Imperial Roman Army

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Imperial Roman army 1

Imperial Roman army

Imperial Roman Army

Roman infantry helmet (Imperial Gallic type). Late 1st century

Active 30 BC - 284 AD

Country Roman Empire

Branch Army

Size 450,000 at peak in 211 AD

Unit types Roman legions, Auxilia, Pretorian Guard

Disbanded Became the late Roman army

The Imperial Roman army refers to the armed forces deployed by the Roman Empire during the Principate era (30

BCAD 284).

Under the founderemperor Augustus (ruled 30 BCAD 14 ), the legions, which were formations numbering about

5,000 heavy infantry recruited from Roman citizens only, were transformed from a mixed conscript and volunteercorps serving an average of 10 years, to all-volunteer units of long-term professionals serving a standard 25-year

term. (Conscription was only decreed in emergencies.) In the later 1st century, the size of a legion's First Cohort was

doubled, increasing the strength of a legion to about 5,500.

To complement the legions, Augustus established the auxilia, a regular corps of similar numbers to the legions,

recruited from the peregrini or non-citizen inhabitants of the empire, who constituted about 90% of the Empire's

population in the 1st century. In addition to large numbers of heavy infantry equipped in a similar manner to

legionaries, the auxilia provided virtually all the army's cavalry, light infantry, archers and other specialists. The

auxilia were organised in units about 500 strong. These units were termed cohortes if they consisted of infantry, alae

if they consisted of cavalry and cohortes equitatae if they were composed of infantry with a cavalry contingent

attached.

Until about AD 68, the auxilia were recruited by a mix of conscription and voluntary enlistment. After that time, the

auxilia became largely a volunteer corps, with conscription resorted to only in emergencies. Auxiliaries were

required to serve a minimum of 25 years, although many served for longer periods. On completion of their minimum

term, auxiliaries were awarded Roman citizenship, which carried important legal, fiscal and social advantages.

Around AD 80, a minority of auxiliary regiments were doubled in size.

Alongside the regular forces, the army of the Principate employed allied native units (called numeri) from outside

the Empire on a mercenary basis. These were led by their own aristocrats and equipped in traditional fashion.

Numbers fluctuated according to circumstances and are largely unknown.

As all-citizen formations, and symbolic protectors of the dominance of the Italian "master-nation", legions enjoyedgreater social prestige than the auxilia for much of the Principate. This was reflected in better pay and benefits. In
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addition, legionaries were equipped with more expensive and protective armour than auxiliaries, notably the lorica

segmentata, or laminated-strip armour. However, in 212, the Emperor Caracalla granted Roman citizenship to nearly

all the Empire's freeborn inhabitants. At this point, the distinction between legions and auxilia became moot, the

latter becoming all-citizen units also. The change was reflected in the disappearance, during the 3rd century, of

legionaries' special equipment, and the progressive break-up of legions into cohort-sized units like the auxilia.

By the end of Augustus' reign, the imperial army numbered some 250,000 men, equally split between 25 legions and250 units of auxiliaries. The numbers grew to a peak of about 450,000 by 211, in 33 legions and about 400 auxiliary

units. By then, auxiliaries outnumbered legionaries substantially. From this peak, numbers probably underwent a

steep decline by 270 due to plague and losses during multiple major barbarian invasions. Numbers were restored to

their early 2nd-century level of c. 400,000 (but probably not to their 211 peak) under Diocletian (r. 284-305). After

the Empire's borders became settled (on the Rhine-Danube line in Europe) by AD 68, virtually all military units

(except the Praetorian Guard) were stationed on or near the borders, in roughly 17 of the 42 provinces of the empire

in the reign of Hadrian (r. 117138).

The military chain of command was relatively flat. In each province, the deployed legions' legati (legion

commanders, who also controlled the auxiliary units attached to their legion) reported to the legatus Augusti pro

praetore (provincial governor), who also headed the civil administration. The governor in turn reported directly tothe Emperor in Rome. There was no general staff in Rome, but the leading praefectus praetorio (commander of the

Praetorian Guard) often acted as the Emperor's de facto military chief-of-staff.

Compared to the subsistence-level peasant families from which they mostly originated, legionary rankers enjoyed

considerable disposable income, enhanced by periodical cash bonuses on special occasions such as the accession of a

new emperor. In addition, on completion of their term of service, they were given a generous discharge bonus

equivalent to 13 years' salary. Auxiliaries were paid much less in the early 1st century, but by 100 AD, the

differential had virtually disappeared. Similarly, in the earlier period, auxiliaries appear not to have received cash

and discharge bonuses, but probably did so from the reign of Hadrian onwards. Junior officers (principales), the

equivalent of non-commissioned officers in modern armies, could expect to earn up to twice basic pay. Legionary

centurions, the equivalent of senior warrant officers, were organised in an elaborate hierarchy. Usually promoted

from the ranks, they commanded the legion's tactical sub-units ofcenturiae (about 80 men) and cohorts (about 480

men). They were paid several multiples of basic pay. The most senior centurion, theprimus pilus, was automatically

elevated to equestrian rank on completion of his single-year term of office. The senior officers of the army, the legati

legionis (legion commanders), tribuni militum (legion staff officers) and the praefecti (commanders of auxiliary

regiments) were all of at least equestrian rank. In the 1st and early 2nd centuries, they were mainly Italian aristocrats

performing the military component of their cursus honorum (conventional career-path). Later, provincial career

officers became predominant. Senior officers were paid enormous salaries, multiples of at least 50 times a soldier's

basic pay.

Soldiers spent only a fraction of their lives on campaign. Most of their time was spent on routine military duties suchas training, patrolling, and maintenance of equipment etc. Soldiers also played an important role outside the military

sphere. They performed the function of a provincial governor's police force. As a large, disciplined and skilled force

of fit men, they played a crucial role in the construction of a province's military and civil infrastructure. In addition

to constructing forts and fortified defences such as Hadrian's Wall, they built roads, bridges, ports, public buildings

and entire new cities (colonia), and cleared forests and drained marshes to expand a province's available arable land.

