Notitia Dignitatum redated to AD450?

[Nathan Ross]

I don't necessarily think it is improbable that the revised ND lists the frontier units as they were in the 440s and not the 395 date but that supposes a strong continuity through the upheavals of the post-Adrianople devastation and long Gothic war under Theodosius.

That would have to be a very strong continuity, I'd say. Granted, the entire garrison of the limes may not have been destroyed during this period, but the fact that Theodosius was having to march troops all the way from Egypt to cobble an army together suggests he had very little Roman manpower to draw on c.380.

I suppose the Romans might simply have replaced the old limitanei establishment on exactly the same model, or something like it.

Do these reflect 4th century titles/functions or 5th century ones - or was there no change through this period and therefore could be either?

It would be intriguing to know, but I suspect the evidence isn't really there.

There's very little 4th-5th C evidence outside the ND itself that we could use to compare with its military arrangements either. Oddly, an inscription from the Porta Aurea in Constantinople lists three aux palatina numeri - the Primo Sagittarii, Leones Juniors and Cornuti Juniores. The first, however, is otherwise unknown while the other two appear in the western ND...

Trouble is, we don't know if the inscription dates to the presumed original building of the gate as a triumphal arch (c.388), the rebuilding into the main Theodosian Wall (c.405-413), the rebuilding following earthquake damage (c.448), or some other time altogether...

There were several opportunities for eastern units to be sent to the west even after 413, of course - but on its own the inscription doesn't really tell us much, except that the eastern ND isn't correct for one of three possible dates!