Alpinorum auxiliary cohorts
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Principate
The Principate is the first period of the Roman Empire, extending from the beginning of the reign of Caesar Augustus to the Crisis of the Third Century, after which it was replaced with the Dominate. The Principate is characterized by a concerted effort on the part of the Emperors to preserve the...
period originally recruited in the western Alpine
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
regions of the empire (for the central/eastern Alps, see Raetorum auxiliary cohorts
Raetorum auxiliary cohorts
The Alpine regiments of the Roman army were those auxiliary units of the army that were originally raised in the Alpine provinces of the Roman Empire: Tres Alpes, Raetia and Noricum. All these regions were inhabited by predominantly Celtic-speaking tribes. They were annexed, or at least occupied,...
). The cohortes Alpinorum ("cohorts of Alpini") came from Tres Alpes, the three small Roman provinces of the western Alps, Alpes Maritimae
Alpes Maritimae
Alpes Maritimae was a province of the Roman Empire, one of three small provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy...
, Alpes Cottiae
Alpes Cottiae
Alpes Cottiae was a province of the Roman Empire, one of three small provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy. Its name survives in the modern Cottian Alps. In antiquity, the province's most important duty was the safeguarding of communications over the Alpine passes...
and Alpes Graiae. The cohortes Ligurum were originally raised from the Ligures
Ligures
The Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...
people of Alpes Maritimae
Alpes Maritimae
Alpes Maritimae was a province of the Roman Empire, one of three small provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy...
and Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
regio of NW Italia
Italia (Roman province)
Italia was the name of the Italian peninsula of the Roman Empire.-Under the Republic and Augustan organization:During the Republic and the first centuries of the empire, Italia was not a province, but rather the territory of the city of Rome, thus having a special status: for example, military...
.
Auxiliary unit nomenclature
Most regiments carried a number and a name (normally a peregrini tribal name) e.g. I Raetorum. A few regiments had no number. A confusing aspect of auxiliary unit nomenclature is that in some cases, more than one regiment can appear in the record with the same number and name e.g. there are two I Raetorum units attested in the 2nd century. In a few cases there is dispute as to whether it really is two distinct regiments, as opposed to the same regiment moving from one province to another or two detachments of the same regiment in different provinces at the same time. But in most cases, there is no doubt two separate regiments are involved. They can usually be distinguished by whether one is equitata or not, or has a c.R. title or not e.g. I Raetorum and I Raetorum c.R.The explanation for duplicated names is that where more than one series of cohorts was raised from the same original tribe, numbering would start from 1 again, especially if the second series was raised by a different emperor. The same factor affected the numbering of legions.
Auxiliary unit types
There were three basic types of auxiliary regiment. (1) an alaAla (Roman military)
An Ala was the term used during the mid- Roman Republic to denote a military formation composed of conscripts from the socii, Rome's Italian military allies. A normal consular army during this period consisted of 2 legions, composed of Roman citizens only, and 2 allied alae...
(literally "wing") was a purely cavalry regiment of 480 horse. (2) a cohors ("cohort") was a purely infantry regiment of 480 foot. (3) a cohors equitata was a mixed infantry/cavalry regiment of 600 men (480 infantry, 120 cavalry). A minority of regiments were denoted milliaria which meant they were nominally double-strength: in practice 720 men for an ala milliaria, 800 for a cohors milliaria and 1,040 (800 inf/240 cav) for a cohors equitata milliaria. In addition, some regiments were denoted sagittaria (from sagitta, "arrow") meaning they were composed of archers.
The c.R. title
The honorific title civium Romanorum (c.R. for short) was normally awarded by the emperor for valour to an auxiliary regiment as a whole. The award would include the grant of Roman citizenshipRoman citizenship
Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....
to all the regiment's men, but not to subsequent recruits to the regiment. The regiment, however, would retain the prestigious title in perpetuity. Until 212, only a minority of the empire's inhabitants (inc. all Italians) held full Roman citizenship
Roman citizenship
Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....
. The rest were denoted peregrini
Peregrinus (Roman)
Peregrinus was the term used during the early Roman empire, from 30 BC to 212 AD, to denote a free provincial subject of the Empire who was not a Roman citizen. Peregrini constituted the vast majority of the Empire's inhabitants in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD...
, a second-class status. Since the legion
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
s admitted only citizens, peregrini could only enlist in the auxilia. Citizenship carried a number of tax and other privileges and was highly sought-after. It could also be earned by serving the minimum 25-year term in the auxilia. In 212, all the inhabitants of the empire were granted full Roman citienship and so the title became redundant.
Records
The literary evidence for auxiliary regiments is almost non-existent. Unlike for the legionRoman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
s, ancient Roman historians only rarely mention the auxilia at all, and never denote a specific unit. Knowledge of the auxilia is therefore dependent on inscriptions found bearing the regiment's name. Many of these are not datable (even roughly) and so are of limited value.
