The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337: A Sourcebook

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Veterans 221 either close by or separated by several other communities, we shall record it in the book dealing with benefactions (beneficia). As regards anything else that is relevant to the documentation used by surveyors, not only the colony but also the imperial record office ought to hold a copy signed by the founder. We have here a rare explicit statement of the circumstances in which an emperor might consult his archives before making a decision. It is clear that the officials charged with carrying out the foundation of veteran colonies, which were established exclusively on an emperor’s initiative, showed meticulous attention to detailed planning and the careful recording, not just in the colony but also in Rome, of all transactions. 360 CIL 3. 8110=ILS 2302, inscription, Viminacium (Kostolac), Upper Moesia, AD 160 (?) For the welfare of Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius [Antoninus] Augustus Pius [and Verus] Caesar, [the veterans] of Legion VII [Claudia, Loyal and Faithful], enlisted in the consulship of Servianus and [Varus (AD 134) and of Po]ntianus and [Atticus] (AD 135), [honourably discharged] by Cur[tius Jus]tus, [legate of the Emperor] with propraetorian power, and by the legate of the legion, who number 239. (There follows a list of names). The 239 veterans listed specifically by this inscription were presumably all those discharged on one occasion, probably in AD 160, and represented the men recruited over two successive years (i.e. about 120 were discharged from each year’s intake). Mann (1983:59–60) uses this inscription, supported by other scattered evidence, as a basis for his calculation of about one hundred veterans discharged annually from each legion (25–33 legions=2,500–3,300 veterans). If the average size of colonial foundations was about 1,000, around 300 colonies will have been needed to accommodate veterans discharged from AD 14–117. Naturally, this kind of calculation can give only an order of magnitude and is very problematic. Other inscriptions show the discharge on a single occasion of a much larger number of veterans who had been recruited on one occasion. This might be explained on the hypothesis that these inscriptions represent an usually large number of recruits because of special circumstances. On the other hand, the inscription from Viminacium may be untypical for reasons we cannot recover. VETERANS IN LOCAL LIFE Inevitably there was tension between soldier-settlers and the existing inhabitants, especially when some had been dispossessed without compensation. In 41 BC there were outbreaks of violence in the streets,
222 The Roman Army and Vergil in Eclogues 1 and 9 expresses the distress of farming communities disrupted by the arrival of veteran soldiers as the new owners. Moreover, since not all the previous landholders were removed from their land, and since others had their property returned, the veterans had to work side by side with the old inhabitants. This practice was so common that, among their mapping definitions, the Agrimensores include ‘returned to the original owner’. In some Sullan and Caesarean colonies these divisions are reflected in the nomenclature adopted—‘old’ and ‘new’ inhabitants—and the two groups remained distinct for a time. But there is no clear evidence that these distinctions persisted in a significant way in the administration of a colony, and eventually the two groups will have coalesced. It might be expected that individual veterans would be to the fore in local life and government in colonies and other communities where they settled, by holding office and by conferring benefactions. But of ordinary veterans settled in Italy between 47 and 14 BC, only five are known to have taken part in local government, and of officers, seven ex-tribunes and centurions, who are likely to have been greatly enriched by military service and wealthy enough to meet the entrance requirements for office holding. Indeed, up to the end of the second century AD there is scant indication of a substantial impact by ex-soldiers on the development of local communities. However, the evidence for the role of veterans depends mainly on memorial inscriptions, and there was no uniform practice in the erection of these; such evidence may underplay the less well-off, who may none the less have made a significant contribution to a community, but did not necessarily celebrate their careers in this way. Furthermore, inscriptions can reveal only