Cohors II Gallorum veterana equitata

Cohors II Gallorum veterana equitata
	Roman infantry helmet (late 1st century)
Active	Not later than AD 14 to at least 244
Country	Roman Empire
Type	Roman auxiliary cohort
Role	infantry/cavalry
Size	600 men (480 infantry, 120 cavalry)
Garrison/HQ	Moesia Inferior 99-106; Mauretania Caesariensis 107; Britannia 122- at least 244
Engagements	prob. Dacian Wars (99-106)

Last updated April 08, 2019

Cohors secunda Gallorum veterana equitata ("2nd part-mounted veteran Cohort of Gauls") was a mixed infantry and cavalry regiment of the Auxilia corps of the Imperial Roman army. It was stationed, in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, in a fort near Hadrian's Wall in Britain.

The Auxilia constituted the standing non-citizen corps of the Imperial Roman army during the Principate era (30 BC–284 AD), alongside the citizen legions. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and, in addition, provided almost all of the Roman army's cavalry and more specialised troops. The auxilia thus represented three-fifths of Rome's regular land forces at that time. Like their legionary counterparts, auxiliary recruits were mostly volunteers, not conscripts.

The Imperial Roman army are the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the Roman Empire from about 30 BC to 476 AD. This period is sometimes split into the Principate and Dominate (285–476) periods.

Hadrian's Wall, also called the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or Vallum Hadriani in Latin, was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the emperor Hadrian. It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea, and was the northern limit of the Roman Empire, immediately north of which were the lands of the northern Ancient Britons, including the Picts.

Foundation

The regiment was probably constituted under Augustus, the founder of the Roman empire (r. 30 BC - AD 14). It was originally recruited from natives of Gallia Lugdunensis (northern/central France).^[1]

Augustus First emperor of the Roman Empire

Augustus was a Roman statesman and military leader who was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, reigning from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. His status as the founder of the Roman Principate has consolidated an enduring legacy as one of the most effective and controversial leaders in human history. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana. The Roman world was largely free from large-scale conflict for more than two centuries, despite continuous wars of imperial expansion on the Empire's frontiers and the year-long civil war known as the "Year of the Four Emperors" over the imperial succession.

Gallia Lugdunensis was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul formerly known as Celtica. It is named after its capital Lugdunum, possibly Roman Europe's major city west of Italy, and a major imperial mint. Outside Lugdunum was the Condate Altar, where representatives of the Three Gauls met to celebrate the cult of Rome and Augustus.

Structure

The regiment was 600 men strong, of which 480 were infantry (divided into 6 centuriae of 80 men each); and 120 cavalry (4 turmae of 30 horse each).

Centuria is a Latin term denoting military units consisting of (originally) 100 men. The size of the century changed over time and from the first century B.C.E. throughout most of the empire the standard size of a centuria was 80 men.

A turma was a cavalry unit in the Roman army of the Republic and Empire. In the Byzantine Empire, it became applied to the larger, regiment-sized military-administrative divisions of a thema. The word is often translated as "squadron" but so is the term ala, a unit that was made up of several turmae.

Garrisons

The unit is first attested in the datable epigraphic record in AD 99 in Moesia Inferior (N. Bulgaria) It was briefly stationed in Mauretania Caesariensis (N Algeria), where it is attested for 107. From not later than 122 until its last known attestation of 244-9, it was in Britannia, and thus saw the building of Hadrian's Wall (122-32).

Mauretania Caesariensis was a Roman province located in what is now Algeria in the Maghreb. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae, in order to distinguish it from neighboring Mauretania Tingitana, which was ruled from Tingis.

Britannia national personification of Britain

Britannia has been used in several different senses. The name is a Latinisation of the native Brittonic word for the island, Pretanī, which also produced the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally, in the fourth to the first centuries BC, designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Britain. In Modern Welsh the name remains Prydain. By the 1st century BC, Britannia came to be used for Great Britain specifically. After the Roman conquest in 43 AD, Britannia meant Roman Britain, a province covering the island south of Caledonia. When Roman Britain was divided into four provinces in 197 AD, two were called Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. Britannia is the name given to the female personification of the island, and it is a term still used to refer to the whole island.

In Britannia, the regiment garrisoned, from not later than 178 until at least 244, the fort at Old Penrith (Cumbria), near the Wall.^[2] The regiment's last extant inscription dates from 244/9.

Penrith is a market town and civil parish in the county of Cumbria, England. Penrith lies less than 3 miles (5 km) outside the boundaries of the Lake District National Park. Historically a part of Cumberland, Penrith's local authority is currently Eden District Council, which is based in the town. Penrith was formerly the seat of both Penrith Urban and Rural District Councils. From 1974 to 2015, Penrith had no town council of its own, and was an unparished area. A civil parish of Penrith was recreated in 2015. Penrith Town Council was formed in 2015 and the first elections to the council took place on May 7, 2015.

Campaigns

Trajan's Dacian Wars (101-6)

Given the regiment's station on the lower Danube in AD 99, scholars consider it highly likely that it participated in the Conquest of Dacia by the emperor Trajan (r. 98-117).^[3] This was effected by two campaigns (101-2 and 105-6).

Trajan was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared by the Senate optimus princeps, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history, leading the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death. He is also known for his philanthropic rule, overseeing extensive public building programs and implementing social welfare policies, which earned him his enduring reputation as the second of the Five Good Emperors who presided over an era of peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean world.

