Cohors I Raetorum

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Cohors I Raetorum
Weisenau type helmets, Carnuntum.jpg
Roman infantry helmet (late 1st century)
Activeearly 1st century to at least mid-2nd century
Country Roman Empire
Type Roman auxiliary cohort
Roleinfantry
Size480 men
Garrison/HQ Raetia 107-166

Cohors prima Raetorum ("1st Cohort of Raeti") 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 (16 BC), they had become largely Celtic-speaking[ citation needed ] 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 [ citation needed ].

Raetia Roman province

Raetia was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Transalpine Gaul and on the south with Venetia et Histria.

Danube River in Central Europe

The Danube is Europe's second longest river, after the Volga. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe.

Indo-European languages family of several hundred related languages and dialects

The Indo-European languages are a language family of several hundred related languages and dialects.

Contents

According to Holder, a total of 12 Raetorumcohortes appear to have been raised, 10 of them not later than the rule of Claudius (41-54) and 2 shortly after 70 AD. [1] But there is dispute about how many regiments survived into the 2nd century. This is due to confusion about how many regiments shared the name I Raetorum because the name is attested in three provinces in roughly the same periods. It has been suggested there were as many as 3 such regiments in the 2nd century in Cappadocia, Raetia and Germania Inferior. Holder appears to follow this. [2] Spaul suggests it was a single unit, I Raetorum equitata c.R., being moved about frequently. [3] Here the 3-unit theory is followed. The c.R. title only appears in Germania Inferior so the unit there is denoted cohors I Raetorum equitata c.R. The unit in Cappadocia was also equitata, and so is denoted cohors I Raetorum equitata. [4] The unit in Raetia, the subject of this article, is denoted simply cohors I Raetorum as there is no evidence it was equitata.

Claudius Fourth Emperor of Ancient Rome

Claudius was Roman emperor from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul, the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy. Because he was afflicted with a limp and slight deafness due to sickness at a young age, his family ostracized him and excluded him from public office until his consulship, shared with his nephew Caligula in 37.

Cappadocia Place in Katpatuka

Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in the Nevşehir, Kayseri, Kırşehir, Aksaray, and Niğde Provinces in Turkey.

Germania Inferior Roman province

Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the west bank of the Rhine and bordering the North sea.

The regiment was probably raised by founder-emperor Augustus (r. 30BC-14AD) after 15 BC. It was certainly in existence by the time of Claudius (r. 41-54). [1] It first appears in the datable epigraphic record in 107, in its original home province, Raetia. It was still there in 166, the time of its last datable inscription. It is attested by an undatable tile stamp in the Roman fort at Schierenhof in Schwäbisch Gmünd (Gamundia Romana), which may have been one of its bases. [5] [6]

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.

Schwäbisch Gmünd Place in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Schwäbisch Gmünd is a town in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the town is the second largest in the Ostalb district and the whole East Württemberg region after Aalen. The town is a Große Kreisstadt since 1956, i.e. a chief town under district administration; it was the administrative capital of its own rural district until the local government reorganisation on 1 January 1973.

See also

Citations

  1. 1 2 Holder (1980) 111
  2. ↑ Holder (2003) 132-44
  3. ↑ Spaul (2000) 276-8
  4. ↑ Arrian Acies contra Alanos I
  5. ↑ http://www.deutsche-limeskommission.de/index.php?id=76&L=1%2F%20%C3%83%C2%A2%C3%82%E2%82%AC%C3%82%C2%A6%2Ftools%2Fsend_reminders.php%3FnoSet%3D0
  6. ↑ Spaul (2000) 276

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References

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