This article discusses the late Roman field army and the distinction between senior and junior regiments. It provides context on Ammianus Marcellinus, a retired Roman soldier-turned-historian who described the division of the army between emperors Valentinian and Valens in 364. The Notitia Dignitatum, a catalog of imperial offices compiled around 395, also names many field army regiments and sometimes includes their designation as senior or junior. The article examines what these terms meant and which regiments held these titles based on evidence from Ammianus and the Notitia Dignitatum.
This article discusses the late Roman field army and the distinction between senior and junior regiments. It provides context on Ammianus Marcellinus, a retired Roman soldier-turned-historian who described the division of the army between emperors Valentinian and Valens in 364. The Notitia Dignitatum, a catalog of imperial offices compiled around 395, also names many field army regiments and sometimes includes their designation as senior or junior. The article examines what these terms meant and which regiments held these titles based on evidence from Ammianus and the Notitia Dignitatum.
This article discusses the late Roman field army and the distinction between senior and junior regiments. It provides context on Ammianus Marcellinus, a retired Roman soldier-turned-historian who described the division of the army between emperors Valentinian and Valens in 364. The Notitia Dignitatum, a catalog of imperial offices compiled around 395, also names many field army regiments and sometimes includes their designation as senior or junior. The article examines what these terms meant and which regiments held these titles based on evidence from Ammianus and the Notitia Dignitatum.
This article discusses the late Roman field army and the distinction between senior and junior regiments. It provides context on Ammianus Marcellinus, a retired Roman soldier-turned-historian who described the division of the army between emperors Valentinian and Valens in 364. The Notitia Dignitatum, a catalog of imperial offices compiled around 395, also names many field army regiments and sometimes includes their designation as senior or junior. The article examines what these terms meant and which regiments held these titles based on evidence from Ammianus and the Notitia Dignitatum.
Reviewed work(s): Source: The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 93, No. 2 (Apr., 1972), pp. 253-278 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/293251 . Accessed: 25/11/2012 13:16 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . The Johns Hopkins University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The American Journal of Philology. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY VOL. XCIII, 2 WHOLE NO. 370 SENIORES-IUNIORES IN THE LATE-ROMAN F IELD ARMY.1 . . partiti sunt comites ... militares partiti sunt numeri . . diviso palatio ut potiori placuerat, Valentinianus Medio- lanum, Constantinopolim Valens discessit. In these words, Ammianus Marcellinus describes the division of generals, regiments, and civil administration, between the brothers Valentinian and Valens in June 364.2 Henceforth, east and west had an army and Augustus of its own: no new arrangement, but now made permanent.3 In 364, Ammianus 1Expanded from a paper read in San F rancisco, on December 28th 1969, to the American Philological Association. I was then a visiting assistant professor at Cornell University, and would thank my pupils and colleagues for their hospitality. I also thank Professor Birley and his colleagues at Durham University, who kindly read the final draft. See NOTE at end of this article, p. 278. Ammianus is cited from the edition of C. U. Clark (1910 and 1915, reprinted 1963), and the Notitia from that of O. Seeck (1876, reprinted 1962). Regiments named by Ammianus (with references) will be found in Appendix i. Those named by the Notitia will be found in Seeck's excellent indices, where I have noted only two errors, in the reference to comites sagittarii iuniores (p. 319) and to the Antianenses (p. 320). 2Amm., XXVI, 5, 1-4. The army was divided at Mediana, a suburb of Naissus (Nish, Yugoslavia), where Valentinian spent most of June 364 (C. Th., I, 6, 2, etc.). 8 Cf. E. Kornemann, Doppelprinzipat und Reichsteilung im Imperium Romanum (1930), especially pp. 140-1; and note 21 below. Valentinianic propaganda stresses imperial unity, by shared coin-types and legends (CONCORDIA is conspicuous by its absence), and in panegyric: Themistius, 76AB; Symmachus, Or., 1, 13. 253 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. had probably just left the army in which he had served over ten years, in the east, in Gaul, and on the Persian expedition. In retirement, whether he was travelling or living in Antioch and Rome, he must have added many eye-witness accounts to his own experiences. In his lifetime, he witnessed the struggle to maintain Roman frontiers against almost continual attack. He recorded the great achievements of Constantius II, Julian, and Valentinian; Julian's foolish invasion of Persia; and the crowning disaster of Adrianople (378) with which his History ends. Part was published by 392, and the whole by ca. 395 (the exact date is unknown).4 When Theodosius died in 395, the Empire was divided between his two sons. The eastern frontier was secured by an agreement with Persia, but the Danube had been lost for ever, the Rhine was held almost by courtesy of F ranks and Alamanni, and Roman authority was receding from Britain. The Goths could roam the Balkans at will, brigandage and heresy were endemic, and a disaffected peasantry was ready to rebel, or at least to collaborate with invaders. The Empire's precarious stability largely depended on the army, whose limi- tanei would not usually go far from their fortified bases along the frontiers and lines of communication, but whose "field armies" (regiments palatini and comitatenses) were concen- trated strategically ready to move fast and far in emergency. The latter regiments are the subject of this paper, for only they carry (sometimes) the supplementary title of seniores or iu- niores.5 Ammianus names over thirty, but is explicitly aware of ' A terminus ante quem of 396 is " conceded" by R. Syme, Ammianus and the Historia Augusta (1968), p. 18, in a critical review of 0. J. Maenchen-Helfen, A. J.P., LXXVI (1955), pp. 384-99. A slightly earlier date is not proven. 6 The only 4th century exceptions are the obsolete milites iuniores Italici (note 38 below), and the three equites Stablesiani in Raetia. Now the Raetia chapter (Oco. 35) is unique among the Danubian ducates in showing "Stiliconian" revision: its senior officials are drawn from the offices of the magistri militum praesentales. Also it lacks the many cunei equitum and auxilia of the other ducates, the Stablesiani being the only cavalry unit of post-ala type. They were probably drafted in from the field armies, to remedy the frontier's weakness in cavalry (Amm., XVIII, 8, 2 for a Mlesopotamian instance): a practice well- attested in the 5th century East, C. J., XII, 35, 18 (492) and, earlier, Synesius, Ep. 78, but how far it was followed in the West is uncertain (see E. Stein, BRGK., XVIII [1928], pp. 92 ff.). This may have hap- 254 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SENIORES-IUNIORES." this distinction only once. He is almost unique among fourth century writers in actually naming regiments. As a retired officer, he may have respected their esprit de corps. He does, however, have a literary-minded historian's distaste for "un- classical" military terminology.6 miles quondam et Graecus. The Notitia Dignitatum, as a catalogue of high offices in east and west, incidentally names with full title the regiments of the various field armies. It was probably compiled soon after 395.7 The eastern lists show no sign of later revision, but the western have been kept " up to date " until ca. 420. Both, how- ever, incorporate obsolete material, including the titles of long- dead regiments.8 Western regiments are listed twice: first as pened late in the 4th century: the strategic road-centre of Pons Aeni, from which the equites Stablesiani itniores have been posted, had already had two previous garrisons in the 4th century-a cavalry regiment in 310, comitatenses as it happens (.I. L., III, 5565), and the Pontinenses (or Pontennenses), now pseudocomitatenses in Italy. e Averil and Alan Cameron, 0. Q., n. s. XIV (1964), p. 326. Ammianus' inexact terminology is exhaustively surveyed by A. Miiller, Philologus, n. s. XVIII (1905), pp. 574 ff. Even in regiment-titles he is not always explicit: neither he (XXIV, 1, 2) nor Zosimus (III, 14, 1) specifies the 1500 troops screening the Roman army's advance down the Euphrates, which were in fact drawn from the Lanciarii and Mattiarii (Malalas, ed. Dindorf, p. 330, 2 ff.). Libanius, however, can relate Julian's mili- tary career without naming a single regiment (Or. 18), and Julian himself names only the pair which made him Emperor (283B). 