(01-16-2021, 09:44 AM)nikgaukroger Wrote: first attested for units at the start of the reigns of Valentinian and Valens
I was wondering about this question myself just recently. It's not easy to answer!
There are a couple of references in Ammianus to what might be palatine troops. The earliest dates from AD354, and concerns the last days of Caesar Gallus, who was told that for his military guard he should be content with "
palatinis et protectorum cum Scutariis et Gentilibus" (Amm. Mar 14.7.9) - this is palatini and protectores plus the Scholae Scutarii and Gentilorum. But does this necessarily refer to the palatine auxilia and legiones that we know from the
Notitia Dignitatum, or (as the context suggests) to some more limited form of bodyguard troops?
There's another reference (26.6.5) to a certain Strategius, an associate of Procopius in AD365, formerly a soldier of the
palatini but now a senator, "
Strategium quendam ex palatino milite senatorem." Once again, the level of promotion suggests that Strategius was not just a man in a line regiment!
The earliest apparent reference to palatine troops in the Theodosian Code also comes from AD365, at the start of the reign of Valentinian and Valens, a law (8.1.10) concerning quartermasters of 'palatini and comitatensian units' ("
Actuariis palatinorum et comitatensium numerorum").
However, it's not entirely clear if the 'palatine units' in this case are what we might think. The Code elsewhere uses
palatini extensively to refer to court officials. Ammianus Marcellinus does as well - at a couple of points referring to a
palatina cohors, which is a band of courtiers. All the Constantinian-era references to
palatini are about these court officials (so named because they serve
in sacro palatio), not soldiers.
For clear references to Palatine troops in the Theodosian Code we have to wait until the very period of the
Notitia itself, with two laws from the time of Honorius: 7.1.18, addressed to Stilicho in AD400, lists "
comitatensibus ac palatinis numeris ad alios numeros militem" ('comitatensis and palatine units and other military units'), while 7.4.22 of AD396 lists "
scholae... vexillationes comitatenses aut palatinae neque legiones ullae neque auxilia": so it's clear that the palatine troops in this case are
not Scholae.
There's another interesting reference in Ammianus, meanwhile, about the troops that Comes Theodosius took to Africa to oppose Firmus in AD373: "
comitatensis auxilio militis pauci" (29.5.3) - these could well have been the same paired auxilia units that he used earlier in Britain, but here they seem to be referred to as 'auxilia comitatensis'! Ammianus is often a bit vague with his military terminology though.
My guess would be that the 'palatine' designation was an aspect of late Roman grade and title inflation. Originally the
palatini were court officials, but the name was later extended to refer also to court bodyguard soldiers (like the
candidati, perhaps?). At some point, either under Valentinian or much later under Theodosius or Honorius, the more senior comitatensis troops were given this additional designation to signify their proximity to the emperor and the imperial court and palace.
(01-18-2021, 10:16 PM)Mark Hygate Wrote: Barker (1981) suggested that the original 'Central Field Army' was created after Constantine (and the demise of the Praetorian Guard) and consisted of: 5 Vexillationes Palatina; 5 Legiones Palatina; and 10 Auxilia Palatina.
I've never seen anything like that in any source! Is it possible that Barker just made it up?