Soldiers, mostly drawn from polytheistic societies, enjoyed wide freedom of worship in the polytheistic Roman

system. Only a few cults were banned by the Roman authorities, as being incompatible with the official Roman

religion or being politically subversive, notably Druidism and Christianity. The later Principate saw the rise in

popularity among the military of Eastern mystery cults, generally centred on one deity, and involving secret rituals

divulged only to initiates. By far the most popular cult in the army was Mithraism, an apparently syncretist cultwhich mainly originated in Asia Minor.
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Sources

Section of Trajan's Column, Rome, showing the spiral

friezes that represent the best surviving evidence of the

equipment of imperial Roman soldiers

Surviving fragment of a Roman military diploma found

at Carnuntum in the province of Noricum (Austria)

Specimen Vindolanda tablets

Except for the early 1st century, the literary evidence for the

Principate period is surprisingly thin, due to the loss of a large

number of contemporary historical works. From the point of view

of the imperial army, the most useful sources are: firstly, works by

the general Caius Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico and De Bello

Civili, covering his conquest of Gaul (58-50 BC) and his civil war

against rival general Pompey (49-48 BC), respectively. Strictly

speaking, these wars pre-date the army's imperial period (which

started in 30 BC), but Caesar's detailed accounts are close enough

in time to provide a wealth of information about organisation and

tactics still relevant to the imperial legions. Secondly, works by

the imperial-era historian Tacitus, writing around AD 100. These

are the Annales, a chronicle of the Julio-Claudian era from the

death of the founder-emperor Augustus to that of Nero (AD

14-68). Even this suffers from large gaps, amounting to about a

third of the original; the Historiae was the sequel to the Annales,

bringing the chronicle up to the death of Domitian (AD 96), of

which only the first part, a detailed account of the Civil War of

68-9 survives; and the Agricola, a biography of Tacitus' own

father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who as governor of Britain

(AD 78-85) attempted to subjugate Caledonia (Scotland) to

Roman rule. The third important literary source isDe Re Militari,

a treatise on Roman military practices by Vegetius, written c. 400.

This contains much useful material relating to the Principate

period, but the author's statements are undated and sometimes

unreliable. Also useful are: The Jewish War by Josephus, an

eyewitness account of the First Jewish revolt of AD 66-70 by one

of the Jewish commanders who defected to the Romans after he

was captured; the essayAcies contra Alanos (Ektaxis kata Alanon)

by the Greek author Arrian, who was imperial governor of

Cappadocia in AD 135-8: this describes a campaign led by the

author to repel an invasion of his province by the Alans, an Iranic

people of the Caucasus region. But most Roman historians present

only a very limited picture of the imperial army's affairs, as they

describe only military campaigns and say little about the army's

organisation, logistics and the daily lives of the troops.

Fortunately, the thin and fragmentary literary evidence has been

complemented by a vast mass of inscription and archaeological

evidence.

The imperial army was a highly bureaucratised institution.

Meticulous financial records were kept by units' cornicularii

(book-keepers). Detailed records were kept on all individual

soldiers and there is evidence of filing systems.[1] Even minor matters such as soldiers' requests to their praefectus

for leave (commeatus) had to be submitted in writing.[2] From the evidence discovered at Vindolanda, a fort near
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Hadrian's Wall, it can be deduced that the Roman garrison in the province of Britain alone generated tens of millions

of documents.[3] However, only an infinitesimal fraction of this vast documentation has survived, due to organic

decomposition of the writing-medium (wooden and wax-tablets and papyrus). The only region of the empire where

the army's documentation has survived in significant quantities is Egypt, where exceptionally dry conditions have

prevented decomposition. Egyptian papyri are thus a crucial source for the army's internal organisation and life. The

Vindolanda tablets, documents inscribed on wooden tablets and preserved by unusual anoxic conditions, are a rare

corpus of army documents from the north-western part of the Empire. They consist of a series of letters and

memoranda between officers of three auxiliary regiments stationed in succession at Vindolanda AD 85122. They

provide a valuable glimpse of the real lives and activities of the garrison of an auxiliary fort. [4]

A large corpus of inscription evidence has been preserved on inorganic materials such as metal or stone.

Of outstanding importance are the bas-reliefs on monuments erected by emperors to record their victorious wars. The

most notable example is Trajan's Column in Rome. Erected in 112 to celebrate the Emperor Trajan's successful

conquest of Dacia (101-7), the reliefs provide the most comprehensive and detailed portrayal of Roman military

equipment and practice extant. Other examples include imperial triumphal arches (see List of Roman triumphal

arches). Another major source on stone is the extensive corpus of recovered tombstones of Roman soldiers. These

often carry reliefs showing the subject in full combat dress plus inscriptions containing a summary of his career (age,units served, ranks held). Also important are dedications of votive altars by military personnel, which shed light on

the dedicator's religious beliefs. In the case of both tombstones and altars, officers are disproportionately represented,

due to the substantial expense of such monuments.

Notable metal documents are Roman military diplomas. A diploma was a bronze tablet issued, between c. AD 50

and 212 (when all free inhabitants of the empire were granted Roman citizenship) to an auxiliary soldier on

completion of his 25-year term of service to prove the award of citizenship to the holder and his family. A particular

advantage of diplomas for historians is that they are accurately datable. Diplomas also normally list the names of

several auxiliary units which served in the same province at the same time, critical data on the deployment of

auxiliary units in the various provinces of the Empire at different times. Also usually recorded are: beneficiary's

regiment, regimental commander's name, beneficiary's military rank, name of beneficiary, name of beneficiary's

father and origin (nation, tribe or city); name of beneficiary's wife and name of her father and origin; and names of

children granted citizenship. Over 800 diplomas have been recovered, although most in a fragmentary state. (Even

these, however, represent an infinitesimal fraction of the hundreds of thousands of diplomas which must have been

issued. Apart from natural corrosion, the main reason for this low recovery rate is that, prior due to the late 19th

century, when their historical value was recognised, diplomas were almost invariably melted down when found in

order to recover their copper content - indeed most were probably melted down in the period following 212).

Finally, a mass of information has been uncovered by archaeological excavation of imperial military sites: legionary

fortresses, auxiliary forts, marching-camps and other facilities such as signal-stations. A prime example is

Vindolanda fort itself, where excavations began in the 1930s and continue in 2012 (under the grandson of the firstdirector, Eric Birley). Such excavations have uncovered details of the lay-out and facilities of military sites and

remains of military equipment.

Background: the Caesarian Roman army

The army of the late Republic that Augustus took over on becoming sole ruler of the Empire in 30 BC consisted of a

number of large (5,000-strong) formations called legions, which were composed exclusively of heavy infantry. The

legion's light infantry (velites) which had been deployed in earlier times (see Roman army of the mid-Republic), had

been phased out as had its contingent of cavalry. Legions were recruited from Roman citizens only (i.e.: from

Italians and inhabitants of Roman colonies outside Italy), by regular conscription, although by 88 BC, a substantial

proportion of recruits were volunteers.
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To remedy the deficiencies in capability of the legions (heavy and light cavalry, light infantry, archers and other

specialists), the Romans relied on a motley array of irregular units of allied troops, both composed of subject natives

of the empire's provinces (called theperegrini by the Romans) and of bands supplied, often on a mercenary basis, by

Rome's allied kings beyond the Empire's borders. Led by their own aristocrats and equipped in their own traditional

fashion, these native units varied widely in size, quality and reliability. Most would only be available for particular

campaigns before returning home or disbanding.