7A. H. M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire (1964), III, pp. 347 ff. I owe much to his note (pp. 356-7) on the division of the comitatus in 365 (sic). 8 The regiments per lineam valli surveyed by S. F rere, Britannia (1967), pp. 230ff., need not be the only "ghosts." Other chapters actually contain newly-added regiments side by side with dead ones. Thus the army of the comes Africae (Occ. 7, 140 ff., 179ff.), while con- taining Honoriani, also contains two regiments destroyed in 373, the equites iv sagittarii and the Constantiaci. The duz Mesopotamiae (Or. 36), whose chapter contains a "Theodosian" item (ibid., 20), is credited with the legiones I and II Parthica, destroyed in 359. Yet V Parthica, another casualty of that year, has been deleted. The rubric item pseudocomitatenses (Or. 7, 48) is the earliest instance of this title (pace A. H. M. Jones, L. B. ., II, p. 609), for the legio II Armeniaca (ibid., 50) had been lost in 359, while its companion I Armeniaca (ibid., 49) survived 363 (Mlalas, p. 332, 9). Legio I Isaura sagittaria was not added before 354 (Amm., XIV, 2, 14 with Or. 29, 7-8), nor the balistarii Theodosiaci before 379. 255 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. infantry or cavalry under the appropriate magister at Court (Occ. 5 and 6); and second (Occ. 7), again as infantry or cavalry, under the appropriate field army commander, in Italy, western Illyricum, Gaul, Spain, Tingitania, Africa, and Britain. The two lists were kept up independently, and so serve as some check on each other; they also show discrepancies, sometimes only in the wording of a title, but more often because of cross- postings and insertion of new regiments.9 The eastern order of battle is less centralised. Two armies (Or. 5 and 6), both of infantry and cavalry, are attached to the Court, recently drawn from separate armies of infantry and cavalry like the western.'0 The other regiments are divided among three field armies, per Orientem (Or. 7), in Thrace (Or. 8), and in eastern Illyricum (Or. 9). Each regiment is named only once. Independent record survives of two armies concentrated in north Italy at the end of the fourth century. The poet Claudian ingeniously names seven regiments which campaigned against Gildo in 398.11 Like Ammianus, he eschews the unpoetical detail of whether they were seniores or iuniores, but all seven may be identified in the Notitia. Only four, however, are cer- tainly in north Italy; a fifth is in Gaul, and the other two in Spain. Yet two of this trio were once in north Italy, for they occur among the regiments known at Concordia (just west of Aquileia). The epitapl- of its early Christian cemetery include a remarkable group of 3S, which name between them 22 regi- Tabulated in A. H. M. Jones, L. R. E., III, p. 361. 10 As late as 388, Theodosius still followed Valens in having a magis- ter peditum praesentalis and a magister equitum praesentalis (Zos., IV, 45, 2; cf. C. Th., IV, 17, 5 [386]), but by 391 had adopted the system of two magistri militum praesentales (C. Th., VII, 1, 13; cf. Zos., IV, 27). See Mommsen, Ges. Schriften, IV, pp. 550-1. If the lists of the two eastern praesental armies are laid side by side, it is at once obvious that many "pairings" have been broken, which we know once existed, either from Ammianus, or by analogy with the western lists: e.g. the equites Promoti seniores (Or. 5, 28) with the Comites seniores (Or. 6, 28), cf. Amm., XV, 4, 10 and Occ. 6, 43-4- 7, 159-60. "1 Bellum Gildonicum, I, 415-23. The regiments named (with their probable identification) are the Ioviani and Herculiani (seniores, Italy); Nervii (sagittarii Nervii, Spain/Concordia); F elices (seniores, Italy); legio Augusta (VIII Augusta, i.e. Octavani, Italy); Invicti (seniores, Spain) ; Leones (either iuniores, Italy; or seniores, Gaul/Concordia). 256 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SENIORES-I UNIORES." ments, almost all of field army rank. These may represent an army cantoned there by Theodosius in winter 394/5, or perhaps a longer accumulation from units active in northeastern Italy, from the 380's into the early fifth century.l2 Other evidence is slight, but valuable in confirmation. A few inscriptions survive, mostly scattered epitaphs of comitatenses, brief, and generally undatable. The crack regiment of the loviani is best represented, with corpses at Trier, Arles, Milan, Aquileia (a man from Sirmium), Concordia, and Antioch."3 Late-Roman regiment-titles show a certain pleasing imagina- tion, but it is limited. Many express military function or arma- ment (balistarii, clibanarii, catafractarii), trailing off into the ornamental (insidiatores, propugnatores) and optimistic (vic- tores, invicti). Ethnic titles are common as in the Principate, deriving from the original source of recruitment (Atecotti, Eruli, Brisigavi). Others recall a frontier-station, whether the regiment there has been promoted to the field army (Segun- tienses, Acincenses) or provides a detachment named by the parent-legion's nickname (Divitenses, Moesiaci).l4 Other le- gionary detachments keep their parent's number (Septimani, Octavani). Regiments can only be dated if named after an em- peror (presumably on recruitment, though sometimes perhaps to honour an existing unit) : the famous Ioviani and Herculiani were named by Diocletian and Maximian after their tutelary gods,'5 and the lists are full of Constantiniani, Valentinianenses, Theodosiani, Honoriani, etc. Regiments often bear titles formed by combining elements: sagittarii Nervii, comites Arcadiaci, etc. When the suffix seniores or iuniores occurs, it always supple- ments the title, coming last word, as in Ascarii Honoriani la Published accurately for the first time, with ample commentary, by D. Hoffmann, Museum Helveticum, XX (1963), pp. 22-57. His date of 394/5 is open to doubt (Appendix ii). "'Appendix iii. 14 E. g. Seguntienses, C. E. Stevens, Arch. Journal, XCVII (1940), p. 134. Divitenses, I.L. S., 2346 and 2777. 15 Zos., III, 30, 2; cf. Sozomen, VI, 6, 4 (ed. Bidez, p. 244, 4). Vegetius says (I, 17), however, that they were originally two legions of Mattiobarbuli in Illyricum, honoured by Diocletian and Maximian. Earlier legions certainly gained dynastic titles during their career, usually for loyalty in time of rebellion, and so a 4th century dynastic title is not necessarily sure criterion of date of recruitment. 