Roman Leather Lamellae Scales from Karanis, Egypt

[Renatus]

I assume Strobel reckoned that numerus cataphractorum and numerus Salaratorum Peregrinorum referred to the same military unit. Is this not possible, do you think?

Anything is possible but I certainly would not be as dogmatic about it as Strobel seems to be. I see no reason, in a legal document in which some element of precision is required, for a unit to be referred to in two different ways. If the correct name of the unit were numerus Salaratorum Peregrinorum, I would expect it either to be named in full wherever it is mentioned or for it to be given its full name where it is first mentioned and thereafter referred to as "the above-mentioned unit" or "the same squadron", both of which occur in relation to Barsimes' unit. Numerus Salaratorum Peregrinorum only appears towards the end of the document in identifying Rufus Abedsai. I see no problem in Barsimes' unit being referred to simply as numerus cataphractorum. Cataphractorum is unusual but numeri catafractariorum are attested epigraphically.