Foundation of the imperial army under Augustus (30 BC - AD 14)

Statue of the founder-emperor Augustus in garb of

military commander-in-chief

On gaining undisputed mastery over the Roman empire in 30 BC,

Augustus (sole rule 30 BC - AD 14) was left with an army which

was bloated by extraordinary recruitment for the Roman civil wars

and at the same lacking a suitable organisation for the defence and

expansion of a vast empire. Even after disbanding most of his

defeated adversary Mark Anthony's legions, Augustus had 50

legions under his command, composed exclusively of Roman

citizens i.e. by that time, of Italians and inhabitants of Roman

colonies outside Italy. Alongside these were a mass of irregular

non-Italian allied units whose command, size and equipment

varied greatly. Some allied units came from provinces within the

empire, others from beyond the imperial borders.

Legions

The first priority was to reduce the number of legions to a

sustainable level. 50 legions implied too high a recruitment burden

for a male citizen-body only about two-million strong, especially

as Augustus intended to create a long-term career force. The

Emperor retained just over half his legions, disbanding the rest and

settling their veterans in no less than 28 new Roman colonies.[5]

The number of legions remained close to that level throughout the

Principate (varying between 25 and 33 in number).[6]

Unlike the Republican legions, which were, in theory at least, temporary citizen-levies for the duration of particular

wars, Augustus and his right-hand man Agrippa clearly envisioned their legions as permanent units composed of

career professionals. Under the late Republic, a Roman citizen iunior(i.e. male of military age: 1646 years) could

legally be required to serve a maximum of sixteen years in the legions and a maximum of six years consecutively.The average number of years served was about ten. In 13 BC, Augustus decreed sixteen years as the standardterm

of service for legionary recruits, with a further four years as reservists (evocati). In AD 5, the standard term was

increased to twenty years plus five years in the reserves.[7] In the period following its introduction, the new term was

deeply unpopular with the troops. On Augustus' death in AD 14, the legions stationed on the rivers Rhine and

Danube staged major mutinies, and demanded, among other things, reinstatement of a sixteen-year term.[8] Augustus

prohibited serving legionaries from marrying, a decree that remained in force for two centuries. [9] This measure was

probably prudent in the early imperial period, when most legionaries were from Italy or the Roman colonies on the

Mediterranean, and were required to serve long years far from home. This could lead to disaffection if they left

families behind. But from about AD 100 onwards, when most legions were based long-term in the same

frontier-province and recruitment was primarily local, the prohibition of marriage became a legal encumbrance that

was largely ignored. Many legionaries formed stable relationships and brought up families. Their sons, although
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illegitimate in Roman law and thus unable to inherit their fathers' citizenship, were nevertheless frequently admitted

to legions.

At the same time, the traditional grant of land to retiring veterans was made replaceable by a cash discharge bonus,

as there was no longer sufficient state-owned land (ager publicus) in Italy to distribute. Unlike the Republic, which

had relied primarily on conscription (i.e. compulsory levy), Augustus and Agrippa preferred volunteers for their

professional legions.

[10]

Given the onerous new term of service, it was necessary to offer a substantial bonus toattract sufficient citizen-recruits. In AD 5, the discharge bonus was set at 3,000 denarii.[11] This was a generous sum

equivalent to about 13 years' gross salary for a legionary of the time. To finance this major outlay, Augustus decreed

a 5% tax on inheritances and 1% on auction-sales, to be paid into a dedicated aerarium militare (military

treasury).[12] However, veterans continued to be offered land instead of cash in Roman colonies established in the

newly annexed frontier provinces, where public land was plentiful (as a result of confiscations from defeated

indigenous tribes).[13] This was another grievance behind the mutinies of 14 AD, as it effectively forced Italian

veterans to settle far from their own country (or lose their bonus).[14] The imperial authorities could not compromise

on this issue, as the planting of colonies of Roman veterans was a crucial mechanism for controlling and Romanising

a new province, and the foundation of veterans' colonies did not cease until the end of Trajan's rule (117).[13][15] But

as legionary recruitment became more localised (by AD 60, over half of recruits were not Italian-born), the issuebecame less relevant.[16]

Augustus modified the command structure of the legion to reflect its new permanent, professional nature. In

Republican tradition (but ever less in practice), each legion was under six equestrian military tribunes who took turns

to command it pairs. But in the late Republic, military tribunes were eclipsed by higher-ranking officers of senatorial

rank called legati ("literally "envoys"). A proconsul (Republican governor) might ask the senate to appoint a number

oflegati to serve under him e.g. Julius Caesar, Augustus' grand-uncle and adoptive father, had 5, and later 10, legati

attached to his staff when he was governor of Cisalpine Gaul (58-51 BC). These commanded detachments of one or

more legions at the governor's behest and played a critical role in the conquest of Gaul. But legions still lacked a

single, permanent commander.[17] This was provided by Augustus, who appointed a legatus to command each legion

with a term of office of several years. The ranking senatorial military tribune (tribunus militum laticlavius) wasdesignated deputy commander, while the remaining five equestrian tribunes served as the legatus' staff officers. In

addition, Augustus established a new post ofpraefectus castrorum (literally "prefect of the camp"), to be filled by a

Roman knight (often an outgoing centurio primus pilus, a legion's chief centurion, who was usually elevated to

equestrian rank on completion of his single-year term of office).[12] Technically, this officer ranked below the

senatorial tribune, but his long operational experience made him the legion commander's de facto executive

officer.[18] The prefect's primary role was as the legion's quartermaster, in charge of legionary camps and supplies.

It has been suggested that Augustus was responsible for establishing the tiny cavalry contingent of 120 horse

attached to each legion.[19] The existence of this unit is attested in Josephus' Bellum Iudaicum written after AD 70,

and on a number of tombstones.[20] The attribution to Augustus is based on the (unproven) assumption that legionary

cavalry had completely disappeared in the Caesarian army. The Augustan era also saw the introduction of some

items of more sophisticated and protective equipment for legionaries, primarily to improve their survival rate. The

lorica segmentata (normally called simply "the lorica" by the Romans), was a special laminated-strip body-armour,

was probably developed under Augustus. Its earliest depiction is on the Arch of Augustus at Susa (Western Alps),

dating from 6 BC.[21] The oval shield of the Republic was replaced by the convex rectangular shield (scutum) of the

imperial era.
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Auxilia

Augustus' ambitious expansion plans for the Empire (which included advancing the European border to the lines of

the Elbe and Danube rivers) soon proved that 28 legions were not sufficient. Starting with the Cantabrian Wars,

which aimed to annex the mineral-rich mountains of north-western Spain, Augustus' 44-year sole rule saw an almost

uninterrupted series of major wars that frequently stretched the army's manpower to the limit.

Augustus retained the services of numerous units of irregular allied native troops.[16] But there was an urgent needfor extra regular troops, organised, if not yet equipped, in the same way as the legions. These could only be drawn

from the Empire's vast pool of non-citizen subjects, known asperegrini.[22] These outnumbered Roman citizens by

around nine to one in the early 1st century. The peregrini were now recruited into regular units of cohort-strength (c.

