A question about late Roman infantry...

[Timotheus]

Would the gear be that different? The Comitatenses were paid better but were charged for their food. The Limitanei were paid less but being located at fixed locations could raise their own craps and feed themself. It might just be that the too balanced each other out.

Did I say that? I did not. Troops on higher pay would however be able to buy better stuff. What I did not mention was that the comitatenses had first choice from the state warehouses, while the limitanei would have to accept what ended up at their forts. Supplies were often stolen and sold by corrupt officers.
As to comitatenses being charged for their food, I doubt that. they could easily command resources (read: force the population to pay) for thier protection. And limitanei also received food as part of their pay, so there's not much difference there.

Adrian Goldsworthy believes that the two were equally capable in battle and the Limitanei were not border militia as has been suggested before.

In theory, maybe. But if you have troops till food for most of the week and train an afternoon, you can hardly compare them to troops who are in the field for most of the year. Having said that, I do believe that the limitanei were capable of handling any local crisis, and act their worth in large battles.

I am sorry. I thought you did. You stated that better pay meant they could buy better equipment.

I thought it was standard procedure in the legion to be paid but then have certain items like the cost of feeding you deducted from your pay?


On the other hand troops sitting on the border potentially dealing with small raids that never make it into the Empire or that do but are stopped within a day or two might have much more experience than the field armies keep deeper in the Empire in reserve and only used when the situation got out of hand.