Campaigns in Britain (122-248)

In view of its size and long-term stationing on the northern British frontier, facing the unconquered Caledonia (Scotland), the regiment almost certainly participated in all the major campaigns recorded in this turbulent region, including:

139-42: Antoninus Pius (r. 138-61) launches an aggressive strategy to re-occupy the Scottish Lowlands, as far as the Forth-Clyde line, which had been abandoned under the emperor Trajan (r. 98-117). Governor Quintus Lollius Urbicus leads the campaign. Coins record victory in 142/3 over the Caledonian tribes of the region, especially the Selgovae.^[4] The campaign is followed by the construction of the Antonine Wall.
154-8: Serious disturbances break out in northern Britain, probably centred on a revolt by the Brigantes, most of whom reside south of Hadrian's Wall. The Romans are forced to withdraw troops from the Antonine Wall to suppress the revolt.^[5] This war probably leads to the decision to abandon the Antonine Wall by 162.
181-5: The Caledonian tribes overrun Hadrian's Wall. The emperor Commodus (r. 180-92) rushes reinforcements under Lucius Ulpius Marcellus to repel the invasion. In 184, Commodus assumes the title Britannicus to celebrate victory.^[6]
196-7: The governor of Britain, Decimus Clodius Albinus, launches a bid to seize imperial power. He leads the British army to Gaul to challenge the Danubian army under emperor Lucius Septimius Severus (r. 193-211). Frere argues that Albinus would probably have needed to take virtually every single Roman soldier from Britain for his campaign (his army reportedly numbered 150,000, but this is probably an exaggeration, as the entire army in Britain at this time probably totalled c. 50,000. Also, Albinus failed to win the support of the Rhine army). Albinus and his army were defeated in a hard-fought battle at Lugdunum (Lyon) and Albinus executed.^[7]
208-11: Emperor Septimius Severus launches a massive campaign to conquer the whole of Caledonia, similar to that of governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola in 77-85, over a century earlier. However, from the evidence of Severan-era marching-camps along the east coast of Scotland, it does not appear that Severus' army advanced as far as north as Agricola's, which had reached Inverness. Severus' gains were abandoned by his son and successor Caracalla (r. 211-8).

Honours

The regiment was accorded two honorific titles:

veterana ("veteran"), which appears on a number of military diplomas dated AD 178. The reason for this unusual title is unclear. Holder argues that it reflects the fact that, in 178, the unit was the senior infantry unit in Britannia province.^[8]
Severiana Alexandriana. This title was conferred by the emperor Severus Alexander (r. 223-35), presumably for valour in the field and/or loyalty to the emperor.^[9]

Religious cults

Votive altars dedicated by the regiment's commanders reflect the official cults of the Roman army. Of 4 such found, 2 are dedicated to Jupiter, the highest Roman god. Of these one was co-dedicated to the genius ("Spirit") of the emperor Philip the Arab (r. 244-9). 1 altar each was dedicated to Minerva and to Mars, the Roman god of war. However, Mars is accorded the epithet Belatucadrus, thus co-honouring a local deity, the Celtic god Belatucadros.^[10]

An altar dedicated by a German vexillatio ("detachment") of the regiment demonstrates the more local cults followed by the unit's ordinary soldiers. It is dedicated to "the goddess Tramari(s)", one of the Celtic Deae Matres ("Mother goddesses") revered in all of northwestern Europe.^[11]

Attested personnel

Datable personnel of Cohors I Aelia Dacorum^[12]^[13]
Date of inscription	Name	Military rank	Social status	Nation/tribe	Birthplace	Notes
99	Titus Visulanius Crescens	Praefectus (regimental commander)	Roman knight	Italian	Bologna	Subsequently commanded Cohors I civium Romanorum in Germania Superior and Ala Moesica in Germania Inferior
2nd century	Valerius Laetus	Praefectus	Roman knight	Italian	Ocriculum
2nd century	Lucius Naevius Verus Roscianus	Praefectus	Roman knight	Italian	near Piacenza
178	Titus Domitius Hiero	Praefectus	Roman knight	Greek/Bithynian	Nicomedia
c. 200	Aurelius Attianus	Praefectus	Roman knight
223-225	Aurelius (-)	Praefectus	Roman knight
3rd century	Iulius Lupus	Praefectus	Roman knight
3rd century	Gaius Bellicius Primus	Praefectus	Roman knight	Italian	Verona
XXXX
3rd century	Iulius Augustalis	Immunis (Specialist)				Actor (secretary) to prefect Iulius Lupus
XXXX
99	Marcus Antonius Rufus	Pedes (infantryman)	Roman citizen?	Mysian
178	Dacus	Eques (cavalry trooper)		Dacian		Name means "the Dacian". Prob. adopted nickname as official since native name unpronounceable to Romans

Citations

↑ Holder (1980) 111
↑ Spaul (2000) 157
↑ Rossi (1971)
↑ Frere (1987) 133-4
↑ Frere (1987) 133, 135-6
↑ Frere (1987) 147
↑ Frere (1987) 154-5
↑ Spaul (2000) 158
↑ Spaul (2000) 157
↑ Spaul (2000) 157
↑ Spaul (2000) 157
↑ Spaul (2000) 344-5
↑ Prosop. Mil. Eq. VI pp69-70

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References

Holder, Paul Studies in the Auxilia of the Roman Army (1980)
Spaul, John COHORS 2 (2000)