500 men), to form a non-citizen corps called the auxilia (literally: "supports"). By AD 23, Tacitus reports that the

auxilia numbered roughly as many as the legionaries (i.e. c. 175,000 men).[23] The roughly 250 regiments of auxilia

this implies were divided into three types: an all-infantry cohors (plural: cohortes) (cohort) (c. 120 regiments); an

infantry unit with a cavalry contingent attached, the cohors equitata (plural: cohortes equitatae) (80 units); and an

all-cavalry ala (plural: alae, literal meaning: "wing"), of which c. 50 were originally established.[24][25]

It appears that at this early stage, auxiliary recruitment was ethnically based, with most men originating from the

same tribe or province. Hence regiments carried an ethnic name e.g. cohors V Raetorum ("5th Cohort of Raeti"),

recruited from the Raeti, a group of Alpine tribes that inhabited modern Switzerland. It has been suggested that the

equipment of auxiliary regiments was not standardised until after AD 50, and that until then, auxiliaries were armed

with the traditional weaponry of their tribe.[26] But it is possible that at least some regiments had standardised

equipment from Augustan times.

Auxiliary regiments were designed to operate as a complement to the legions. That is, they performed exactly the

same role as the Republic's alae of Italian allies (socii) before the Social War (91-88 BC), an equal number of which

always accompanied legions on campaign.

Praetorian Guard and other forces based in Rome

Praetorian Guard

Under the late Republic, a proconsul on campaign often formed a small personal guard, selected from the troops

under his command, known as a cohors praetoria ("commander's cohort"), from praetorium meaning the

commander's tent at the centre of a Roman marching-camp (or commander's residence in a legionary fortress). At the

Battle of Actium (31 BC), Augustus had five such cohorts around him. After the battle, he retained them in being as

a permanent brigade in and around Rome, known as the praetoriani ("soldiers of the imperial palace"). Inscription

evidence suggests that Augustus increased the Praetorian establishment to nine cohorts, each under the command of

a tribunus militum (military tribune).[27] With all the legions deployed in far-off provinces under the command of

powerful senators, Augustus evidently considered that he needed a least one legion-sized force with him in Rome todeter potential usurpers. Augustus stationed three cohorts in the City itself, each housed in separate barracks, and the

rest in neighbouring cities of Latium. Originally, each cohort was independent, but in 2 BC, Augustus appointed two

overall commanders (praefecti praetorio) of equestrian rank, one for the cohorts based in the City, the other for those

outside.[28]

Augustus envisaged the Praetorians as an elite force, whose duties included guarding the imperial palace on the

Palatine hill, protecting the Emperor's person and those of his family, defending the imperial government, and

accompanying the emperor when he left the City on long journeys or to lead military campaigns in person. They also

served as ceremonial troops on state occasions. Recruits to the ranks were, during the Julio-Claudian era, exclusively

Italian-born. They were accorded much better pay and conditions than ordinary legionaries. In AD 5, the standard

term of service for Praetorians was set at 16 years (compared to 25 years in the legions), and their pay was set attriple the rate of ordinary legionaries.[29] In deference to Republican tradition, which banned armed men within the
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boundaries of the City of Rome, Augustus laid down a rule that Praetorians on duty within the City must not wear

armour and must keep their weapons out of sight.[30] Those Praetorians on important official duties, such as the

Emperor's bodyguard-detail, wore the formal dress of Roman citizens, the toga, under which they concealed their

swords and daggers.[31][32] The rest wore the soldier's standard non-combat dress of tunic and cloak

(paludamentum).[33]

Urban cohorts

In addition to the praetorians, Augustus established a second armed force in Rome, the cohortes urbanae ("urban

cohorts"), of which three were based in the City and one inLugdunum (Lyon) in Gaul, to protect the major imperial

mint there. These battalions were tasked with maintaining public order in the City, including crowd-control at major

events such as chariot-races and gladiatorial combats, and the suppression of the popular unrest that periodically

shook the City e.g. the riots caused by high grain prices in AD 19. [34] Their command was given to thepraefectus

urbi, a senator who acted as Rome's "mayor". Unlike the praetorians, the urban cohorts were not deployed for

military operations outside Italy.[35]

German bodyguards

To double-insure his own personal safety and that of imperial family members, Augustus established a small

personal guard called the Germani corporis custodes ("German Bodyguards Regiment"). Probably of

cohort-strength, these were crack horsemen recruited from native peoples on the lower Rhine, mainly from the

Batavi. Their leader, probably a Batavi aristocrat, answered to the Emperor alone. The Germans shared the task of

guarding the imperial palace and family with the praetorians.[29] In AD 68, the Emperor Galba disbanded the

German Bodyguards Regiment because of their loyalty to Nero (ruled 54-68), whom he had overthrown. The

decision caused deep offence to the Batavi, and contributed to the outbreak of the Revolt of the Batavi in the

following year.[36]

Historical development

Imperial expansion strategy

Under Augustus, the European borders of the empire he inherited from his grand-uncle Julius Caesar were

considerably expanded. During the first half of his sole rule (309 BC), Augustus' central strategic objective was to

advance the Roman border from Illyricum and Macedonia to the line of the Danube, Europe's greatest river, in order

both to increase strategic depth between the border and Italy and to provide a major fluvial supply route for the

Roman armies in the region. The strategy was successfully executed: Moesia (29-7 BC), Noricum (16 BC), Raetia

(15 BC) and Pannonia (12-9 BC) were annexed in steady succession. After settling the Danube border, Augustus

turned his attention to the North, where Julius Caesar had in 51 BC established the border of Roman Gaul along the

river Rhine, the second major European fluvial route. Augustus launched an ambitious strategy of advancing the

Rhine border to the river Elbe, aiming to incorporate all the warlike West Germanic tribes. This would eliminate

their chronic threat to Gaul, increase strategic depth between free Germans and Gaul, and make the western

Germans' formidable manpower available to the Roman army. But a massive and sustained military effort (6 BC -

AD 9) came to nothing. Roman advances in Germania Magna (i.e. Germany outside the empire) had to be scaled

down during the Great Illyrian Revolt of AD 6-9, when many troops were diverted to Illyricum; and Augustus'

expansion strategy suffered a crushing setback when some 20,000 Roman troops were ambushed and massacred by

the Germans at the Battle of the Teutoberg Forest in AD 9. After this, Augustus shelved his Elbe strategy. It was

apparently revived briefly by his stepson and successor Tiberius, whose nephews, the generals Germanicus and

Drusus, launched major and successful operations in Germania in AD 14-17, during which the main tribes

responsible for Varus' defeat were crushed and the three lost legionary aquilae (eagle-standards) were recovered.[37]

But Tiberius had clearly decided to keep the border at the Rhine by AD 16, [38] probably assessing the West
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Germanic tribes as too powerful and rebellious to incorporate successfully into the empire. After this, plans to annex

western Germania were never seriously revived by Augustus' successors. Under the Flavian emperors (69-96), the

Romans occupied the trans-Rhenane region they called the Agri Decumates, roughly the territory of the modern

German state of Baden-Wrttemberg. But this acquisition was aimed at shortening the lines of communication

between the legionary bases of Germania Superior and Raetia provinces (Mainz and Strasbourg in Germania Sup.

and Augst and Regensburg in Raetia), by incorporating the salient between the upper reaches of the Rhine and

Danube rivers: this annexation was not part of a broader strategy to annex western Germania.

