Auxiliary units in Egypt

[Nathan Ross]

I am looking into Auxillary units serving in Egypt duringTrajan to Hadrians reign.

Have you had a look at Alston's Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt: A Social History? The Appendix has a list of all known auxiliary units in Egypt, with a list of dates and sites of evidence. There's a chunk of it available online here.

AE 1968, 513 is a diploma dated AD105 that lists three alae and seven cohorts in Egypt, with two more cohorts recently (I think) sent to Judea: alis tribus et cohortibus septem quae appellantur Augusta et Apriana et Vocontiorum et I Augusta Lusitanorum et I Pannoniorum et I Flavia Cilicum et II Thracum et II Thebaeorum et II et III Ituraeorum et classicorum et sunt in Aegypto sub C(aio) Vibio Maximo item extranslatarum in Iudaeam I Hispanorum et I Thebaeoram.

This would be (I think):

Ala Augusta
Ala Apriana
Ala Vocontiorum

Cohors I Augusta Lusitanorum
Cohors I Pannoniorum
Cohors I Flavia Cilicum
Cohors II Thracum
Cohors II Thebaeorum
Cohors II Ituraeorum
Cohors III Ituraeorum et classicorum

To Judea: Cohors I Hispanorum, Cohors I Thebaeoram

If you can get hold of Alston's book it would probably give some idea of locations for most of these, and further details on honorifics, equitata status etc.

How long this garrison remained the same would be hard to say - a lot of eastern military arrangements seem to have shifted around c.AD120. The next diploma for Egypt dates from Antoninus Pius, and gives a partial listing of 4 alae and 12 cohorts!

*Edit* - you could also take a look at Valerie Maxfield's paper "The deployment of the roman auxilia in upper egypt" - online in bits here - which has more about the stationing of the various auxiliary units.