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

The soldiers 43
on receiving an honourable discharge from the unit of mounted
bodyguards of the Emperor, Publius Aelius Amandus gave this as a
gift, in the consulship of Tertullus and Sacerdos.
73 CIL 6. 3177=ILS 2196, inscription, Rome, 2nd C.AD
To the spirits of the departed, in honour of Publius Aelius Bassus,
armourer, mounted bodyguard of the Emperor, troop of Aelius Crispus,
of Bessian nationality, from Claudia Aprum, lived forty-one years, served
twenty-one years; Titus Flavius Marcellinus, standard-bearer, heir, and
Aurelius Quintus, soldier on double pay, second heir, had this set up to
a fellow-townsman and estimable friend.
74 CIL 6. 3308=ILS 2210, inscription, Rome, late 2nd/3rd C.AD
To the spirits of the departed, in honour of Ulpius Titus, mounted
bodyguard of our Emperor, troop of Emeritus, of Boian nationality,
lived thirty-five years, served sixteen years, selected from the first ala
of Thracians from Upper Pannonia; Ulpius Felicio, his father and heir,
and Septimius Provincialis, and Marcellinius Verus, heirs, had this set
up to an estimable man, under the charge of Gaius Cestius Severus,
veteran of our Emperor. (Figure of a horse.)
We all pray that the earth may be light upon you.
75 ILS 2188, inscription, Rome, AD 219
To Hercules Macusanus, for the return of our lord Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus Pius Fortunate Augustus, his Antoninian mounted
bodyguards, Batavian or Thracian citizens selected from the province
of Lower Germany, willingly and deservedly fulfilled their vow, on 29
September, in the consulship of our lord Emperor Antoninus Augustus
for the second time and Tineius Sacerdos for the second time.
In addition to all the other forces at his disposal in Rome, Augustus instituted
a small, special bodyguard of Germans, generally Batavians. It was said that
Nero placed special trust in these men precisely because they were outsiders
(Tacitus, Annals 15. 58). Galba disbanded them (Suet., Vit. Galb. 12).
76 Smallwood GN 293, inscription, Rome, 1st C.AD
Indus, bodyguard of Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus, in the decuria of
Secundus, of Batavian nationality, lived thirty-six years. He lies here.
Eumenes, his brother and heir, of the association of Germans, set this up.