Doubtless mindful of the costly failure of his Elbe strategy, Augustus reportedly included a clause in his will

advising his successors not to attempt to expand the empire further. [39] In the main, this advice was followed, and

few permanent annexations were made for the duration of the Principate. The main exceptions were Britain, which

was invaded by the emperor Claudius in AD 43 and was progressively subdued (as far as the Tyne-Solway line of

the later Hadrian's Wall) in 43-78 (although the stiff, prolonged resistance offered by native tribes seemingly

confirmed Augustus' warning, and reportedly led the emperor Nero at one stage to seriously consider withdrawing

from Britain altogether);[40] and Dacia, conquered by Trajan in 101-6. In both cases, it appears that, apart from

imperial self-glorification, the primary motivations were probably the target-countries' mineral resources and

considerations of strategic defence.Apart from Britain and Dacia, other major territorial acquisitions by ambitious emperors were swiftly abandoned by

their immediate successors, who took a more realistic view of the value and defensibility of the new possessions:

1. In Britain, governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola was in AD 79 apparently authorised by emperor Vespasian to launch

the conquest of Caledonia, thus bringing the whole island under Roman rule.[41] But in 85, by which time

Agricola's troops had probably advanced as far north as Inverness, the project was apparently cancelled by the

emperor Domitian. Agricola was dismissed and archaeology shows that the Romans abondoned the Scottish

Highlands and withdrew to the Forth-Clyde isthmus; and that by 110, Roman forts in the Scottish Lowlands had

also been evacuated, returning the border to the Tyne-Solway line. This prompted Agricola's son-in-law, the

historian Tacitus, to comment that "the complete subjugation of Britain was achieved but immediately given up"

(perdomita Britannia et statim missa.[42] (Two further attempts to annex the Lowlands - by Antoninus Pius (r.

138-61), who built the Antonine Wall along the Forth-Clyde isthmus, and by Septimius Severus (r. 197-211),

were likewise abandoned by their successors).

2. The Parthian province of Mesopotamia, annexed by Trajan in 116, was evacuated by his successor Hadrian in

118.

3. Hadrian also withdrew, by 126 (cf: the establishment of theLimes Transalutanus), from a large portion of

Decebal's former Dacian kingdom, shortly after its conquest in 107 by Trajan: Moldavia, eastern Wallachia and

the Banat (SE Hungarian Plain) were abandoned to Free Dacian and Sarmatian tribes. The most likely reason was

that these regions did not possess significant mineral resources and were considered too difficult to defend.

4. Marcus Aurelius' reported plans to annex Sarmatia (i.e. the Hungarian Plain, which formed a salient between

Roman Pannonia and Dacia, then under the control of the warlike Iazyges Sarmatian tribe) andMarcomannia

(Bavaria/Austria north of the Danube, the territory of the Marcomanni and Quadi Germanic tribes) were only

partially accomplished by the time the emperor died in 180 and even these gains were promptly abandoned by his

son and successor Commodus.

In a different category are the Roman troops deployed to protect the Greek cities on the northern shores of the Black

sea (Pontus Euxinus). These cities controlled trade in the vital resources of the northern Black sea region (principally

grain from Sarmatia and metals from the Caucasus region. Pontic Olbia and the Roman client-states of the Bosporan

kingdom and Colchis hosted Roman garrisons for much of the Principate era. But here the Romans relied on tame

native monarchies rather than direct annexation. By this means, the Black sea was turned into a Roman "lake"

inexpensively.
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After the annexations of Dacia, the borders became settled. The Rhine-Danube line became the permanent border of

the Roman Empire in continental Europe. In the East, despite a certain amount of see-sawing in the disputed

buffer-zone of Armenia, the long-term border with the Parthian empire was settled along the upper Euphrates river

and the Arabian desert. In North Africa, the Sahara desert provided a natural barrier. As the borders became settled,

the Roman army gradually mutated from an army of conquest to one of strategic defence, with long-term, fortified

bases for the legions and strings of auxiliary forts along the imperial borders. The strategy adopted to ensure border

security and the role required of the army by that strategy is discussed in Border security strategy, below.

1st century

A diagram of a late 1st-century AD Roman

legion.

Re-enactor wearing replica of the typical equipment of

a foot-soldier in the northern provinces in the early 3rd

century, illustrating the changes in clothing and

equipment from the 1st/2nd centuries. The helmet is aNiederbieber type, with cross-pattern reinforcing ridges

on the top of the bowl. The sword is a spatha (median

blade length 900 mm), used by the cavalry only in the

earlier. The soldier carries a spiculum, a heavy

pilum-type javelin. Note the chain mail (lorica hamata)

shirt and oval shield. Clothing consisted of a

long-sleeved tunic, trousers and boots, replacing the

short-sleeved, bare-legged tunic and sandals of the

previous era

The dual-structure configuration of legions/auxilia established by

Augustus remained essentially intact until the late 3rd century,

with only minor modifications made during that long period. The

senior officers of the army were, until the 3rd century, mainly

from the Italian aristocracy. This was divided into two orders, the

senatorial order (ordo senatorius), consisting of the c. 600 sitting

members of the Roman Senate (plus their sons and grandsons),and the more numerous (several thousand-strong) equites equo

publico or "knights granted a public horse" i.e. knights hereditary

or appointed by the Emperor. Hereditary senators and knights

combined military service with civilian posts, a career-path known

as the cursus honorum, typically starting with a period of junior

administrative posts in Rome, followed by five to ten years in the

military and a final period of senior positions in either the

provinces or at Rome.[43] This tiny, tightly knit ruling oligarchy of

under 10,000 men monopolised political, military and economic

power in an empire of c. 60 million inhabitants and achieved a

remarkable degree of political stability. During the first 200 years

of its existence (30 BC AD 180), the empire suffered only one

major episode of civil strife (the Civil War of 689). Otherwise,

attempts at usurpation by provincial governors were few and

swiftly suppressed.

Under the emperor Claudius (ruled 41-54), a minimum term of 25

years' service was established for auxiliary service (although many

served for longer). On completion of the term, auxiliary soldiers,

and their children, were from this time routinely granted Romancitizenship as a reward for service.[44] (This is deduced from the

fact that the first known Roman military diplomas date from the

time of Claudius. This was a folding bronze tablet engraved with

the details of the soldier's service record, which he could use to

prove his citizenship).[45]

Claudius also decreed that prefects of auxiliary regiments must all

be of knightly rank, thus excluding serving centurions from such

commands.[44] The fact that auxiliary commanders were now all

of the same social rank as all but one of a legion's military tribunes, probably indicates that auxilia now enjoyed
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greater prestige. Indigenous chiefs continued to command some auxiliary regiments, and were normally granted the

rank of Roman knight for the purpose.