2!57 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. seniores. A few regiments, mostly iuniores, have gained an extra geographical suffix, evidently from service within the region named, like the Victores iuniores Britanniciani in Britain.16 The seniores-iuniores suffix distinguishes two regiments that would otherwise have been homonyms, as is obvious from the Notitia indices. At Concordia, 27 sarcophagi name regiments we know from the Notitia to have had homonyms, and in 20 cases a suffix is duly added. It is added without exception in the seven epitaphs of men from the Batavi seniores; and, signifi- cantly, in those of two men from the Mattiaci seniores and two veterans of the Mattiaci iuniores. Ammianus uses the suffix only once, however, to speak of the Divitenses Tungrecanosque iu- niores who proclaimed Procopius. At their second appearance, the Divitenses are unqualified.17 At this very time, a "brigade " of Divitenses-Tungrecani was operating in Gaul, and it is only from the Notitia that we can deduce they were the seniores. Other pairs of homonyms lurk in Ammianus' narrative. The distinction seems official, for it is observed in the " Army List" and in a cemetery where soldiers buried their comrades, but ignored by literary-minded people like Ammianus and Claudian. Even the Notitia shows a late-Roman tendency to abbreviate regiment-titles (as in the illustration-captions), and, where homonyms served in different armies, the distinction would be unnecessary in day to day usage. The Notitia's homonyms tend to fall into seniores-iuniores pairs, rather more than fifty basic titles being so distinguished, but the pattern is hard to follow. Some seniores or iuniores have lost their complement, no doubt because it has been destroyed. This is clearly true of the lone Divitenses-Tungrecani seniores, whose missing iuniores must have been disbanded by Valens for treason. Sometimes there are two seniores or two iuniores (or both), but never such that there is a pair of exact homonyms, suffix and all, of equal rank within the same half of the Empire.l1 16 Appendix iv. 17 Ammianus' characteristic omission of iuniores (XXVI, 7, 14) led Clark to insert a comma between Divitenses and Tungrecanosque XXVI, 6, 12). The Notitia (cf. Appendix v) confirms that this was a pair of iuniores. 18 Apparent exceptions are due to duplication of regiments in Occ., 7 because of cross-postings (n. 9 above), or due to slight variations in title between Occ. 5/6 and 7. 258 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SENIORES-IUNIORES." It cannot be coincidence that homonyms fall mostly into pairs of regiments of equal rank.l1 This is surely because each derived from a unique regiment that pre-existed them. Appendix v summarises the careers of five brigades known from Ammianus, despite his confusing habit of speaking of a regiment always as if it were the only one of the name. All ten regiments, we know from the Notitia, were divided into seniores and iuniores. We know from Ammianus that the Ioviani-Herculiani, the Celtae-Petulantes, and probably the Iovii-Victores, were not divided before 364; the Eruli-Batavi not before 361 (if not 363). The Divitenses-Tungrecani and Eruli-Batavi were divided by 365; and the Iovii-Victores by 367. The scolae of the Gentiles and Scutarii had already been divided by Constan- tius II with his junior colleagues, but not necessarily by seniores--iuniores division. A third scola and seven other regi- ments so divided in the Notitia are named by Ammianus, but without adequate evidence of division. The Notitia offers only a confused picture of how regiments were divided geographically,20 for it is a rather later document, when "twins" have been destroyed, and regiments transferred to new groupings. At least 11 have been divided between east and west, 9 (and probably all) securely pre-364 in origin. Well over 20 have been divided within the west, rather fewer in the east, precise totals being impossible. Of these latter, 12 are securely post-364. This is corroborative evidence of the date of division. The division of regiments might be expected to coincide with the definitive division of the army between east and west in 364. This date fits the evidence of Ammianus very well. Crack regi- ments like the loviani are divided with seniores in the west, iuniores in the east; the reverse is almost unknown. This surely reflects the division of the Empire between Valentinian, the 19 The loviani and Herculiani and several scolae have closely similar shields in Or. and Oco., but this is unusual. The Promoti are unique in being divided into two palatine seniores and two comitatensian iuniores. A few legions like II Augusta and VII Gemina have furnished detachments of both comitatensis and pseudocomitatensis rank, the difference being due to the date at which they were drafted from the frontier. 2s Appendix vi. 259 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. senior Augustus of the west, and his junior colleague in the east.21 The first iuniores appear at Procopius' proclamation in September 365 (there is no earlier instance of seniores-iuniores), and three inscriptions earlier than the Notitia confirm that the suffix was soon current. F lavius Nuvel, a retired commander of the equites Armigeri iuniores, filius Saturnini viri perfectis- simi ex comitibus, dedicated a basilica at Rusgunia (near Algiers). The place, and his hereditary rank, would fit the petty king Nubel, who died shortly before 372. The family was pro- Roman when it suited them: Nubel's sons included the fiercely pro-Roman Zammac, the usurper F irmus and his ally Mascezel, the rebel Gildo and (again) his enemy Mascezel.22 At some date between 370 and 375, a regiment of seniores (probably Balistarii) left record of its activities in the Crimea.23 Not long after Valentinian's death (375), to judge by associated coins, a soldier of the Mattiaci seniores was buried at Bordeaux.24 Negative evidence is provided by a tombstone from near An- tioch of a soldier of the Ioviani with an Illyrian name. Its date is 364/5, and the loviani carry no suffix. The man may well have been discharged when Jovian struggled back to Antioch in summer, 363, and have died soon after.25 It is unfortunate 21 Ammianus' summary description of Valens as participem quidem legitimum potestatis, sed in modum apparitoris morigerum (XXVI, 4, 3) is largely correct. The untheological Ausonius compares Valen- tinian with the F ather of the Trinity, omnia solus habens, atque omnia dilargitus (Versus Paschales, 28), cf. note 3 above. 22 . I.L., VIII, 9255; Amm., XXIX, 5, 2 Nubel velut regulus per nationes Mauricas potentissimus. His son Zammac (or Salmaces) owned an estate at Petra (XXIX, 5, 2 and 13), the other side of the Grande Kabylie about 100 miles to the east, where a metrical inscrip- tion proclaimed his loyalty to Rome (I. L. S., 9351). Claudian, B. Gild., I, 389 ff. and Zos., V, 11 (Mascezel). F irmus was powerfully aided by his sister Cyria (Amm., XXIX, 5, 28); it was she, or perhaps another of Nubel's daughters, that ended her days in the odour of sanctity in Constantinople, with her niece Salvina, Gildo's daughter and widow of Theodosius' nephew Nebridius (Jerome, Epp. 79 and 123, 17; Palladius, Dialogus de vita S. lohannis Chrysostomi, ed. P.R. Coleman- Norton, p. 61). 23 A. E., 1908, 178. 24 I. L.S., 9215, first published in R. . A., XII (1910), pp. 67-72. Two coins are of Valens, one of Valentinian, two "Valentinianic," and one apparently of Valentinian II. Style and lettering suit a late 4th century date. 26 A. E., 1940, 214. 260 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SENIORES-IUNIORES." that F lavius Memorius' epitaph at Arles 26 is not dated: this distinguished officer served inter lovianos 28 years, 6 as pro- tector, and 3 as commander of the Lanciarii seniores, before becoming a general. The division of regiments clearly fell during those years as protector. The date, let us say, was 364. How were the regiments divided? The question has been ignored.21 seniores and iuniores cannot be perfunctorily divided into regiments of " old soldiers " and of "recruits," 28 for the history of some stretches from the third century (undivided) into the fifth at least. The men of the Mattiaci iuniores buried at Concordia were veterans, while the men of the Batavi seniores were all ages from 25 to 60. A retired tribune of the loviani seniores had served 40 years in the regiment, no doubt from recruitment.29 Soldiers' ages have nothing to do with regimental titles, even if seniores enjoy the primacy traditionally accorded the old. Thus the first fifteen regiments of the elite army of Italy are all seniores, which elsewhere rank above their iuniores, should they occur in the same list. The association of seniores with the senior Augustus has already been noted. In fighting quality, however, no dif- 26 . L. S., 2788. Memorius retired as comes Tingitaniae with the rank only of vir perfectissimus. F rom 372, comites rei militaris ranked with proconsulares (C. Th., VI, 14, 1), but as late as 398, frontier comites (except per Africam) and duces were still clarissimi (C. Th., I, 7, 3). Despite Amm., XXI, 16, 2, the dux Valeriae at least was still perfectissimus in 365/7 (I.L.S., 762) and as late as 372 (brick- stamps from the Visegrad burgus, S. Soproni, in Studien zu den Militdr- grenzen Roms [KEln, 1967], pp. 138-43); so the change in status seems to have been gradual (the dux Scythiae being clarissimus in 369, I. L. S., 770). The comes Tingitaniae may not have attained the claris- simate until 372, which would place Memorius' command of the Lan- ciarii seniores in 364-367. Earlier than this, they seem to have been undivided (Appendix v). Memorius' career, it must be admitted, if his retirement-rank has been correctly stated, is hard to reconcile with all the other evidence of seniores and iuniores. 