Legion near Judea at time of Jesus

[Crispvs]

As I understand it, there were no legions in Judea, the closest being in Egypt and Syria. The Roman garrison in Judea consisted of six auxiliary cohorts (five infantry and one cavalry) recruited from Samaritans, originally by Herod the Great, on account of their antipathy towards Jews, and organised in imitation of Roman units. These were incorporated into the army of Rome in AD6. We only know the names of two of these units: Cohors I Sebastenorum, and Ala I Sebastenorum. Each of these units would have been commanded by a tribune, who might be an equestrian or otherwise a former legionary centurio. There is also a mention, in the Acts of the Apostles, of a centurio of an Italian cohort, which is otherwise unattested. There are various theories about which particular unit it should be identified with but none of them can be substantiated on present evidence.

This Italian cohort might have been supernumerary to the six Samaritan units or it may have replaced one which had been destroyed or disbanded. If I understand it correctly, two cohorts were based in Jerusalem, one at the Antonia fortress and the other at the old palace, with another of the cohorts being based at Caesaria.

Crispvs