Late roman army (west)

[Robert Vermaat]

Its a very complicated picture. Many of the troops were recruited from tribes across the Rhine and Danube, as well as Britain, Gaul, Egypt, Africa, and the Middle East. They had either Christian or Pagan leanings, probably more Christian as the 4th Century came to an end. They often returned home on leave and that could lead to problems such as them giving their tribesmen too much information which could then be used by that tribe as a basis for raids into Roman territory. I see no reason why a legionarii or auxilia soldier in Britain would be clothed or armed differently to their counter-part stationed in Constantiople, apart from having to have warmer clothing for the winter.

I agree mostly with Adrian, but I'd like to make two additions.
One, troops bought a lot of their clothes themselves towards the end of the 5th century. That would mean that their outfits would be different according to local fashion.
Two, Adrian mentions legionarii/auxilia, but after Diocletian the 'auxilia' was no longer the same as that of the army of the Principate: the army was divided between comitatenses (field army) and limitanei (frontier troops), the auxilia bing the name for new elite regiments, often attached to the emperor.