It is also likely that auxiliary pay was standardised at this time, but pay scales during the Julio-Claudian period are

uncertain.[44] Estimates range from 33-50% of legionary pay, well below the 75-80% in force in the time of the

emperor Domitian (ruled 81-96).

Auxiliary uniform, armour, weapons and equipment were probably standardised by the end of the Julio-Claudianperiod (AD 68). Auxiliary equipment was broadly similar to that of the legions. By AD 68, there was little difference

between most auxiliary infantry and their legionary counterparts in equipment, training and fighting capability.

After about AD 80, the centuriae of the First Cohort of each legion were doubled in size to 160 men, but the number

of centuriae apparently reduced to 5, thus reducing the legion's centurions from 60 to 59. The legion's effectives

were thus increased to c. 5,240 men plus officers. In the same period, some auxiliary regiments, both alae and

cohortes, were also doubled to so-called milliaria size (literally "1,000-strong", actually only 720 in milliary alae

and 800 in cohortes). But only a minority of auxiliary regiments, about one in seven, were so enlarged.

2nd century

During the 2nd century some units with the new names numerus ("group") and vexillatio ("detachment") appear in

the diploma record.[46] Their size is uncertain, but was likely smaller than the regular alae and cohortes, as originally

they were probably detachments from the latter, acquiring independent status after long-term separation. As these

units are mentioned in diplomas, they were presumably part of the regular auxiliary organisation. [47] But numeri was

also a generic term used for barbarian units outside the regular auxilia. (see section 2.4 Irregular units, below).

3rd century

Relief from the Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus (250-260) depicting a battle

between Romans and Germanic warriors; the central figure is perhaps the

emperor Hostilian (d. 251)

The traditional alternation between senior civilian

and military posts fell into disuse in the late 2nd

and 3rd centuries, as the Italian hereditaryaristocracy was progressively replaced in the

senior echelons of the army by the primipilares

(former chief centurions).[48] In the 3rd century,

only 10% of auxiliary prefects whose origins are

known were Italian equestrians, compared to the

majority in the previous two centuries.[49] At the

same time, equestrians increasingly replaced the

senatorial order in the top commands. Septimius

Severus (ruled 197211) placed equestrian

primipilares in command of the three new legionshe raised and Gallienus (26068) did the same for all the other legions, giving them the titlepraefectus pro legato

("prefect acting as legate").[50][51] The rise of the primipilares may have provided the army with more professional

leadership, but it increased military rebellions by ambitious generals. The 3rd century saw numerous coups d'tatand

civil wars. Few 3rd-century emperors enjoyed long reigns or died of natural causes.[52]

Emperors responded to the increased insecurity with a steady build-up of the forces at their immediate disposal.

These became known as the comitatus ("escort", from which derives the English word "committee"). To the

Praetorian Guard's 10,000 men, Septimius Severus added the legion II Parthica. Based at Albano Laziale near

Rome, it was the first legion to be stationed in Italy since Augustus. He doubled the size of the imperial escort

cavalry, the equites singulares Augusti, to 2,000 by drawing select detachments from alae on the borders.[53]

Hiscomitatus thus numbered some 17,000 men.[54] The rule of Gallienus saw the appointment of a senior officer, with
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the title of dux equitum ("cavalry leader"), to command all the cavalry of the emperor's comitatus. This included

equites promoti (cavalry contingents detached from the legions), plus Illyrian light cavalry (equites Dalmatarum)

and allied barbarian cavalry (equites foederati).[51] But the dux equitum did not command an independent "cavalry

army", as was suggested by some more dated scholars. The cavalry remained integral to the mixed infantry- and

cavalry-comitatus, with the infantry remaining the predominant element.[54]

The seminal development for the army in the early 3rd century was the Constitutio Antoniniana (Antonine Decree)of 212, issued by Emperor Caracalla (ruled 21118). This granted Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the

empire, ending the second-class status of the peregrini.[55] This had the effect of breaking down the distinction

between the citizen legions and the auxiliary regiments. In the 1st and 2nd centuries, the legions were the symbol

(and guarantors) of the dominance of the Italian "master nation" over its subject peoples. In the 3rd century, they

were no longer socially superior to their auxiliary counterparts (although they may have retained their elite status in

military terms).

In tandem, the legions' special armour and equipment (e.g. the lorica segmentata) was phased out during the early

3rd century.[56] There was also a progressive reduction in the size of the legions. Legions were broken up into

smaller units, as evidenced by the shrinkage and eventual abandonment of their traditional large bases, documented

for example in Britain.[57] In addition, from the 2nd century onwards, the separation of some detachments from theirparent units became permanent in some cases, establishing new unit types, e.g. the vexillatio equitum Illyricorum

based in Dacia in the early 2nd century[58] and the equites promoti (legionary cavalry detached from their unit) and

numerus Hnaufridi in Britain.[51][59]

Army size and cost

The first global estimate for the size of the imperial army in the ancient sources is in theAnnales of Tacitus. In AD

23, shortly after the end of the rule of Augustus, there were 25 legions (about 125,000 men) and "roughly the same

number again of auxiliaries" in about 250 regiments.

From this base-line of c. 250,000 effectives, the imperial army grew steadily in the 1st and 2nd centuries, almostdoubling in size to c. 450,000 by the end of the rule of Septimius Severus (AD 211). The number of legions

increased to 33, and auxiliary regiments even more sharply to over 400 regiments. The army under Severus probably

reached its peak size for the Principate period (30 BC - AD 284).

In the late 3rd century, it is likely that the army suffered a sharp decline in numbers due to the so-called "Third

Century Crisis" (235-70) a period of numerous civil wars, major barbarian invasions and above all, the Plague of

Cyprian, an outbreak of smallpox which may have eliminated as many as a third of the army's effectives. It is

possible that, by AD 270, the army was not much greater than in AD 24. From this low point it seems that numbers

were substantially increased, by at least a third, under Diocletian (r. 284-305): John the Lydian reports at some point

in his reign the army totalled 389,704 men - restoring overall strength to the level attained under Hadrian. [60]

The likely trend in the size of the Roman army in the Principate may be summarised as follows:
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ROMAN ARMY NUMBERS 24305 AD

Army corps Tiberius

AD 24

Hadrian

c. AD 130

S. Severus

AD 211

End of 3rd c.

crisis

c. AD 270

Diocletian

284305

LEGIONS 125,000[61]

155,000[62]

182,000[63]

AUXILIA 125,000[64]

218,000[65]

250,000[66]

PRAETORIAN GUARD ~~5,000[67]

~~9,000[68]

~10,000[69]

Total Roman Army255,000

[70]382,000

[71]442,000

[72]290,000?

[73]390,000

[74]

Note: Figures are based on official (not actual) unit strengths and exclude Roman Navy effectives (30-40,000 men) and barbarian foederati (at

least 11,000).