27 By R. Grosse, R6mische Militdrgeschichte (1920), and even in A. H. M. Jones, L.R.E., ch. xvii. Pauly-Wissowa and the standard dictionaries are aware of the distinction, but do not explain it. 28 " Au Bas-Empire, la distinction entre seniores et iuniores, entre anciens et conscrits, est eourante," J. Carcopino, Syria, VI (1925), p. 131 (citing regiment-titles). The only explanation known to me. 29 1 L. S., 2789. 261 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. ference is apparent: Valens reinforced the crucial Danube frontier with a pair of iuniores (who nearly made Procopius emperor), while two pairs of seniores were being humiliated by the Alamanni in Gaul.30 seniores-iuniores first distinguishes regiments only in 364, but elsewhere the distinction is common, usually with military overtones. Servius Tullus traditionally divided the people into iuniores, men aged between 17 and 46 fit for military service, and seniores.31 Thus the Republican equivalent of draft files were the iuniorum tabulae, and the emperor Tiberius could describe himself as iam senior when too old for soldiering.32 Rather more precisely, iuniores is used to mean "recruits" in the Principate, and commonly in the Theodosian Code and Vegetius. The anonymous author of a pamphlet submitted to Valentinian and Valens uses it to describe the 50 or 100 young men who will be attached to a regiment, to fill vacancies as they occur.33 This is not so far removed from the sense of iuvenes in Italian towns of the early Empire, young men undergoing pre- military training. In 245, the iuniores vici of Bitburg (near Trier) actually build some sort of tower.34 In the fourth century, at least, senior and iunior are used also in a non-military sense which might, however, suggest a possible relationship between two regiments: father and son. Besides appearing on tomb- stones, the usage is found on coins and in the Theodosian Code to distinguish Valentinian II from Valentinian I his father; in Claudian, to distinguish Count Theodosius from his son the Emperor.35 80 The Divitenses-Tungrecani and Eruli-Batavi (Appendix v). 8 Cicero, De Republica, II, 39 (22); Livy, I, 43, 1, cf. Censorinus, De Die Natali, 14, 2 (citing Varro). 82 Livy, XXIV, 18, 7 (who often uses iuniores in the sense of "men of military age"); Tacitus, Ann., III, 47, 4. 8 C. I. L., VIII, 7036 (Hadrianic); VI, 31747 (3rd century). Twenty instances in 0. Gradenwitz, Heidelberger Index zum Theodosianus (1925); in 0. Th., VII, 13, 6 as a synonym for tirones. Symmachus, Ep., VI, 58. In Vegetius (ed. C. Lang, 1885) nearly always of recruits undergoing basic training, but p. 37, 3 is a parallel to De Rebus Bellicis, V, 5 (E. A. Thompson, A Roman Reformer and Inventor [1952], p. 97). 84 R. MacMullen, Soldier and Civilian in the Later Roman Empire (1963), pp. 135-7, especially n. 52 and n. 59. C.I.L., XIII, 4131. 86 I. L. C. V., 1506a (a Dassianus senior for his son Dassianus iunior). 262 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SENIORES--IUNIORES." iuniores alone is occasionally used of regiments in the early third century in Africa, apparently to show that they were drafted from a parent-body. A numerus Emesenorum iuniorum and the Osdroeni iuniores are attested from the Severan frontier of Mauretania by fragmentary inscriptions: it is plausible that they are drafts from the well-known cohors milliaria Hemese- norum of Intercisa (now Dunaujvaros, Hungary) and its com- panion numerus Osroenorum, sent to north Africa for training in a congenial climate.86 Also in the early third century, a tribune of the Urban Cohorts was transferred to the command of the equites itemque pedites iuniores Mauri with ius gladii.37 Obviously a responsible post, his duty being perhaps to reduce a large draft of Mauri to Roman discipline. The Notitia offers only one example of this type of title, iuniores preceding an ethnic element: the milites iuniores Italici at Ravenna, a limi- tanean title, and an obsolete item. (Ravenna had been the im- perial headquarters since about 402.38) They are not a forma- tion like the eight palatine iuniores Gallicani or iuniores Britan- niciani in the western field armies, most of which exist inde- pendently of the well-attested seniores-iuniores pairs of the same title, and are plausibly detachments once drawn from the parent-unit during a term of service in the region named. Con- versely, some regiments of iuniores have gained the suffix by being drafted to the field armies from a frontier unit, like the Secundani iuniores in Britain from the old Legio II Augusta.9 Valentinianus iunior, cos. 376: O. Th., VI, 4, 24; I.L.S., 4152 and 4268. J. W. E. Pearce, The Roman Imperial Coinage, IX (1951), p. 319. Valentinianus senior (posthumously): C. Th., VII, 4, 22; X, 5, 1; XV, 1, 33. (Theodosius) senior, Claudian, B. Gild., I, 224. 36 As suggested by J. Carcopino, Syria, VI (1925), pp. 129-34 (cf. note 28 above), publishing an inscription with the conjectural restora- tion numerus Emesenorum iuniorum, and restoring C. I. L., VIII, 9829. Intercisa, I. L. S., 2540. 7 I. L. S., 1356, the career of T. Licinius Hierocles, praeses Maure- taniae Caesariensis (in 227, C. I. L., VIII, 9334). 88 Ionorius' constitutions are regularly from Ravenna after December 402 (C. Th., VII, 13, 15). The introductory milites is typical of limi- tanean titles, though it is borne later by two (field army?) regiments which build the Golden Gate: the milites Cornuti iuniores and the milites primo sagittarii Leones iuniores (I.L.S., 9216). The Notitia knows them not. 89 Appendix iv, with other examples. 263 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. The unique title, equites Scutarii iuniores scolae secundae, of a regiment in the African field army, is the clearest illustration of a Court unit " fathering " one in the provinces. The occasion may be guessed. In 365, to forestall an invasion of Africa, Valentinian sent three officials there, who included the scutarius Gaudentius, an old acquaintance he could trust. Yalentinian had been tribune of the second scola, so this was probably Gau- dentius' too; in his important mission, he might have been given command of a small detachment of scutarii, which later formed the nucleus of a locally-recruited cavalry regiment.40 The Gothic regiments formed by Yalens had rectores Romanos omnes, ac- cording to Ammianus: perhaps more than just officers, if we recall that his predecessor Tacitus had used the same word rectores, in a similar context, of Roman legionaries drafted into a newly-raised cohort ad tradendam disciplinam.41 If iuniores could be used to describe a regiment drawn from another, then we might expect the parent-regiment to be called seniores. I suggest that Valentinian divided regiments into two cadres, not necessarily equal in numbers, age, or experience, which were then filled out with recruits who would mature more quickly side by side with old soldiers than if drafted into new regiments. This makes far better military sense than to suppose Valentinian cut vital regiments like the Ioviani into half, simply to share them with his brother.42 By building from cadres, he could expand the field army rapidly, to compensate for Julian's losses in Mesopotamia, and to meet the fresh round of barbarian invasions that threatened him.43 Harsh recruiting was neces- sary. Both Valentinian and Valens promptly reasserted the rule that soldiers' sons were to follow their fathers into the army. Deserters were hunted down. Gallic peasants, and Germans from 40 Amm., XXVI, 5, 14; XXV, 10, 9. 