanded by a Dux Raetiae (Dux provinciae Raetiae primae et secundae) . This military office was introduced in the course of the state reforms initiated by Emperor Diocletian (284-305) around 310. The Notitia Dignitatum shows the distribution of the troops that had remained in Raetia until then. The disappearance of most auxiliary troop contingents and their replacement by completely new units at the end of the 3rd century is striking. This included two elite cavalry units, three ales, and seven cohorts. Until the 5th century, only those troops remained that were stationed on the south bank of the Danube and not directly on the Raetian Limes in the 3rd century.

The composition of the army

86 AD

The total armed forces of the Raetian Army in 86 consisted of four Alae and eight cohorts . The military diploma from AD 86 is the oldest Raetian document to date that contains a complete list of troops.

The civil rights constitution was issued on May 13, 86 AD for the rider Ditusenes, son of Sala, a Thracian who was honorably discharged from the Ala Thracum veterana, and was first published in 2007. The commander-in-chief of the army was Titus Flavius ​​Norbanus.

107 ad

The total armed forces of the Raetian Army in 107 consisted of four Alae and eleven cohorts.

  • Ala I Hispanorum Auriana; Commander: Marcus Insteius Coelenus
  • Ala I Augusta Thracum
  • Ala I singularium civium Romanorum Pia Fidelis
  • Ala II Flavia Pia Fidelis milliaria

This inventory comes from the military diploma for the honorable dismissed Boier Mogetissa , son of Comatullus from the Ala I Hispanorum Auriana, issued on June 30, 107. It was found in the Weissenburg Castle . At that time there were no Roman legions in Raetia. The large military unit thus had an average number of five to ten thousand soldiers of the auxiliary troops over the time of its existence. What is striking about this list is that only the Coh. I and II Raetorum were straight from Raetia.

139 AD

Larger fragments of a constitution of October 30, 139 AD came to light in 1997 and 1998 in a field near Alteglofsheim. Together with the fragment of a military diploma that was recovered in 1994 in the vicus of Fort Pförring and apparently dated the same day, a solid addition could be made. Comparisons show that in the constitutions of October 30, 139 issued under Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161), the Raetian troop list was unusually separated into two parts and appears accordingly in the civil rights awards that have been preserved. Another fragment from Pförring, which was mentioned for the first time in 1988, probably also dates from October 30, 139. Here those units were listed that are missing from the first two diplomas mentioned. A small fragment found at the site of the small fort in Pfatter is probably also one of the documents dated October 30, 139.

  • Ala II Flavia Pia Fidelis milliaria (Alteglofsheim, Pförring 1994)
  • Ala I Hispanorum Auriana (Pförring 1988)
  • Ala I Flavia Gemelliana
  • Ala I singularium civium Romanorum Pia Fidelis; Commander "Gallicus" (Alteglofsheim, Pförring 1994)
  • Cohors I Flavia Canathenorum milliaria sagittariorum (Alteglofsheim, Pförring 1994)
  • Cohors I Breucorum
  • Cohors I Raetorum (Alteglofsheim, Pförring 1994)
  • Cohors II Raetorum
  • Cohors II Aquitanorum (Alteglofsheim, Pförring 1994)
  • Cohors III Bracaraugustanorum
  • Cohors III Thracum veterana (Alteglofsheim, Pförring 1994, Pfatter)
  • Cohors III Thracum civium Romanorum (Pförring 1988)
  • Cohors III Britannorum (Alteglofsheim, Pförring 1994)
  • Cohors IV Gallorum
  • Cohors IV Tungrorum milliaria vexillatio (Alteglofsheim, Pförring 1994)
  • Cohors V Bracaraugustanorum
  • Cohors VI Lusitanorum
  • Cohors IX Batavorum milliaria vexillatio (Pförring 1988)

147 ad

The total armed forces of the Raetian army consisted of four Alae and 14 cohorts according to the Einingen diploma issued in 147 .