The epigraphic record includes: (1) inscriptions from Roman military diplomas, which were bronze certificates of Roman citizenship
Roman citizenship
Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....
awarded to peregrini
Peregrinus (Roman)
Peregrinus was the term used during the early Roman empire, from 30 BC to 212 AD, to denote a free provincial subject of the Empire who was not a Roman citizen. Peregrini constituted the vast majority of the Empire's inhabitants in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD...
soldiers who completed the minimum 25 years' service in the auxilia: these are very useful as, if complete, they contain a precise date and the province in which the regiment was serving at the time (as well the name, origin and rank of the recipient). (2) tiles or bricks, used in building work on Roman forts, stamped with the regiment's name. These show the forts where a regiment may have been based, but are rarely datable. (3) votive stone altars or tablets, and tombstones. These can indicate the addressee's origin if they are found in provinces away from the regiment's base. A minority are datable.
The datable epigraphic record is very incomplete. Most of the regiments attested in the 2nd century are believed by inference to have been established in the early Julio-Claudian period, i.e. before 37 AD, but very few have left records dating to before 75.
Provinces deployed
Auxiliary regiments were mostly stationed in one province long-term. The Flavian (69-96) saw a lot of changes in auxiliary deployment in what appears a deliberate policy of deploying regiments away from their original home province. After that, deployments generally became much more settled, with most units remaining in the same province throughout the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Regiments, or detachments of regiments, could be summoned to participate in a major campaign elsewhere, but this would usually be just a short-term deployment.Forts garrisoned
Auxiliary regiments were normally attached, for operational purposes, to a particular legion. The praefectus (commander) of the regiment would report to the legatus legionisLegatus legionis
Legatus legionis was a title awarded to legion commanders in Ancient Rome.-History:By the time of the Roman Republic, the term legatus delegated authority...
(legion commander). Auxiliary regiments were mostly housed in Roman forts in frontier provinces or even beyond the empire's settled borders, to keep watch on barbarian activity. A regiment would usually garrison a fort alone, but sometimes shared with another regiment if it was a larger fort. More rarely, regiments appear to have been housed in the castra legionaria (legionary fortress) of the legion they were attached to. Although inscriptions, especially the regiment's tile- and brick-stamps, can attest which forts the regiment occupied, most are not datable and so it is rarely possible to reconstruct a precise sequence or chronology of forts occupied.
Personnel origins
Auxiliary personnel left traces in inverse proportion to their numbers, for the obvious reason that memorials such as votive altars or tombstones were expensive and could be better afforded the higher the rank. Thus the names of more praefecti (commanders) and principales (officers) are attested than of caligati (common soldiers, literally "booted" from caliga, the Roman marching sandal), even though caligati constituted over 80% of personnel. The origin of the dedicator/deceased person is often impossible to establish. Sometimes the origin is recorded in the inscription. More commonly, it can be inferred from the location of the inscription if it is away from the province in which the regiment was based.The Alpini people
Several Celtic-speaking tribes inhabited the western Alps, most notably the SalassiSalassi
The Salassi were an Alpine tribe whose lands lay on the Italian side of the Little St Bernard Pass across the Graian Alps to Lyons, and the Great St Bernard Pass over the Pennine Alps...
of the Alpes Graiae (Val d'Aosta). They were finally subdued by Rome and their territory annexed in 15 BC.
The Ligures
Ligures
The Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...
occupied the coastal western Alps and the eponymous region of Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
in NW Italy. Their language may have been either Celtic, related to Gaulish
Gaulish language
The Gaulish language is an extinct Celtic language that was spoken by the Gauls, a people who inhabited the region known as Gaul from the Iron Age through the Roman period...
, or a non Indo-European
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
tongue related to the Iberian language
Iberian language
The Iberian language was the language of a people identified by Greek and Roman sources who lived in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Iberian peninsula. The ancient Iberians can be identified as a rather nebulous local culture between the 7th and 1st century BC...
s spoken in pre-Roman Spain.
Alpinorum cohorts
As mountain people, the Alpini et al. supplied mainly infantry: all the regiments in this article are cohortes save for one ala Noricorum. According to Holder, a total of 7 cohortes Alpinorum were raised, in two series, in the early 1st century. Of the first series, II Alpina is attested only in the early 1st century (in a single inscription) and was therefore evidently disbanded or destroyed in action. The other 6 survived into the 2nd century.However, Holder's analysis requires 4 regiments called I Alpinorum: I Alpinorum, I Alpinorum eq (1), I Alpinorum eq (2) and I Alpinorum peditata. Spaul disputes this, claiming there were just two: I Alpinorum eq and I Alpinorum ped. Spaul's view seems more likely. The II Alpina mentioned above was, according to Holder, in the first series. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the first of the series was named I Alpina (unattested) and not I Alpinorum. The reason for assuming 2 I Alpinorum equitata that a unit of that name is attested both in Dacia Sup and Pannonia Inf. But it could well be the same unit shuttling between the two provinces, which were in the same region.