41Amm., XXXI, 16, 8 and Tacitus, Agr., 28, 1. Ammianus continued the Histories (XXXI, 16, 9), and echoes Tacitean language (G. B. A. F letcher, Rev. de Phil., XI [1937], pp. 389-92). He does, however, commonly use rector of a regimental commander or field officer. 42 Constantius had proposed as much with Julian's Gallo-German regiments (lectos ex numeris aliis trecentos, Amm., XX, 4, 2). The result, whether intended or not, would have been to cripple the Gallic field army (Libanius, Or., 18, 90 ff.; Julian, 282D). 48post procinctus Parthici clades, Amm., XXX, 8, 8, cf. Libanius, Or., 18, 280. The crisis of 364: Amm., XXVI, 4, 5-6. 264 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions "SENIORES -IUNIORES." across the Rhine, were pressed into the army. In Gaul, men cut off their thumbs to avoid the draft. They were forced to do alternative service. Later, Valentinian ordered that they be burnt alive (a typical gesture).44 The direct result was a cruel increase in taxation, which Valentinian and his sympathisers justified by reference to the military crisis.45 Division of regiments into seniores and iuniores continued throughout the fourth century, to judge by the Theodosian and post-Theodosian date of some, and also because the great ma- jority are divided within their own comitatus. If " division" is in fact doubling, then the Notitia lists betray an unsuspected increase in army numbers during the later fourth century. Its extent cannot be calculated, because we do not know how many regiments have disappeared from the Notitia, nor how many are "ghosts." The lists have also been swelled with promoted limitanei. Disregarding these pseudocomitatenses, we find 143 field army regiments in the eastern armies; 48 of them seniores or iuniores, representing 32 original titles. This suggests a total original establishment of 127 titles, increased by about 30 regi- ments.46 The apparent increase of nearly one-quarter was, in fact, greater still, since some divided regiments were raised in toto after 364. The corresponding figures in the west (by col- lating Occ. 5 and 6 with Occ. 7) are 159 field army regiments, 87 seniores or iuniores (from 51 original titles). This suggests an original establishment of 123 titles, increased by about 50, or about two-fifths. These figures are offered only to suggest a new analysis of the Notitia lists. They are most unlikely to be accurate, in view of the difficulty of determining any "original establish- 44 Soldiers' sons: C. Th., VII, 1, 5 (364); 8 (365); VII, 22, 7 (Valens, 365). Deserters: C. Th., VII, 18, 1 (365). Evasion: C. Th., VII, 1, 10 (367). Thumbs: C.Th., VII, 13, 4 (367); 5 (368 or 370). Recruitment of Gauls and Germans: Zos., IV, 12, 1. 45 Zos., IV, 16, 1. Valentinian's sympathisers felt he was forced to be harsh, after inheriting an empty Treasury, like Aurelian (Amm., XXX, 8, 8, cf. Jerome, Chron., a. 365). Petronius Probus' harsh ex- actions ruined Illyricum "before the barbarians did" (Jerome, Chron., a. 372, cf. Amm., XXX, 5, 4 ff. and C. Th., IX, 42, 7). 46 95 regiments carry no suffix (143 minus 48), to which add the 32 regiments later doubled, to make an "original establishment" of 127 increased to about 160. Similarly for the West. 265 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. ment" when the western armies have plainly suffered heavy losses. (The army of Gaul has been torn to shreds). The eastern army, we know, was shattered at Adrianople. Evidence remains, however, in the ubiquitous seniores and iuniores, of a substantial increase in the army's establishment during 364-395. Its con- sequences, a spiralling taxation, and the growing military arro- gance deplored by Ammianus,47 are not peculiarly late-Roman. ROGER TOMLIN. CORNELL UNIVERSITY. UNIVERSITY OF KENT AT CANTERBURY. Appendix i: Regiments named by Ammianus Marcellinus F rontier units (b) are included for completeness, since Clark never finished his promised volume of Indices. Regiments' status is not given by Ammianus, but for field army units can usually be recovered from the Notitia. Conjectural rankings in brackets. (a) F ield armies Armaturae scola pal. XIV, 11, 21; XV, 4, 10; 5, 6; 33; XXVII, 2,6, Ascarii aux. pal. XXVII, 2, 9 Ballistarii 1 XVI, 2, 5 Batavi aux. pal. XVI, 12,45; XX,1,3; 4, 2; XXVII, 1,6; 8, 7; XXXI, 13, 9 Bracchiati aux. pal. XV, 5,30; XVI, 12,43 Candidati 2 XV, 5,16; XXV, 3, 6; XXXI, 13,14; 16; 15, 8; 9 Catafractarii 1 XVI, 2, 5; 12, 63 Catafracti 1 XVI, 10, 8; 12, 38; XXVIII, 5, 6 Celtae aux. pal. XX, 4, 2; 20; 5, 9; XXI, 3,2; XXII, 12, 6; XXXI, 10, 4 Comites vex. pal. XV, 4,10 Constantiani leg. corn. XXIX, 5,20; 22 Cornuti aux. pal. XV, 5,30; XVI, 11,9; 12,43; 63; XXXI, 8, 9 Divitenses leg. pal. XXVII, 1, 2 4 Amm., XXVII, 9, 4: .. .hunc imperatorem (Valentinian) omnium primum in maius militares fastus ad damna rerum auxisse communium. Cf. voracis militarium fastus (XXX, 7, 10), and XXI, 16, 2 and XXVII, 9, 1. Not that Valentinian and his seniores were entirely to blame, for before his accession Ammianus had already satirised the ferox in suos illis temporibus miles et rapaw (XXII, 4, 7); a common- place in Aurelius Victor, writing under Constantius (Liber de Caesari- bus, 11, 9; 18; 26, 5; 35, 11). 266 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SENIORES-IUNIORES." D. iuniores (leg. pal.) Domestici Protectores Domestici Protectores Comes Domesticorum -commands D. Pro- tectores -commands Domes- XXVI, 6,12; 7,14 XV,3,10; 5,22; XVIII,3, 6; 8,11; XXI, 16, 20; XXVI, 5, 14 XXV, 5,4; 10, 9 XIV, 7, 9; 12; XV, 3,11; XVIII, 5,1; 9,3; XXV, 5, 8; XXVI, 10,1; XXX, 7,3 XIV,10,8; 11,14; XX, 4,21; XXVI,8,7; XXXI, 7, 4; 10, 6 XVIII, 3, 6 tici XIV, 11,19; XXI, 8,1 Eruli/Heruli/Aeruli XX, 1, 3; 4, 2; XXV, 10, 9; XXVII, 1, 6; aux pal. 8, 7 (F lavia) leg. I and II XXIX, 5,18 Gentiles scola pal. XIV, 7,9; XV, 5, 6; XVI, 4,1; XX, 2, 5; 4, 3; 8,13; XXVII, 10,12 Herculiani leg. pal. XXII, 3,2; XXV, 6, 2 Ioviani leg. pal. XXII, 3, 2; XXV, 5, 8; 6, 2; XXVII, 10, 10; XXIX, 3, 7 Iovii aux. pal. XXV, 6,3; XXVI, 7,13; XXVII, 8,7 Laeti8 XXI, 13,16 Lancearii leg. pal. XXI, 13,16; XXXI, 13,8 Mattiarii leg. pal. XXI, 13,16; XXXI, 13,8 " numeri Moesiaci" XX, 1, 3 Petulantes aux. pal. XX, 4,2; 18; 20; 5, 9; XXI, 3,2; XXII, 12, 6; XXXI, 10,4 Primani (leg. pal.) XVI, 12,49 Promoti vex. pal. XV, 4,10; XXXI, 13,18 Reges (aux. pal.) XVI, 12,45 cohors iv Sagittariorum XXIX, 5, 20 vex. corn. sagittarii Scntarii XXX, 1,11; XXXI, 12,2; 16 scola pal. XIV, 7,9; XV, 4,9; XVI,4,1; 6,2; 12,2; XX, 4, 3; 8,13; XXI, 8,1; XXVI, 5,14; XXVII, 10,12; 16; XXIX, 1,16; XXXI, 10, 20; 12, 16 1These titles "express military function or armament," but Am- mianus seems usually to have had specific regiments in mind. 'The Emperor's immediate bodyguard, probably drawn from the scolae, for which Ammianus has several non-technical terms. armigeri: XXXI, 10, 3; 21 (actually in the Petulantes); XXXI, 13, 8. impera- torius comitatus: XXXI, 10, 14. cohors praetoria: XVII, 13, 10; cf. XVI, 12, 49 (castra praetoria). The Praetorians enjoyed a literary after-life, cf. Symmachus, Or., 1, 23. Also used of a German raiding-party (XVI, 11, 4), and of Germans settled in Gaul by the Roman government (XX, 8, 13). 267 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. trib. Scutariorum XIV,10,8; 11,11; 14; XVI,11,6; XVII, 10,5; XIX, 11,16; XX, 2,5; XXX, 1,11; XXXI, 8, 9 trib. scolae I XXII, 11, 2; XXVI, 1,4 trib. scolae II XXII, 11, 2; XXV, 10, 9; XXVI, 1, 5 Tertiaci (vex.) XXV, 1, 7 Thebaeae legiones XIV, 11,15 Tungrecani 4 leg. pal. XXVII, 1, 2 T. iuniores (leg. pal.) XXVI, 6,12 Victores aux. pal. XXIV, 4,23; XXV, 6,3; XXVI, 7,13; XXVII, 8, 7 Zianni (leg. corn.) XXV, 1,19 (b) F rontier armies Alamannorum numerus Areani 5 leg. II Armeniaca ps. corn. Comites Sagittarii 6 legg. Constantiacae7 Decentiaci 7 Decimani Diogmitae leg. I F lavia leg. II F lavia F ortenses Gothi "indigenarum turma" (Amida) ex Illyrico duae turmae 7 Magnentiaci 7 Martenses milites leg. Moesiaca leg. Pannonica leg. I Parthica leg. II Parthica leg. V Parthica Praeventores sagittarii " cohors" XXIX, 4, 7 XXVIII, 3, 8 XX, 7,1 XVIII, 9, 4 XXI, 11, 2 XVIII, 9, 3; cf. XIX, 5, 2 XVIII, 9, 3 XXVII, 9, 6 XX, 6, 8 XX, 7, 1 XVIII, 9, 3 XXXI, 16, 8 XVIII, 9, 3 XVIII, 8, 2 XVIII, 9, 3; cf. XIX, 5, 2 XXVI, 6, 7 XXIX, 6, 13; 14 XXIX, 6,13; 14 XX, 6, 8 XX, 7, 1 XVIII, 9, 3 XVIII, 9, 3 XXI, 11, 2; (another) X) SIX, 6, 11 4 V reads tunc grecani as in the Notitia and C. I. L., XIII, 5190. This spelling is preferable to Clark's Tungricani (G). Not a regular unit. F or a defence of the MS reading (and a possi- ble explanation), see C. E. Stevens, Latomus, XIV (1955), p. 395. A field army title, but in Amida for the siege, perhaps by accident. 