04-24-2013, 10:56 PM
Warren Treadgold is probably the leading advocate of the 'high count' for the 3rd-5th century Roman army, although he uses a 'low count' for the 3rd-5th century Roman population. His book Byzantium and its Army, 284-1081 focuses on the east, but probably explains the numbers game better than anyone else; unfortunately, he doesn't cover the effects of Hadrianopolis in much detail.
It's not entirely clear that the Illyrian army was absent, but when Gratian goes east with a small force, I suspect he's trying to join up with the Illyrian army.
If we take Constantine's reorganization as the starting point, there are a whole series of major shocks in the following decades: first the civil war between Constantius II and Magnentius, second the Persian War, with Tomlin and Hoffman arguing for reorganizations afterwards, third the Gothic War, and on its heels the civil war between Theodosius and Magnus Maximus, and fifth the civil war between Theodosius and Eugenius, with the new Theodosian units in the Notitia either newly-formed or reorganized or replacing old units... I'm leaving out several smaller civil wars, border wars, etc.
It's not entirely clear that the Illyrian army was absent, but when Gratian goes east with a small force, I suspect he's trying to join up with the Illyrian army.
If we take Constantine's reorganization as the starting point, there are a whole series of major shocks in the following decades: first the civil war between Constantius II and Magnentius, second the Persian War, with Tomlin and Hoffman arguing for reorganizations afterwards, third the Gothic War, and on its heels the civil war between Theodosius and Magnus Maximus, and fifth the civil war between Theodosius and Eugenius, with the new Theodosian units in the Notitia either newly-formed or reorganized or replacing old units... I'm leaving out several smaller civil wars, border wars, etc.