Two cohortes Ligurum were raised under Augustus, Ligurum equitata (no number, attested) and II Ligurum (unattested but inferred). After 70 AD they were merged with a Spanish and Corsican unit respectively, to form I Ligurum et Hispanorum c.R. and II gemina Ligurum et Corsorum. Both survived into the 2nd century.
In conclusion, a total of 7 Alpinorum, Ligurum, Montanorum and Noricorum regiments appear to have been raised in the Julio-Claudian era. Of these 6 survived in the 2nd century, although 2 of these amalgamated with other units. The following table displays the available evidence for each cohors. However, new information, in the form of diplomas or other inscriptions, continues to be discovered each year.
| I Alpinorum peditata |
J-Claudian (ante 68) |
80 | c210 | Pannonia Superior 80-167; Dacia Superior 179; Pannonia c210 |
PS: Poetovio/Carnuntum Carnuntum Carnuntum was a Roman army camp on the Danube in the Noricum province and after the 1st century the capital of the Upper Pannonia province... (to 107); Lussonium (107-67); Mursa (167-79) |
praefecti: 1 Italian principales: 3 Italians |
| I Alpinorum equitata |
J-Claudian (ante 68) |
60 | c215 | Illyricum Illyricum (Roman province) The Roman province of Illyricum or Illyris Romana or Illyris Barbara or Illyria Barbara replaced most of the region of Illyria. It stretched from the Drilon river in modern north Albania to Istria in the west and to the Sava river in the north. Salona functioned as its capital... 60; Pannonia Inferior 80-143; Dacia Superior 144; Pann Inf 148-c215 |
PI:Carnuntum Carnuntum Carnuntum was a Roman army camp on the Danube in the Noricum province and after the 1st century the capital of the Upper Pannonia province... ; Szazholombatta; DCS: Apulum Alba Iulia Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania... (144); PS: Mursa (c215) |
praefecti: 1 Africa (c103); 1 Syria Palaestina Syria Palaestina Syria Palæstina was a Roman province between 135CE and 390CE. It had been established by the merge of Roman Syria and Roman Judaea, following the defeat of the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 135 CE. In 193 Syria-Coele was split to form a separate provincial locality... caligati 1 Illyrian (159) |
| II Alpinorum equitata |
J-Claudian (ante 68) |
60 | 223-35 | Illyricum 60; Pannonia Superior 84-223 | PS: Mursa; Baratsföldpuszta; Dunaubogdány (185, 223) |
praefecti: 1 city of Rome principales: 1 Illyrian |
| III Alpinorum equitata |
J-Claudian (ante 68) |
75 | 216-21 | Dalmatia Dalmatia Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south.... 75-216 |
D: Humac Humac Humac is an uninhabited hamlet on Hvar, Croatia. It is connected by the D116 highway. Located 350 m above sea level, 10 km from Jelsa, is a very old village where man has been living for centuries. There are many simple houses made of stone in its surroundings called trim, built without... ; Burnum Burnum Burnum or Burnum Municipium, an archaeological site, was a Roman Legion camp and town. It is located 2.5 km north of Kistanje, in inland Dalmatia, Croatia... ; Salona Salona Salona was an ancient Illyrian Delmati city in the first millennium BC. The Greeks had set up an emporion there. After the conquest by the Romans, Salona became the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia... ; Muć MUC The abbreviation MUC can stand for* The IATA airport code for Munich Airport* Mazharul Uloom College Ambur * Mindanao Undercurrent * Le Mans Union Club 72 * Minzu University of China* Montreal Urban Community... PS: Baratsföldpuszta. |
principales: 1 Illyrian, 1 Alpini caligati: 1 Gaul, 1 Alpini |
| I Ligurum et Hispanorum quondam I Ligurum |
Augustus (ante 14) |
1st c. | 134 | Alpes Maritimae Alpes Maritimae Alpes Maritimae was a province of the Roman Empire, one of three small provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy... 1st c; Germania Superior Germania Superior Germania Superior , so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany... 116-34 |
AM: Cimiez Cimiez Cimiez is a neighborhood in Nice, southern France. The area contains the Musée Matisse and the ruins of Cemenelum, capital of the Ancient Roman province Alpes Maritimae on the Ligurian coast... (1st c.); GS: Niedenberg (early 2nd c.) |
praefecti:: 1 Italian, 1 city of Rome principales: 7 Alpini (1st c), 1 Sardinian. caligati: 8 Alpini (1st c.), 1 Gaul, 1 Illyrian |
| II gemina Ligurum et Corsorum quondam II Ligurum |
Augustus (ante 14) |
88 | 153 | Sardinia Sardinia Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],... 88-96; Syria Syria Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.... 153 |
principales: 2 Sardinians |