7If technically limitanei, nonetheless "mobile," since they were freely drafted from one frontier to another. Many limitanean units took refuge in Amida (XVIII, 9, 3), and the dux Osrhoenae took part in the Persian expedition (XXIV, 1, 2), which suggests limitanei might operate away from their bases. 268 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SENIORES-IUNIORES." Saracenorum cuneus XXXI, 16, 5 Superventores XVIII, 9, 3 Tricensimani (ps. cor.) XVIII, 9,3 sagittarii Zabdieeni XX, 7,1 Most are from the Mesopotamian frontier, of which Ammianus had personal knowledge. Only barbarian contingents which formed part of the Roman army are included (though the Saraceni are doubtful). Appendix ii: The cemetery of Concordial In 1873 an early Christian cemetery was discovered outside the Roman town of colonia lulia Concordia. When excavation ended in 1875, 270 sarcophagi had been uncovered, many with epitaphs in- scribed upon them. They were of uniform type, and the language and lettering are fairly uniform also. Internal evidence showed that the cemetery was in use some time after 362/3 (the date of a re-used inscription) and before 452 (the sack of Concordia by the Huns, when the cemetery seems to have been disturbed). Three epitaphs are actually dated: one to the consulship of Arcadius and Honorius (394, 396, or 402), and the others to 409/10 and 426/7. Unfortu- nately, the cemetery could not be preserved in situ, and no record seems to have been kept of its exact layout. Nor have the epitaphs all been published in a single group, though many were collected by Mommsen in C.I.L., V (1877), pp. 1058 ff.2 The epitaphs name between them 22 regiments of the late Roman army (nearly all palatini and comitatenses), and form its most im- portant epigraphic source. Intensive study of these 36 epitaphs, culminating in their definitive publication by Dr. Hoffmann (in Museum Helveticum, XX [1963], pp. 22-57), has given a misleading impression of the site as being a "military cemetery." In fact, also buried there are two praepositi and four variously-ranking fabri- censes from the local arrow factory (cf. Occ. 9,24); at least nine Syrian immigrants (and probably the four other Aurelii); and over a dozen civilians, usually with their wives.4 They include an archiater, a cohortalis from Dacia Ripensis, a principalis from Mursa. Not published by Hoffmann are a domesticus and his wife (V,8738), and a veteranus and his wife (8749). Only the local bourgeoisie could afford these substantial stone coffins (de prop(r)io suo usually); almost every soldier and fabricensis is an NCO. There P. L. Zovatto, Antichi Monumenti Cristiani di Iulia Concordia Sagittaria (1950), cited in n. 5 as Zovatto. G. Brusin and P. L. Zovatto, Monumenti Romani e Cristiani di Iulia Concordia (1960). 2 Bibliography in Hoffmann, Museum Helveticum, XX (1963), p. 26. 3"Concordiae in militum sepulcreto" (Diehl). 4 The actual figure may be more. Soldatengrabschriften are collected by Hoffmann, but I have not been able to trace all the civilians' sarcophagi. 269 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. is no apparent difference between soldiers' and civilians' sarcophagi, whether in language, style, or position in the cemetery. To all ap- pearances, they were buried side by side, just as (it is tempting to suppose) they were in life. ".. . il sepolereto era commune a tutta la cristianita di Concordia (earthly goods permitting, one might add), non era speciale dei militi della truppa di guarnigione o di passaggio . . ." 5 Hoffmann, however, claims "eine Reihe von Anzeichen" (op. cit., p. 25) show that the soldiers came from an army drawn from eastern and western units, cantoned in Concordia by Theodosius after his victory at the F rigidus (i. e. winter 394/5). F rom his commentary, the "Anzeichen" seem to be the eastern origin of half the 22 regiments. Which is dubious. The Batavi seniores, the Mattiaci seniores and iuniores, are said to have returned from the east on no better evidence than their appearance in both eastern and western field army lists in the Notitia. These lists, however, post- date the division of the Empire in 395, and these are simply examples of homonymous regiments in both partes imperii (cf. the Promoti, Regii, etc.). The Armaturae, loviani, and F ortenses Hoff- mann allows may be either eastern or western, but he prefers to see the eastern iuniores in the Brachiati (rather than the seniores of Italy, or the iuniores of Gaul), because of the Gothic names of the two NCO's who bury the dead man. However, Gratian like The- odosius came to terms with the Goths (the Ostrogoths seem to have been allowed to settle in nearby Pannonia), and it is unreasonable to suppose the western empire, desperate for recruits, would have confined itself to Gauls and Germans. The numerus primae Martiae victricis Hoffmann identifies, surely correctly, with the Martii, a leg. corn. in east Illyricum (probably the leg. I Martia active on the Danube under Valentinian). The comites seniores sagittarii are unknown to the Notitia, and their station during the 390's cannot be inferred from the presence of comites sagittarii iuniores in Or. 5. The Regii Emeseni ludaei are likewise unknown to the Notitia, and their identification with the eastern Regii supposes that someone deleted their full title after reading C. Th., XVI, 8, 24 (418), Honorius' edict banning Jews from military service. In no other place is there evidence the eastern lists have been modified after ca. 395. There is some chance, in fact, that the Regii are Ammianus' Reges.6 We certainly cannot be sure whether the eastern or western iegii are meant: Emeseni had served in the west before. The presence of the Iberi (= the Hiberi in Or. 5) depends on emenda- tion and interpretation of a difficult inscription, for which Hoffmann makes out a convincing case. 5Zovatto (see note 1), p. 17. 6 The Batavi seniores and the Regii occupy complementary positions in the lists of Or. 5 and Or. 6 (cf. text above, note 10); Amm., XVI, 12, 45, Batavi rveere cum regibus, formidabilis manus. 270 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SIENUNIORE-IUIIORE." Only two regiments (2 sarcophagi out of 36) are, in my opinion, certainly eastern. Eight can be identified with units placed by the Notitia in Italy; 5 with Gallic units (one of these, Leones seniores, may be the Leones of Claudian); 2 in Spain (the sagittarii Nervii are probably Claudian's Nervii); 1 in western Illyricum, and 4 un- certain. The army (397-8) listed by Claudian as sent from Pisa to north Africa (B. Gild., I, 415-23) offers similar discrepancies with the Notitia.7 Internal evidence does not suggest the army which swept Theo- dosius through the Balkans to victory in 394. Several are buried by their colleagues (Hoffmann, 1, 5, 12, 14), a brother (5), a son and a kinsman (8, instantibus collegis). But Vassio (20), who was 60, and had served 35 years in the Batavi seniores, is buried by the wife "who lived with him 22 years." F lavia Optata (36) stands in some unspecified relationship to a soldier of the Regii Emeseni Iudaei. F andigildus, protector de numero Armigerorum (11), had the foresight to purchase his sarcophagus vivo suo. This may well be his retirement-rank (C. Th., VII, 20, 12 [400], cf. VII, 20, 5; 8 and XIII, 1, 7); compare Alatancus, a domesticus, who was buried with his wife, with the provision that "no one of our family, or anyone else, be laid in this grave" (C.I.L., V, 8738).8 He seems as settled in Concordia as the veteran Gidnadius, buried nearby with his wife (V, 8749). Why not also the two veterans from the Mattiaci iuniores (28, 29), one of whom (28) intended the grave for himself