what offices a man held or how generous he was, not the circumstances of his wealth or the origins of his status in a community. Many veterans, we may conjecture, were solid and unadventurous, consorting in the main with other veterans. Doubtless some failed as farmers. Whereas in the late Republic there is no reason to suppose that veteran soldiers would have been incompetent farmers, this is not so clear in the imperial period, since men recuited young can have had little farming experience when they were discharged after twenty-five years’ service. But many will have continued to live in small towns and villages, playing their part in local communities in a way that has not been recorded for posterity. They brought capital, people, imperial goodwill, and perhaps initiatives for clearing and draining land, and bringing more under cultivation. They will have had a certain self-sufficiency and knowhow which doubtless helped small communities to function, and they provided a nucleus of Roman citizens and a channel of contact between the army
Page 2:
The Roman Army, 31 BC-AD 337 The Ro
Page 5 and 6:
First published 1994 by Routledge 1
Page 8 and 9:
Contents List of plates ix List of
Page 10 and 11:
Plates 1 Ti. Claudius Maximus 2 Cen
Page 12 and 13:
Preface and acknowledgements The Ro
Page 14 and 15:
Abbreviations AE L’Année épigra
Page 16 and 17:
P. S. I. Pubblicazioni della societ
Page 18 and 19:
Emperors from Augustus to Constanti
Page 20:
denarius (‘ten as-piece’) = 4 s
Page 23 and 24:
2 The Roman Army benefits are still
Page 25 and 26:
4 The Roman Army military as well a
Page 27 and 28:
6 The Roman Army The defeat of Cart
Page 29 and 30:
8 The Roman Army who supplied caval
Page 31 and 32:
10 The Roman Army career seemed mos
Page 33 and 34:
12 The Roman Army in a recruit, you
Page 35 and 36:
14 The Roman Army thanks to the lor
Page 37 and 38:
16 The Roman Army should keep in st
Page 39 and 40:
18 The Roman Army more impartial th
Page 41 and 42:
20 The Roman Army speedily. The rem
Page 43 and 44:
22 The Roman Army I paid monetary r
Page 45 and 46:
24 The Roman Army hay 10 drachmas f
Page 47 and 48:
26 The Roman Army I have received a
Page 49 and 50:
28 The Roman Army from having more
Page 51 and 52:
30 The Roman Army 34 Speidel 1980:7
Page 53 and 54:
32 The Roman Army 40 ILS 2442, insc
Page 55 and 56:
34 The Roman Army units were now be
Page 57 and 58:
36 The Roman Army and I have alread
Page 59 and 60:
38 The Roman Army heirs, set this u
Page 61 and 62:
40 The Roman Army 63 CIL 6. 2725=IL
Page 63 and 64:
42 The Roman Army principalis, acti
Page 65 and 66:
44 The Roman Army 77 CIL 6. 2896=IL
Page 67 and 68:
2 The officers CENTURIONS Centurion
Page 69 and 70:
48 The Roman Army The emperor was u
Page 71 and 72:
50 The Roman Army to Numidia, and f
Page 73 and 74:
52 The Roman Army of Legion III Aug
Page 75 and 76:
54 The Roman Army tribune of the fi
Page 77 and 78:
56 The Roman Army Aurelius Harpocra
Page 79 and 80:
58 The Roman Army Cornelius Minicia
Page 81 and 82:
60 The Roman Army officer for Egypt
Page 83 and 84:
62 The Roman Army Furthermore, an e
Page 85 and 86:
64 The Roman Army probably formed d
Page 87 and 88:
66 The Roman Army Moesia, legate of
Page 89 and 90:
3 The Emperor as commander-in-chief
Page 91 and 92:
70 The Roman Army to restrain thems
Page 93 and 94:
72 The Roman Army 127 Josephus (1st
Page 95 and 96:
74 The Roman Army Cornelius Fronto
Page 97 and 98:
76 The Roman Army his tribunician p
Page 99 and 100:
78 The Roman Army Lucius, in the si
Page 101 and 102:
1 Ti. Claudius Maximus Source: Kava
Page 103 and 104:
3 Trajan as commander-in-chief Sour
Page 105 and 106:
8 The Roman siege ramp at Masada Ph
Page 107 and 108:
11 The Mithraeum at Carrawburgh on
Page 109 and 110:
14 Bronze diploma—exterior faces
Page 111 and 112:
18 Bronze diploma—exterior face w
Page 113 and 114:
80 The Roman Army Figure 1 Legionar
Page 115 and 116:
82 The Roman Army fighting at the c
Page 117 and 118:
84 The Roman Army the other legions
Page 119 and 120:
Figure 3 The disposition of the leg
Page 121 and 122:
88 The Roman Army outside the fort
Page 123 and 124:
90 The Roman Army advisers, will ha
Page 125 and 126:
92 The Roman Army guards and mounte
Page 127 and 128:
94 The Roman Army period of imperia
Page 129 and 130:
96 The Roman Army being able to str
Page 131 and 132:
98 The Roman Army (Section 16) The
Page 133 and 134:
100 The Roman Army against archers,
Page 135 and 136:
102 The Roman Army (see Plate 8), t
Page 137 and 138:
104 The Roman Army the cohort menti
Page 139 and 140:
106 The Roman Army the wishes of Em
Page 141 and 142:
108 The Roman Army 177 D 49. 16. 3.
Page 143 and 144:
5 The army in peacetime MILITARY LI
Page 145 and 146:
112 The Roman Army do whatever may
Page 147 and 148:
114 The Roman Army This is probably
Page 149 and 150:
116 The Roman Army For the date and
Page 151 and 152:
118 The Roman Army Thiadices, who s
Page 153 and 154:
120 The Roman Army 190 P. Dura 60B,
Page 155 and 156:
122 The Roman Army of that communit
Page 157 and 158:
124 The Roman Army identified as br
Page 159 and 160:
126 The Roman Army The town of Sald
Page 161 and 162:
128 The Roman Army for the eternity
Page 163 and 164:
130 The Roman Army [7] September [
Page 165 and 166:
132 The Roman Army Although Tertull
Page 167 and 168:
134 The Roman Army 220 CIL 3. 11082
Page 169 and 170:
136 The Roman Army Cocidius was a C
Page 171 and 172:
138 The Roman Army the names of Get
Page 173 and 174:
6 The army, the local community, an
Page 175 and 176:
142 The Roman Army informal adminis
Page 177 and 178:
144 The Roman Army either military
Page 179 and 180:
146 The Roman Army Two legions were
Page 181 and 182:
148 The Roman Army the Medes, in th
Page 183 and 184:
150 The Roman Army [ _ _ _ ] Centur
Page 185 and 186:
152 The Roman Army provision for th
Page 187 and 188:
154 The Roman Army Longinia, had be
Page 189 and 190:
156 The Roman Army opinion I gave y
Page 191 and 192:
158 The Roman Army property in acco
Page 193 and 194:
160 The Roman Army the will. His so
Page 195 and 196:
162 The Roman Army did make his wil
Page 197 and 198:
164 The Roman Army In Roman law eve
Page 199 and 200:
166 The Roman Army from home. Soldi
Page 201 and 202:
168 The Roman Army 277 CJ 12. 33(34
Page 203 and 204: 170 The Roman Army Published on 15
Page 205 and 206: 172 The Roman Army solution, becaus
Page 207 and 208: 174 The Roman Army ask that you sho
Page 209 and 210: 176 The Roman Army The reference to
Page 211 and 212: 178 The Roman Army with his own edi
Page 213 and 214: 180 The Roman Army of passing trave
Page 215 and 216: 182 The Roman Army The Roman empero
Page 217 and 218: 184 The Roman Army foreseen. Or was
Page 219 and 220: 186 The Roman Army the undivided su
Page 221 and 222: 188 The Roman Army name a figure of
Page 223 and 224: 190 The Roman Army disgraceful and
Page 225 and 226: 192 The Roman Army only explicit re
Page 227 and 228: 194 The Roman Army Rome) even thoug
Page 229 and 230: 196 The Roman Army grandson of Germ
Page 231 and 232: 198 The Roman Army and (13) first T
Page 233 and 234: 200 The Roman Army the fatherland,
Page 235 and 236: 202 The Roman Army from your affirm
Page 237 and 238: 204 The Roman Army honourably disch
Page 239 and 240: 206 The Roman Army 337 FIRA 3. 171=
Page 241 and 242: 208 The Roman Army (Fourth hand) (S
Page 243 and 244: 210 The Roman Army service in the c
Page 245 and 246: 212 The Roman Army colonies, or del
Page 247 and 248: 214 The Roman Army Augustus himself
Page 249 and 250: 216 The Roman Army 349 CIL 16. 13=M
Page 251 and 252: 218 The Roman Army main roads did n
Page 253: 220 The Roman Army 357 ILS 9085, in
Page 257 and 258: 224 The Roman Army you who are aliv
Page 259 and 260: 226 The Roman Army 367 AE 1974. 283
Page 261 and 262: 228 The Roman Army 374 ILS 9400, in
Page 263 and 264: 230 The Roman Army considerable pro
Page 265 and 266: 232 The Roman Army military organiz
Page 267 and 268: 234 The Roman Army recruitment and
Page 269 and 270: 236 The Roman Army Domitius Aurelia
Page 271 and 272: 238 The Roman Army on the emperor (
Page 273 and 274: 240 The Roman Army This rescript is
Page 275 and 276: 242 The Roman Army peaceful repose
Page 277 and 278: 244 The Roman Army in respect of on
Page 279 and 280: 246 The Roman Army the soldiers, an
Page 281 and 282: 248 The Roman Army (Alexander) gave
Page 283 and 284: Select bibliography Alföldy, G.. (
Page 285 and 286: 252 Select bibliography Duncan-Jone
Page 287 and 288: 254 Select bibliography Marsden, E.
Page 289 and 290: Index of translated passages LITERA
Page 291 and 292: 258 Index of translated passages 24
Page 297 and 298: Index of names and subjects Promine
Page 299 and 300: 266 Index of names and subjects Ces
Page 301 and 302: 268 Index of names and subjects Gro
Page 303 and 304: 270 Index of names and subjects Pat
Page 305:
272 Index of names and subjects Vel
show all

The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337: A Sourcebook

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?