  • Ala II Flavia Pia Fidelis milliaria
  • Ala I Hispanorum Auriana
  • Ala I Flavia [Gemelliana] civium Romanorum
  • Ala I singularium civium Romanorum
  • Cohors I Flavia Canathenorum milliaria [sagittariorum]
  • Cohors I Breucorum
  • Cohors I Raetorum
  • Cohors II Raetorum
  • Cohors II Aquitanorum
  • Cohors II Tungrorum [milliaria] vexillatio
  • Cohors III Bracaraugustanorum
  • Cohors III Thracum veterana
  • Cohors III Thracum civium Romanorum
  • Cohors III Britannorum
  • Cohors IV Gallorum
  • Cohors V Bracaraugustanorum
  • Cohors VI Lusitanorum
  • Cohors IX Batavorum [milliaria vexillatio]

156 AD

In 2008 a fragment of a civil rights constitution came to light near Nördlingen on the outskirts of the lowland area of ​​the Eger , which was apparently issued in January or February 156 AD. The units missing on the fragment can be supplemented by further fragments of documents and datable inscriptions. The Nördlinger Diploma becomes important because of the fact that it clearly only mentions 13 cohorts. This document is the earliest document that confirms the demonstrable permanent decrease from 14 to 13 cohorts in Raetia. The vexillation of the 2nd Tungrian cohort, which was last seen in a military diploma from January / March 153, now falls out of the lists of the Raetian army.

  • Ala II Flavia Pia Fidelis [milliaria]
  • Ala I Hispanorum Auriana (Nördlingen 2008)
  • Ala I Flavia Gemelliana (Nördlingen 2008)
  • Ala I singularium civium Romanorum
  • Cohors I Flavia Canathenorum [milliaria sagittariorum] (Nördlingen 2008)
  • Cohors I Breucorum civium Romanorum
  • Cohors I Raetorum (Nördlingen 2008)
  • Cohors II Raetorum (Nördlingen 2008)
  • Cohors II Aquitanorum civium Romanorum
  • Cohors III Bracaraugustanorum (Nördlingen 2008)
  • Cohors III Thracum veterana (Nördlingen 2008)
  • Cohors III Thracum civium Romanorum
  • Cohors III Britannorum
  • Cohors IV Gallorum
  • Cohors V Bracaraugustanorum
  • Cohors VI Lusitanorum
  • Cohors IX Batavorum [milliaria vexillatio]

AD 162/166

The civil rights constitution of a veteran of the Raetian army, issued in AD 162, was found in Rome. The document gives four alae and thirteen cohorts. The composition of the troops has not changed since 156 AD. The same applies to the diploma from March / April 166 AD, discovered in Regensburg-Kumpfmühl.

Commander in Chief of the Army

See: List of the Lieutenants of Raetia

The headquarters of the Raetian Army was in Augusta Vindelicum ( Augsburg ). The city developed after the abandonment of an early legionary camp at the latest in AD 16. Even after the administrative reform initiated by Emperor Diocletian (284–305), which resulted in the division of Raetia, Augsburg remained the administrative seat of the province of Raetia secunda and the seat of the army administration of both Raetian subregions, which - as the Notitia Dignitatum informs - the Dux provinciae Raetiae primae et secundae were subordinate.

literature

  • Hans-Jörg Kellner : exercitus Raeticus. Troops and locations in the 1st – 3rd Century AD In: Bavarian History Papers. 36, 1971, ISSN  0341-3918 , pp. 207-215.
  • Hans-Jörg Kellner: The Romans in Bavaria. 2nd supplemented edition. Süddeutscher Verlag, Munich 1972, ISBN 3-7991-5676-3 .
  • Karlheinz Dietz in: Wolfgang Czysz , Karlheinz Dietz, Thomas Fischer , Hans-Jörg Kellner: The Romans in Bavaria. Theiss, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-8062-1058-6 , pp. 43-47, 126-137.
  • Hartmut Wolff : The Raetian army and its "military diplomas" in the 2nd century AD. In: Bavarian prehistory sheets. 65, 2000, pp. 155-172.
  • Werner Eck - Andreas Pangerl, Titus Flavius ​​Norbanus, praefectus praetorio Domitians, as governor of Rhaetia in a new military diploma, ZPE 163, 2007, 239–251
  • Handbook of Baden-Württemberg History. (very detailed, extensive references)