and his son, with the usual sanction against violation post obitum eorum? Some such sanction is repeated on all the military sarcophagi, and usually also the claim that they were bought by the deceased de proprio suo. The civilians say exactly the same. As a precaution, Mansuetus (31) entrusted his grave to the protection of "the veterans." Three other soldiers (11, 14, 35), like Alatancus, entrusted their graves to the protection of the Church of Concordia. What sort of striking force is this, which includes veterans and 60-year-olds (not to mention their wives), a girl (daughter or mistress?), a civil servant (38), and a petty magnate from Mursa (39) ? If this was a temporary cantonment, why did Mansuetus believe there would be veterans to look after his grave? Could Dassiolus have expected his son to share his grave-and would Alatancus need to fear his family's avarice? The soldiers buried their dead side by side with the local bourgeoisie. Ties of friend- ship developed: Vettius Serenianus (10), hospes et heres eits, buried the NCO billeted upon him, and inherited his property. Some may have died in transit: perhaps the two easterners (12, 35), although we might note that Concordia was the home of 7 Cf. text, above, n. 11. 8 Alatancus' wife and family suggest that he was elderly or retired; his rank as domesticus is indecisive (Carpilio [16] is a 30-year-old example, de numero Batavorum seniorum). 271 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. numerous Syrians. F ield army units passed through Concordia, or were billeted there, when Maximus advanced to Aquileia (388), and Eugenius stood on the F rigidus (394). Honorius made a lengthy excursion to Patavium and nearby Altinum in 399. The regiment- pair of the Batavi seniores and the Eruli seniores must have been based on Concordia for some time, for they provide 11 inscriptions between them (8 of them NCO's). This would not be Concordia's first experience as an army base: a papyrus of the later third century attests a cohors IV Concordiensium.9 By 406, Stilico's army was based at Ticinum, where it mutinied against him in 408 (Zos., V, 26 4; 32, etc.). The army stationed there in 405/6 amounted to 30 apLOBol (Zos., V, 26, 4), rather fewer than the 44 numeri allocated to Italy by Occ. 7. This list is later, and one would not expect Stilico's army was any smaller. (If anything, the reverse: 7 vexillationes is very few.) Thus considerable forces may have been stationed at other strategic points of north Italy besides Ticinum, one of which was Concordia. Other cemeteries may await discovery. That of Concordia is an epigraphic document of the co-existence of soldiers and civilians in the last century of the western Empire comparable with Eugippius' Life of Severinus. Appendix iii: Epigraphic evidence of regiments with the supple- mentary title seniores or iuniores Ten such regiments are known from Concordia (Appendix ii). This appendix collects others from the Corpus Inscriptionum l.atinarum; Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae; and Annee 2pi- graphique. A few titles have been restored or brought into con- formity with Notitia usage. Selections may be found in I.L.S., III, pp. 471-4, and in Diehl, Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres, nos. 436 ff. scola Armeniorum primaV, 6726 (Vercellae) equitis seniorum equites Armigeri iun. VIII, 9255 (Rusgunia, Algeria) Balistarii sen. A.E., 1908, 178 (the Crimea) equites Batavi sen. Concordia Batavi sen. Concordia equites Bracchiati sen. Concordia equites Catafractarii sen. Concordia; XIII,1848 (Lyon) Comites sagittarii sen. Concordia Cornuti sen. VI, 32963 (Rome) milites Cornuti iun. I.L.S., 9216 (Constantinople) Hemeseni iun. Syria, VI (1925), p. 129 (Algeria) 9 A. von Domaszewski, Die Rangordnung des r6mischen Heeres (2nd ed., B. Dobson, 1967), pp. 185-7, the career of Traianus Mucianus. 272 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SENIOR-IUNORESIORES." Heruli sen. Concordia Ioviani sen. XIII, 3687 (Trier); I.L.S.,2789 (Milan) (unspecified) III, 10232 (Sirmium); I.L.S., 2788 (Arles); A.E., 1940, 214 (Antioch) Iovii iun. Concordia Lanciarii sen. I.L.S., 2788 (Arles) Lanciarii iun. A.E., 1927, 169 (Ladik, N. E. Turkey) milites Lanciarii iun. A.E., 1922, 71 (Ulmetum, in the Dobrudja) Leones sen. Concordia milites felices Leones sen.A.E., 1937, 254 (tskeles, Turkey) milites primo sagittarii I.L.S., 9216 (Constantinople) Leones iun. IMattiaci sen. Concordia; I.L.S., 9215 (Bordeaux); I.L.S., 9481a (Nicopolis, E. Turkey) Mattiaci iun. Concordia equites itemque pedites I.L.S., 1356 (Caesarea, Algeria) iuniores Mauri Osdroeni iun. VIII,9829 (Algeria), Syria, VI (1925), p. 134 Tungrecani sen. XIII, 5190 (N. W. Switzerland) Appendix iv: Some peculiar iuniores without complementary seniores: their possible origins' a) iuniores with regional suffix i. iuniores Britanniciani Exculcatores (Occ. 5), cf. E. seniores (Italy); E. iuniores (Spain) Invicti (Spain), cf. I. seniores (Spain); I. iuniores (E. Illyricum) Victores (Britain, Occ. 7), cf. V. seniores (Italy, Occ. 7); V. iun- iores (Spain); Honoriani V. iuniores (W. Illyricum) ii. iuniores Gallicani Atecotti (Gaul), cf. Honoriani A. seniores (Gaul); Honoriani A. iuniores (Italy) F elices (Occ. 5), cf. F . seniores (Spain); F . iuniores (Italy) Iovii (Gaul), cf. I. seniores (Italy); I. iuniores (W. Illyricum) Mattiaci (Gaul), cf. M. seniores (Italy); M. iuniores (Gaul); M. Honoriani Gallicani (W. Illyricum) Salii (Spain, Occ. 7), cf. S. seniores (Gaul); S. Gallicani (Occ. 5)2 1 Western regiments are attested in both Occ. 5 and Occ. 7 (occa- sionally with slight differences in title) unless stated; appearance in one list only implies a late addition. 2 The Salii Gallicani are probably the Salii iuniores Gallicani, an example of a iuniores gaining a regional suffix. 273 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. iii. In the eastern praesental armies: Sagittarii iuniores/seniores Gallicani Sagittarii iuniores/seniores Orientales Eq. armigeri seniores Gallicani, cf. eq. armigeri seniores Orientales (Or. 7) b) iuniores from the limitanei equites Catafractarii iuniores (Britain, Occ. 7), cf. eq. Catafractarii, Morbio (Occ. 40, 21) Cursarienses iuniores (Gaul, Occ. 7), cf. milites Ursarienses, Roto- mago (Occ. 37,21)8 Defensores seniores (Gaul) and iuniores (Gaul, Occ. 7), cf. numerus Defensorum, Braboniaco (Occ. 40,27) and milites Defensores, Confluentibus (Occ. 41, 24) Secundani iuniores (Britain, Occ. 7), cf. legio secunda Augusta, Rutupis (Occ. 28,19); secundani Britones (Oce. 7) = secunda Britannica (Occ. 5) (Gaul) Septimani iuniores4 (Gaul), cf. legio septima Gemina, Legione (Occ. 42, 26) Superventores iuniores (Gaul), cf. milites Superventores, Mannatias (Occ. 37,18) The units in (b) are pseudocomitatenses, with the exception of the Catafractarii, and thus typical of many drafted from Britain and the Rhine frontier into the field armies after 406. This rare use of iuniores may indicate that the parent-unit remained in being (as would certainly be true of Leg. II Augusta and VII Gemina). By contrast, the legionary detachments which had been in the field armies since Gallienus, the secundani Italiciani, Octavani, Decima gemina, etc., never carry a supplementary iuniores.5 Appendix v: Movements and divisions of some palatine regiments in Ammianus Marcellinus Several times during 364-378, Ammianus records what is appar- ently the same regiment in both east and west. This never happens in 353-363, with the natural exception of the imperial bodyguards and the regiments which Julian took from Gaul to the east. After the division of 364, no further interchange of regiments between east and west seems to have occurred in 364-378. In the crisis of 3Not from the Cursarienses (leg. corn. in Gaul). The identification is guaranteed by the bloc of regiments from Occ. 37 drafted to Occ. 7. 'There is another Septimani iuniores in Tingitania (Occ. 7), rank uncertain, but also distinct from the leg. corn. seniores-iuniores. 6Numismatic evidence of Gallienus' field army: M. Alfoldi, in Limes-Studien: Vortrdge des 3. internationalen Limes-Kongress in Rheinfelden/Basel 1957 (1959), pp. 13-18. 