The Auxilia were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 27 BC. 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.
Magnis or Magna was a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall in northern Britain. Its ruins are now known as Carvoran Roman Fort and are located near Carvoran, Northumberland, in northern England. It is thought to have been sited with reference to the Stanegate Roman road, before the building of Hadrian's Wall, to which it is not physically attached. In fact the Vallum ditch unusually goes north of the fort, separating it from the Wall.
The overall size of the Roman forces in Roman Britain grew from about 40,000 in the mid 1st century AD to a maximum of about 55,000 in the mid 2nd century. The proportion of auxiliaries in Britain grew from about 50% before 69 AD to over 70% in c. 150 AD. By the mid-2nd century, there were about 70 auxiliary regiments in Britain, for a total of over 40,000 men. These outnumbered the 16,500 legionaries in Britain by 2.5 to 1. This was the greatest concentration of auxilia in any single province of the Roman Empire. It implies major continuing security problems; this is supported by the (thin) historical evidence. After Agricola, the following emperors conducted major military operations in Britain: Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Constantius I, and Septimius Severus.
Cohors secunda Gallorum veterana equitata 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.
Cohors quarta Gallorum equitata was a Roman auxiliary cohort containing both infantry and cavalry contingents. It was probably raised in Gallia Lugdunensis at the time of the founder-emperor Augustus. It is first attested in Moesia in 75 AD and was still in Moesia Inferior in 105. It therefore probably took part in the emperor Trajan's Dacian Wars (99–106). After a brief stay in Thracia, it was transferred to Britannia not later than 122. Its last datable attestation is in 276-82 at Vindolanda. But the Notitia Dignitatum, a late Roman official document, records a cohors IV Gallorum at Vindolanda under the dux Britanniarum, the commander of limitanei along Hadrian's Wall. The Western section of the Notitia was drawn up in the 420's but the British units must date to before 410, when the island was evacuated by the Roman army.
Cohors prima Aquitanorum veterana was a Roman auxiliary infantry regiment. It was probably originally raised in Gallia Aquitania in the reign of founder-emperor Augustus after the revolt of the Aquitani was suppressed in 26 BC. Unlike most Gauls, the Aquitani were not Celtic-speaking but spoke Aquitanian, a now extinct non- Indo-European language closely related to Basque.
Cohors prima Aquitanorum was a Roman auxiliary infantry regiment. It was probably originally raised in Gallia Aquitania in the reign of founder-emperor Augustus after the revolt of the Aquitani was suppressed in 26 BC. Unlike most Gauls, the Aquitani were not Celtic-speaking but spoke Aquitanian, a now extinct non Indo-European language closely related to Basque.
Cohors prima Raetorum equitata was a Roman auxiliary mixed infantry and cavalry regiment. It is named after the Raeti nation, which dominated the eponymous province Raetia, which comprised much of modern Switzerland and Germany south of the river Danube. The Raeti originally spoke a non Indo-European language closely related to Etruscan. However, by the time their territory was annexed by Rome under founder-emperor Augustus, they had become largely Celtic-speaking through contact with neighbouring peoples such as the Vindelici. Finally, during the centuries of Roman rule, they became Latin speakers: their distinctive provincial patois survives today in the form of the Rhaeto-Romance languages.
Cohors prima Raetorum was a Roman auxiliary infantry regiment. It is named after the Raeti, a designation probably given to some Alpine tribes, which were part of the eponymous province Raetia et Vindelicum, later called simply Raetia. It comprised much of modern Switzerland, western Austria and Germany south of the river Danube. The Raeti originally spoke a non Indo-European language that seems related to Etruscan. However, by the time their territory was annexed by Rome under founder-emperor Augustus, they had become largely Celtic-speaking through contact with neighbouring peoples such as the Vindelici. Finally, during the centuries of Roman rule, they became Latin speakers: their distinctive provincial patois survives today in the form of the Rhaeto-Romance languages.
Cohors secunda Delmatarum was a Roman auxiliary infantry regiment. It is named after the Dalmatae, an Illyrian-speaking tribe that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountain range of the eponymous Dalmatia. The ancient geographer Strabo describes these mountains as extremely rugged, and the Dalmatae as backward and warlike. He claims that they did not use money long after their neighbours adopted it and that they "made war on the Romans for a long time". He also criticizes the Dalmatae, a nation of pastoralists, for turning fertile plains into sheep pasture. Indeed, the name of the tribe itself is believed to mean "shepherds", derived from the Illyrian word delme ("sheep"). The final time this people fought against Rome was in the Illyrian revolt of 6–9 AD. The revolt was started by Dalmatae auxiliary forces and soon spread all over Dalmatia and Pannonia. The resulting war was described by the Roman writer Suetonius as the most difficult faced by Rome since the Punic Wars two centuries earlier. But after the war, the Dalmatae became a loyal and important source of recruits for the Roman army.
Cohors quinta Delmatarum was a Roman auxiliary infantry unit. It is named after the Dalmatae, an Illyrian-speaking tribe that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountain range of the eponymous Dalmatia. The ancient geographer Strabo describes these mountains as extremely rugged, and the Dalmatae as backward and warlike. He claims that they did not use money long after their neighbours adopted it and that they "made war on the Romans for a long time". He also criticises the Dalmatae, a nation of pastoralists, for turning fertile plains into sheep pasture. Indeed, the name of the tribe itself is believed to mean "shepherds", derived from the Illyrian word delme ("sheep"). The final time this people fought against Rome was in the Illyrian revolt of 6–9 AD. The revolt was started by Dalmatae auxiliary forces and soon spread all over Dalmatia and Pannonia. The resulting war was described by the Roman writer Suetonius as the most difficult faced by Rome since the Punic Wars two centuries earlier. But after the war, the Dalmatae became a loyal and important source of recruits for the Roman army.
This article concerns the Roman auxiliary regiments of the Principate period originally recruited in the western Alpine regions of the empire. The cohortes Alpinorum came from Tres Alpes, the three small Roman provinces of the western Alps, Alpes Maritimae, Alpes Cottiae and Alpes Graiae. The cohortes Ligurum were originally raised from the Ligures people of Alpes Maritimae and Liguria regio of NW Italia.
The Imperial Roman army was the military land force of the Roman Empire from 27 BC to 476 AD, and the final incarnation in the long history of the Roman army. This period is sometimes split into the Principate and the Dominate (284–476) periods.
Cohors PrimÆ Ælia Dacorvm was an infantry regiment of the Auxilia corps of the Imperial Roman army. It was first raised by the Roman emperor Hadrian in the Roman province of Dacia not later than AD 125 and its last surviving record dates c. 400. It was deployed, for virtually its entire history, in forts on Hadrian's Wall on the northern frontier of Britannia province.
Cohors [prima] Batavorum milliaria civium Romanorum pia fidelis was a Roman auxiliary cohort of infantry.
Cohors prima Ulpia Dacorum was an infantry regiment of the Auxilia corps of the Imperial Roman army. It was founded by the Roman emperor Trajan, probably in preparation for his planned war against Parthia (113-6). The regiment's honorific title Ulpia refers to the emperor's gens, or clan-name.
Cohors prima Flavia Canathenorum [sagittaria] [milliaria] was a Roman auxiliary cohort of infantry.
The Cohors II Asturum et Callaecorum [equitata] was a Roman auxiliary unit. It is known from military diplomats and brickwork.
Cohors tertia Ulpia Petraeorum [sagittaria] [milliaria] [equitata] was a Roman auxiliary cohort of infantry and cavalry.