Remarks

  1. ↑ Hans-Jörg Kellner: The Romans in Bavaria. 2nd supplemented edition. Süddeutscher Verlag, Munich 1972, plate 24.
  2. ↑ Hilmar jewelry: Biographical index of antiquity . Saur, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-598-33996-8 , p. 767; CIL 16, 00005 .
  3. ↑ Michael A. Speidel: Römische Reitertruppen in Augst. A contribution to the early history of the Windischer Army Association . Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 91, pp. 165–175; here: p. 171.
  4. ↑ Dietwulf Baatz: Catapult clamping bushes from Auerberg . In: Günter Ulbert : The Auerberg I . Beck, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-406-37500-6 , pp. 173-189; here p. 184.
  5. ^ Anne Johnson (German adaptation by Dietwulf Baatz ): Römische Kastelle , von Zabern, Mainz 1987, ISBN 3-8053-0868-X , p. 32 f.
  6. ↑ Marcus Junkelmann: The riders of Rome. Part II, von Zabern, Mainz 1991, ISBN 3-8053-1139-7 , p. 83.
  7. ↑ CIL 6,3255
  8. ↑ CIL 16, 101 .
  9. ↑ Marcus Junkelmann: The riders of Rome. Part II, von Zabern, Mainz 1991, ISBN 3-8053-1139-7 , p. 91.
  10. ↑ AE 1907, 00186 ; AE 1907, 00187 ; Inscription at Ubi erat lupa ; C. Sebastian Sommer : Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marc Aurel ...? - To date the systems of the Raetian Limes . In: Report of Bayerische Bodendenkmalpflege 56 (2015), pp. 321–327; here: p. 142.
  11. ↑ CIL 03, 11935 ; CIL 03, 06530 .
  12. ↑ Jörg Faßbinder : New results of the geophysical prospection on the Upper German-Raetian Limes . In: Andreas Thiel (ed.): New research on the Limes , Volume 3, Theiss, Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-8062-2251-7 . P. 163.
  13. ↑ Farkas István Gergő: The Roman Army in Raetia , dissertation, University of Pécs, Pécs 2015, p. 153.
  14. ^ Karlheinz Dietz: Regensburg in Roman times. Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 1979, ISBN 3-7917-0599-7 , p. 130.
  15. ↑ Michael Mackensen : The province of Raetien in late antiquity. In: The Romans between the Alps and the North Sea . Zabern, Mainz 2000, p. 214.
  16. ↑ Occ. XXXV.
  17. ↑ Werner Eck - Andreas Pangerl, Titus Flavius ​​Norbanus, praefectus praetorio Domitians, as governor of Rhaetia in a new military diploma, ZPE 163, 2007, 239-251
  18. ^ Werner Eck: Bureaucracy and Politics in the Roman Empire. Administrative routine and political reflexes in the civil rights constitutions of the Roman emperors . Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2012, ISBN 978-3-531-18742-6 , pp. 83-85.
  19. ↑ Hans-Jörg Kellner: The Romans in Bavaria. 2nd supplemented edition. Süddeutscher Verlag, Munich 1972, p. 67.
  20. ↑ CIL 16,00055 .
  21. ^ AE 1999, 1183 .
  22. ^ AE 1999, 1181 .
  23. ^ Karlheinz Dietz: A new military diploma from Alteglofsheim, district of Regensburg. Documents from the early days of the emperor Antoninus Pius . In: Contributions to archeology in the Upper Palatinate 3 (1999), p. 225 u. 233.
  24. ↑ AE 1988, 902 .
  25. ^ Karlheinz Dietz: A new military diploma from Alteglofsheim, district of Regensburg. Documents from the early days of the emperor Antoninus Pius . In: Contributions to Archeology in the Upper Palatinate 3 (1999), p. 249.
  26. ↑ Bernd Steidl: … civitatem dedit et conubium… Eight new fragments of military diplomas from Raetia . In: Bavarian history sheets 79, 2014, pp. 61–86; here: p. 64.
  27. ↑ CIL 16,94 .
  28. ↑ Bernd Steidl: … civitatem dedit et conubium… Eight new fragments of military diplomas from Raetia . In: Bavarian history sheets 79, 2014, pp. 61–86; here: pp. 69–71.
  29. ↑ CIL 16, 00118 .
  30. ↑ CIL 16, 00121 .
  31. ^ Wilhelm Schleiermacher : Augsburg . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 1, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1978, ISBN 3-11-00489-7 , p. 488.
  32. ^ Josephine Blei: Dominium populi Romani vel Caesaris and causa dominica . Frank & Timme, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86596-537-0 . P. 102.