274 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SENIORES-IUNIORES.1" Procopius' usurpation, Valens received no direct military assistance from Valentinian (XXVI, 5,13; cf. Symmachus, Or., 1,17 ff.); nor did Valentinian draw on the east for his great invasion of Germany (XXVII, 10, 6). When military assistance was requested by Valens, Ammianus notes it (XXXI, 7,3; 10,3). The western empire was reluctant to spare troops (XXXI, 7, 4, cf. 10, 6 dispositio prudens), and in the event, Valens was able (indeed willing) to proceed alone (XXXI, 12,1; 7). So when Ammianus seems to record the same regiment in both east and west (the Divitenses - Tungrecani simul- taneously), he is in fact describing two homonyms. No further division of the field army seems to have taken place, though small adjustments may have been made (in Illyricum, and in drafting Valens' lovii - Victores to the west). The combined field army left by Theodosius in 395 was simply re-separated by Stilico into its western and eastern components (Claudian, In Ruf., II, 6: geminae exercitus aulae, cf. 104: utraque castra; 217: redeat iam miles Eous; cf. 161-2, 389 [with B. Gild., I, 430-1]). 1. loviani - Herculiani Premier infantry regiments in both Ammianus and the Notitia, they were raised by Diocletian and Maximian (Zos., III, 30, 2), and jointly commanded by Magnentius in Gaul in 350 (II, 4, 2). Their officers attended the trials of Chalcedon (Dec. 361), and they served together in the Persian expedition (summer 363), undivided as yet, the signifer of the Ioviani deserting to the enemy. The loviani campaigned in Germany in 368. The Notitia pairs seniores in Italy, iuniores in Or. 5. 2. Divitenses-- Tungrecani The iuniores proclaimed Proeopius at Constantinople (Sept. 365), and cannot be the pair stationed in Gaul in Jan. 365, defeated by the Alamanni later in the year. The seniores are paired in Italy; the iuniores are absent. 3. Celtae - Petulantes Served with Julian in Gaul. Constantius' demand for them by name for the east (winter 359/60) made them proclaim Julian. They followed him to Antioch (362), where their indiscipline was notori- ous. Since the army combined units from Gaul and Illyricum with Constantius' field army, they must then have been the only regiments of the name. (This argument applies to other regiments mentioned by Ammianus in the Persian expedition.) They presumably served with Julian in Mesopotamia (363). They defeated the Lentienses in Raetia in F eb. 378 (where they seem to have been cantoned before in winter 360/61). The Notitia pairs the seniores in Italy; the Celtae iuniores are in Africa, and the Petulantes iuniores in eastern Illyricum. 275 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. 4. Eruli - Batavi The Batavi distinguished themselves at Strasbourg (autumn 357), and both regiments campaigned in Britain (winter 359/60). Con- stantius demanded them by name for the east at this time. The Eruli served on the Persian expedition (363), and the Batavi were perhaps the 500 Gauls and Germans, men used to swimming the Rhine from childhood, who swam the Tigris in spate (XXV, 6,13-14 with 7, 3). They formed half an army defeated in Gaul in 365, before Valentinian arrived. (Ammianus does not say whether they had returned from the east, travelling ahead of Valentinian [who moved slowly, and wintered 364/5 in Milan], or were a detachment left behind by Julian.) They served in Britain in 367/68. The Batavi were held in reserve at Adrianople (Aug. 378). Zosimus says that Valentinian was nearly killed in a mutiny of the Batavi at Sirmium (III, 35, 2, i. e. 363), and that for cowardice in Gaul (365?) he nearly sold them into slavery. He seems to have muddled his source, and what he says conflicts what is known of Valentinian's movements from the C.Th., so his statements should be rejected. The seniores are paired in Italy. The Batavi iuniores are in Gaul; the Eruli iuniores are absent. A second Batavi seniores is in Or. 5. 5. lovii - Victores F irst appear on the Persian expedition (363), fighting bravely alongside the loviani -Herculiani, and like them, apparently the only regiments of the name. Valens sent them against Procopius (Oct. 365) to whom they defected. They campaigned in Britain in 367/68 with the Eruli - Batavi, surely a second pair. The seniores are paired in Italy; the iuniores had been paired (Occ. 5), but now (Occ. 7), the Iovii iuniores are in western Illyricum, the Iovii iuniores Gallicani in Gaul, and the Victores iuniores in Spain. They may have been transferred to Britain as the Victores iuniores Britanniciani. Lancearii - Mattiarii The spearhead of Constantius' advance against Julian (361), and screen of Julian's advance down the Euphrates (Malalas, ed. Dindorf, p. 330, 2 iff.). Malalas, who drew on accounts by members of the Persian expedition, refers to them jointly as an aptOGAs. When the Roman army collapsed at Adrianople (378), they stood their ground. The Notitia divides the palatine seniores and iuniores between Or. 5 and Or. 6. To judge by Ammianus and Malalas, they were not so divided in 363. Gentiles - Scutarii Palatine scolae regularly associated together by Ammianus. Con- 276 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " SENIORES-IUNIORES." stantius shared them with his junior colleagues Gallus and Julian, and the Scutarii at least were shared by Valentinian with Valens. Until his accession (364), there were only two scolae of Scutarii attached to a sole Emperor, the F irst and the Second. The Notitia attaches a F irst and Second scola of Scutarii to each comitatus. The Gentiles are divided into seniores and iuniores in the east; the west has iuniores only. Six more regiments found as seniores-iuniores appear in Ammi- anus, but without evidence for (or against) division. They are (with dates of appearance in parenthesis) the Armaturae (354, 366), Ascarii (366), Brachiati (355, 357), Cornuti (355, 357, 377), Primani (357), and Promoti (355, 378). Appendix vi: Regiments divided by seniores and iuniores 1. Between WEST and EAST sen. iun. (9) Armaturae Herculiani Ioviani Pannoniciani Petulantes Divitenses Tungrecani Iovii Victores 2 sen. Jun. sun. (4) Eq. Batavi Eq. Brachiati Brachiati Invicti sen. iun. sen. iun. (3) Ascarii Mattiaci Eq. Promoti sen. sen. iun. (3) Batavi Cornuti Gentiles iun. sen. (2) Germaniciani Primani iun. sen. iun. (1) Mattiarii 2. Within the WEST3 (21) Eq. Armigeri Armigeri propugnatores Atecotti Honoriani Brisigavi Celtae Eq. Cetrati Eq. Cornuti Defensores Exculcatores F elices Gratianenses Eq. Honoriani Leones Honoriani Marcomanni Mauri Honoriani Mauri Tonantes Propugnatores Eq. sagittarii Parthi Salii Eq. Scutarii Septimani 1 Each regiment is named only once, although some would qualify for inclusion under more than one rubric. 2 These four regiments (Divitenses ... Viotores) on the authority of Ammianus. 'Usually, but not always, in simple seniores-iuniores pairs. The "lone" seniores and iuniores are mostly survivors of such pairs. This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROGER TOMLIN. Lone seniores (7) Armigeri defensores Eq. constantes Valentinianenses Heruli Menapii Moesiaci Eq. sagittarii Eq. Stablesiani Lone iuniores (cf. Appendix iv) (5) Eq. Catafractarii Cursarienses Superventores Valentinianenses Secundani 3. Within the EAST3 (7) Arcadiani Balistarii F elices Honoriani Lanciarii sagittarii Gallicani sagittarii Orientales Eq. Theodosiaei Lone seniores (7) Eq. Armigeri sen. Gallicani Eq. Amigeri sen. Orientales Britones Constantini Martenses Solenses Eq. Germaniciani Lone iuniores (4) balistarii Theodosiani felices Theodosiani comites Catafractarii Bucellarii Eq. comites Sagittarii NOTE: This paper was planned and written before I could study the ?monumental survey by D. Hoffmann, Das spiitrmische Bewegungsheer und die Notitia Dignitatum (Epigraphische Studien, VII: I [1969] and II [1970]). F uller and sometimes different treatment of much that is discussed here, and in particu- lar of the chronology of the Notitia's eastern field armies, will be found in its more than 800 pages. 278 This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.75 on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:16:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions