Petulantes was an auxilia palatina of the Late Roman army.
Petulantes was an auxilia palatina of the Late Roman army.
It is possible they fought in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge for Emperor Constantine I (312). This assumption is based on the fact that Constantine had possibly had them portrayed on his triumphal arch in Rome.
In the 4th century, the Petulantes were in the army of the emperor Julian. The unit amounted to 500 men, but, in order to obtain a tactically valid unit, they were often united with the Celtae . [1] As part of Julian's army, the Petulantes took part in the victorious Battle of Strasbourg (357). When Julian, camped in Lutetia, received the order from his cousin the Emperor Constantius II to send some troops (including the Petulantes) to the east, the troops revolted, because Julian had promised to keep them near their families. One of the standard-bearers of the Petulantes, Maurus, put the crown on Julian's head, proclaiming him Augustus (361). [2] Together with the Celtae, the Petulantes fought against the Alamanni near Sanctium, in Raetia. [3]
In 365, the Augustus Senior of the west, Valentinian I, and the Augustus Iunior of the east, Valens, divided the army in two parts, and it is possible that in this occasion the Petulantes were divided into two units, the seniores and the iuniores. The Notitia Dignitatum , an early-5th century document, lists the Petulantes seniores among the auxilia palatina , the elite units, under the command of the magister peditum of the west. [4] The same document gives the Petulantes iuniores under the command of the magister militum per Illyricum , with a different shield pattern. [5]
Year 378 (CCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valens and Augustus. The denomination 378 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The Battle of Adrianople, sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels led by Fritigern. The battle took place in the vicinity of Adrianople, in the Roman province of Thracia. It ended with an overwhelming victory for the Goths and the death of Emperor Valens.
The Jovians and Herculians were the senior palatine imperial guard units under the rule of Roman Emperor Diocletian. They continued in existence thereafter as senior units in the field armies of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires.
The comitatenses and later the palatini were the units of the field armies of the late Roman Empire. They were the soldiers that replaced the legionaries, who had formed the backbone of the Roman military since the late republic.
Auxilia palatina were infantry units of the Late Roman army, first raised by Constantine I as part of the new field army he created in about 325 AD.
The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the Western Roman army under the Caesar Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount King Chnodomar. The battle took place near Strasbourg, called Argentoratum in Ammianus Marcellinus' account, Argentorate in the Tabula Peutingeriana.
The Scholae Palatinae were an elite military imperial guard unit, usually ascribed to the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great as a replacement for the equites singulares Augusti, the cavalry arm of the Praetorian Guard. The Scholae survived in Roman and later Byzantine service until they disappeared from the historical record in the late 11th century, during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos.
The Taifals or Tayfals were a people group of Germanic or Sarmatian origin, first documented north of the lower Danube in the mid third century AD. They experienced an unsettled and fragmented history, for the most part in association with various Gothic peoples, and alternately fighting against or for the Romans. In the late fourth century some Taifali were settled within the Roman Empire, notably in western Gaul in the modern province of Poitou. They subsequently supplied mounted units to the Roman army and continued to be a significant source of cavalry for early Merovingian armies. By the sixth century their region of western Gaul had acquired a distinct identity as Thifalia.
In modern scholarship, the "late" period of the Roman army begins with the accession of the Emperor Diocletian in AD 284, and ends in 480 with the death of Julius Nepos, being roughly coterminous with the Dominate. During the period 395–476, the army of the Roman Empire's western half progressively disintegrated, while its counterpart in the East, known as the East Roman army remained largely intact in size and structure until the reign of Justinian I.
The Eastern Roman army refers to the army of the eastern section of the Roman Empire, from the empire's definitive split in 395 AD to the army's reorganization by themes after the permanent loss of Syria, Palestine and Egypt to the Arabs in the 7th century during the Byzantine-Arab Wars. The East Roman army is the continuation of the Late Roman army of the 4th century until the Byzantine army of the 7th century onwards.
The palatini were elite units of the Late Roman army mostly attached to the comitatus praesentales, or imperial escort armies. In the elaborate hierarchy of troop-grades, the palatini ranked below the scholares, but above the comitatenses and the limitanei.
Decentius was an officer of the Roman Empire; he played a role in the acclamation of Julian as emperor against Constantius II in Paris (360).
Equites cataphractarii, or simply cataphractarii, were the most heavily armoured type of Roman cavalry in the Imperial Roman army and Late Roman army. The term derives from a Greek word, κατάφρακτος kataphraktos, meaning "covered over" or "completely covered".
The Batavi was an auxilia palatina (infantry) unit of the late Roman army, active between the 4th and the 5th century. It was composed by 500 soldiers and was the heir of those ethnic groups that were initially used as auxiliary units of the Roman army and later integrated in the Roman Empire after the Constitutio Antoniniana. Their name was derived from the people of the Batavi.
The Heruli was an auxilia palatina unit of the Late Roman army, active between the 4th and the 5th century. It was composed of 500 soldiers and was the heir of those ethnic groups that were initially used as auxiliary units of the Roman army and later integrated in the Roman Empire after the Constitutio Antoniniana. Their name was derived from the people of the Heruli. In the sources they are usually recorded together with the Batavi, and it is probable the two units fought together. At the beginning of the 5th century two related units are attested, the Heruli seniores in the West and the Heruli iuniores in the East.
The Primani was a legio palatina of the Late Roman army, active in the 4th and 5th century.
The Cornuti ("horned") was an auxilia palatina unit of the Late Roman army, active in the 4th and 5th century. It was probably related to the Cornuti seniores and the Cornuti iuniores.
The Regii or Reges was a Germanic auxilia palatina unit of the Late Roman army, active between the 4th and the 5th century. There was also a legio comitatensis with the same name. The Regii had its main period of action in the mid-4th century when they were recruited to fight against the Alamannic incursions and invasions of the Roman Empire. Most likely the Regii themselves were composed of Alamannic or Suebi recruits, and were recruited for their extensive knowledge and familiarity with the Suebic Alamanni and their allies.
Flavius Arintheus was a Roman army officer who started his career as a middle-ranking officer and rose to senior political and military positions. He served the emperors Constantius II, Julian, Jovian and Valens. He was appointed consul in 372 alongside Domitius Modestus.
The equites stablesiani were a class of cavalry in the Late Roman army. They were one of several categories of cavalry unit or vexillatio created between the 260s and 290s as part of a reorganization and expansion of Roman cavalry forces initiated during the reign of Gallienus. These new cavalry vexillationes typically shared the basic regimental designation equites, and included equites Dalmatae, equites Mauri and equites scutarii.