09-16-2008, 04:56 PM
Quote:In an attempt to answer the original question, there is a record - I think in the 'Life of Saint Severinus' (but I don't have it to hand) - which has a unit in the Balkans sending men to Italy to collect their pay, but off the top of my head I couldn't tell you the date. Further, I believe some units in Spain were still recorded as extant long after Roman control had gone. However, both of these references might be to limitanei. Unfortunately, most ancient sources aren't really that interested in noting these things!
The Life of Severinus was written by Eugippius. Severin died in 482. Apparently the breakdown of the Danube border happened shortly before that. Odoacar then ordered the last inhabitants of Noricum Ripense to be resettled in southern Italy.
Procopius mentions units in Gaul that clearly descended from earlier frontier troops, but unfortunately he is not clear wheather the ancestors were Romans, Gallic militia or even Germanic federates.
Robert Vermaat
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