It is estimated that the imperial fleets employed 30-40,000 personnel.[75] Adding 10-20,000 barbarianfoederati, the

military establishment at the time of Severus numbered not far short of half a million men. The impact of the costs of

this enormous standing army on the Roman economy can be measured very approximately.

ARMY COSTS AS SHARE OF ROMAN EMPIRE GDP

Date Empire

populationEmpire GDP

(millions ofdenarii)(a)

Army costs

(millions ofdenarii)(a)

Army costs

as share of GDP

AD 14 46 millions[76]

5,000[77]

123[78] 2.5%

AD 150 61 millions[79]

6,800(b) 194(c) 2.9%

AD 215 50 millions(d) 5,435(b) 223(c) 4.1%

Notes:

(a) constant AD 14 denarii i.e. disregarding increases in military pay to compensate for debasement of coinage

(b) assuming negligible growth in GDP per capita (normal for agricultural economy)

(c) Duncan-Jones 14-84 costs, inflated by increase in army nos. & assuming cash-bonuses and discharge-bonus paid to auxiliaries after 84

(d) assuming 22.5% decline in population due to Antonine Plague (AD 165-80) (midpoint of 15-30% range)[80]

Army costs thus rose only moderately as a share of GDP between 14 and 150 AD, despite a major increase in army

effectives of c. 50%. This is because the empire's population, and therefore total GDP, also increased substantially

(by c. 35%). Thereafter, the army's share of GDP leapt by almost half, although army numbers increased only c.

15%. This is due to the Antonine plague, which is estimated by epidemiological historians to have reduced the

empire's population by 15-30%. Nevertheless, even in 215, the Romans spent a similar proportion of GDP ondefence than today's global superpower, the United States of America (which spent c. 3.5% in 2003). But the

effective burden on taxpayers in an unmechanised agricultural economy with little surplus production (80% of the

population depended on subsistence agriculture and a further 10% were on subsistence income), would have been

relatively far heavier. Indeed, a study of imperial taxes in Egypt, by far the best-documented province, concluded

that the burden was relatively severe.[81]

Military spending swallowed up c. 75% of total government budget, as there was little "social" spending, the main

items of the latter consisting of prestige construction projects in Rome and the provinces; grain-dole and

cash-handouts for Rome's proletariat; and subsidies to Italian families (similar to modern child benefit), to encourage

them to produce more children. Augustus instituted this policy, with a one-off payment of 250 denarii per child.[82]

(Additional subsidies to poor Italian families, known as alimenta, were introduced by Trajan).[83]
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High command structure

Central command

Under the Augustan settlement, the Roman state formally remained a republic, with the same official name, Senatus

Populusque Romanus (SPQR - "The Senate and People of Rome") and administered by the same magistrates (state

executive officers) as before: the Consuls (2 elected each year), Praetors (4), Aediles (12), Quaestors (20), who wereelected (by the Senate after AD 14) annually, and the Censors (2), who were elected every five years. In practice,

however, political and military power was concentrated in the hands of the emperor, whose official titles were

princeps ("First Citizen") and Augustus. (In conversation, the emperor was normally addressed as "Caesar" and

referred to in popular speech as imperator, a term which originally meant "supreme commander", and from which

the English word "emperor" derives, via Proto-Romance * imperatore and Old French empereor). The emperor's

supremacy was based on his assumption of two permanent and sweeping powers: thetribunicia potestas ("power of

the tribune (of the plebs)"), which gave him control of the legislative body, the Senate (by giving him a veto over its

decrees); and the imperium proconsulare maius (literally: "eminent proconsular command"), which made the

emperor, in effect, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces (by subordinating to his command the provincial

governors, who controlled the military forces in their province).[29] In addition, the emperor frequently had himselfelected as one of the Consuls or Censors. The latter post was especially useful, as it gave him the power to appoint

(or remove) members from the roll of Senators and from the Order of Knights, the two aristocratic orders of imperial

Rome, which filled all senior administrative and military positions.

In the border provinces where military units were mostly stationed (i.e. 15-17 of the 42 Hadrianic provinces), the

governors mostly bore the title legatus Augusti pro praetore, although in a few smaller provinces they were known

asprocuratororpraefectus. The governors, who normally held office for three years, commanded all forces in their

provinces, both legions and auxilia, as well as being the heads of the civil administration. The governors reported

directly to the emperor - there were no intermediate levels of command. However, there are instances during the

Principate where the governors of smaller provinces were subordinated to governors of larger neighbouring ones e.g.

thepraefectus (laterprocurator) of Judaea was normally subordinate to the legatus Augusti of Syria.

At Rome, there was no army general staff in the modern sense of a permanent central group of senior staff-officers

who would receive and analyse military intelligence and advise on strategy. Augustus established a formal consilium

principis ("imperial council") of magistrates and leading senators in rotation to advise him on all state matters and to

prepare draft-decrees for submission to the Senate. But the real decisions were made by a semi-formal group of

senior officials and close friends, the amici principis ("friends of the emperor"), whose membership was chosen by

himself and might vary from time to time. Under Tiberius, the amici superseded the formal consilium and became

the effective governing body of the empire.[84]

Several amici would have had extensive military experience, due to the traditional mixing of civilian and military

posts by the Principate aristocracy. But there was no consilium specifically dedicated to military affairs.Commanders of the Praetorian Guard, especially if they did not share their command with a partner, might acquire a

predominant influence in military decision-making and act as de facto military chief-of-staff e.g. Sejanus, who was

sole commander of the Guard AD 14-31, most of the emperor Tiberius' rule.

The emperor and his advisors relied almost entirely on reports from the 17-odd "military" governors for their

intelligence on the security situation on the imperial borders.[85] This is because a central military intelligence

agency was never established.[86] The imperial government did develop an internal security unit called the

frumentarii. In military jargon, this term, literally meaning "grain-collectors" (fromfrumentum = "grain"), referred to

detachments of soldiers detailed to forage food supplies for their units in the field. The term came to be applied to

auxiliary soldiers seconded to the staff of the procurator Augusti, the independent chief financial officer of a

province, to assist in the collection of taxes (originally in kind as grain). At some point, probably under Hadrian (r.117-38), the term acquired a very different meaning. A permanent military unit ( numerus) offrumentarii was
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established. Based in Rome, it was under the command of a senior centurion, the princeps frumentariorum.[87]

According to Aurelius Victor, the frumentarii were set up "to investigate and report on potential rebellions in the

provinces" (presumably by provincial governors) i.e. they performed the function of an imperial secret police (and

became widely feared and detested as a result of their methods, which included assassination).[88] Although

doubtless well-informed about events in the border-provinces through their network of local agents and spies, it

appears that the frumentarii never expanded beyond internal security to fulfil a systematic military intelligence

role.[89]

The lack of independent military intelligence, coupled with the slow speeds of communication, prevented the

emperor and his consilium from exercising anything but the most general control over military operations in the

provinces. Typically, a newly appointed governor would be given a broad strategic direction by the emperor, such as

whether to attempt to annex (or abandon) territory on their province's borders or whether to make (or avoid) war with

a powerful neighbour such as Parthia. For example, in Britain, the governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola appears to have

been given approval for a strategy of subjugating the whole of Caledonia (Scotland) by Vespasian, only to have his

gains abandoned by Domitian after AD 87, who needed reinforcements on the Danube front, which was threatened

by the Sarmatians and Dacians. However, within these broad guidelines, the governor had almost complete

autonomy of military decision-making.[90]

Provincial command

In those provinces that contained military forces, the governor's immediate subordinates were the commanders

(legati legionis) in command of the legions stationed in the province (e.g. in Britain, three legati reported to the

governor). In turn, the legionary commander was reported to by the combat-unit commanders: the centuriones pili

priores in command of the legion's cohorts and the praefecti, in command of the auxiliary regiments attached to the

legion. The empire's high command structure was thus remarkably flat, with only four reporting levels between

combat-unit commanders and the emperor.

An auxiliary regiment would normally, but not always, be attached to a legion for operational purposes, with the

praefectus under the command of the legatus legionis (the legion's commander). The period that it was so attached

could be a long one e.g. the eight Batavi cohortes apparently attached to legion XIV Gemina for the 26 years from

the invasion of Britain in AD 43; to the Civil War of 69. [91] However, a legion had no standard, permanent

complement of auxilia.[92] Its attached auxiliary units were changed and varied in number according to operational

requirements at the behest of the governor of the province where the legion was based at the time or of the emperor

in Rome.[93]

Regular military units

Praetorian GuardAugustus' successor Tiberius (r. 14-37), appointed only single commanders for the Praetorian Guard: Sejanus 14-31,

and, after ordering the latter's execution for treason, Macro. Under the influence of Sejanus, who also acted as his

chief political advisor, Tiberius decided to concentrate the accommodation of all the Praetorian cohorts into a single,

purpose-built fortress of massive size on the outskirts of Rome, beyond the Servian Wall. Known as the castra

praetoria ("praetorian camp"), its construction was complete by AD 23.[94] After Tiberius, the number of prefects in

office simultaneously was normally two, but occasionally only one or even three.

By AD 23, there were nine Praetorian cohorts in existence.[95] These were probably the same size as legionary

cohorts (480 men each), for a total of 4,320 effectives. Each cohort was under the command of a military tribune,

normally a former chief centurion of a legion. It appears that each cohort contained some ninety cavalrymen who,

like legionary cavalry were members of infantry centuriae, but operated in the field as three turmae of thirty men

each.[96] The number of Praetorian cohorts were increased to twelve by the time of Claudius. During the 68-9 civil
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war, Vitellius disbanded the existing cohorts because he did not trust their loyalty and recruited 16 new ones, all

double-strength (i.e. containing 800 men each). However, Vespasian (r. 69-79) reduced the number of cohorts back

to the original nine (but still 800-strong), later increased to ten by his son, Domitian (r. 81-96). By this time,

therefore, the Guard consisted of c. 8,000 men.[97]

It was probably Trajan (r. 98-117) who established a separate cavalry arm of the Guard, the equites singulares

Augusti ("personal cavalry of the emperor", or imperial horseguards). An elite troop recruited from members of thefinest auxiliary alae (originally from Batavi alae only), the singulares were tasked with escorting the emperor on

campaign. The unit was organised as a milliary ala, probably containing 720 horsemen.[98] It was under the

command of a military tribune, who probably reported to one of the Praetorian prefects. It was the only praetorian

regiment that admitted persons who were not natural-born citizens, although recruits appear to have been granted

citizenship on enlistment and not on completion of 25 years' service as for other auxiliaries. The unit was housed in

its own barracks on the Caelian hill, separate from the main castra praetoria. By the time of Hadrian (r.117-38), the

singulares appear to heve numbered 1,000 men.[99] They were further expanded to 2,000 horse in the early 3rd

century by Septimius Severus, who constructed a new, larger base for them in Rome, the castra nova equitum

singularium.[53] By AD 100, therefore, the Guard consisted of c. 9,000 effectives, rising to c. 10,000 under Severus.

Some historians have dismissed the Praetorian Guard as a parade-ground army of little military value. ThePraetorians were certainly taunted as such by the soldiers of the Danubian legions during the civil war of 68-9. [100]

But Rankov argues that the Praetorians boasted a distinguished campaign-record that shows that their training and

military effectiveness was far more impressive than those of merely ceremonial troops and amply justified their elite

status.[101] During the Julio-Claudian era (to 68), the Praetorians saw relatively little action in the field, as emperors

only rarely led their armies in person. After that date, emperors led armies, and therefore deployed the Praetorians on

campaign, much more frequently. The Praetorians were in the thick of the Emperor Domitian's wars, firstly in

Germany and then on the Dacian front, where their prefect, Cornelius Fuscus was killed in action (87). Other

examples include the Praetorians' prominent role in Trajan's Dacian Wars (101-6), as acknowledged on the friezes of

Trajan's Column and the Adamklissi Tropaeum. Equally celebrated, on the Column of Marcus Aurelius, was the

Praetorians' role in the Marcomannic Wars (166-80), in which two Guard prefects lost their lives. [102] Even theirfinal hour was wreathed in military glory: at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312), the Praetorians fought fiercely

for their emperor Maxentius, trying to prevent the army of rival emperor Constantine I from crossing the river Tiber

and entering Rome. Many perished fighting and others drowned when the makeshift pontoon-bridge they were using

collapsed. Subsequently, the Praetorians paid the price of supporting the losing side: they were definitively

disbanded, and their fortress demolished, by Constantine.[103]

Legions

The legion consisted almost entirely of heavy infantry i.e. infantry equipped with metal armour (helmets and

cuirasses). Although it was almost unbeatable by non-Roman infantry on the battlefield, it was a large, inflexible unit

that could not campaign independently due to the lack of cavalry cover and other specialist forces. It was dependent

on the support of auxiliary regiments.

The legion's basic sub-unit was the centuria (plural: centuriae), which literally means "a hundred men", but in

practice numbered 80 men in the Principate, equivalent in numbers to a modern company. The legion's main tactical

sub-unit was the cohors (plural: cohortes, or cohort), which contained six centuriae for a total of 480 men, roughly

the same size as a modern battalion. There were 10 cohorts to each legion, or 4,800 men (c. 5,000 including the

small legionary cavalry of 120 horse and officers). Thus a legion was equivalent in numbers to a modern brigade. By

AD 100, however, the legion's First Cohort was divided into only five centuriae, but double-strength at 160 men

each, for a total of 800 men. At this point, therefore, a legion would have numbered c. 5,300 effectives. [104]

In addition, each legion contained a small cavalry contingent of 120 men. Unlike auxiliary cavalry, however, they donot appear to have been organised in separate cavalry squadrons (turmae) as were auxiliary cavalry, but to have been
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Documents

Imperial Roman Army