Auxiliary Infantry ORBAT (Order of Battle)

[Gaius Titus]

Can anyone fill me in on the details of how an auxiliary infantry cohort was organized, including the names of the sub-units found within the cohort?
As i understand things, they were pretty much the same as their Legionary counterparts, and the cohort included engineers, artillery, sappers and miners and so on.
The information on auxiliaries i have read so far is somewhat baffling, to be honest! :lol: Some seem to be fairly 'regimental' medium infantry and some seem to be irregular type light infantry/scouts. Is this near the mark? And if it is, i'd like some opinions on the possible differences in organization and/or training.
As we say here "tack i förskott" ( thanks beforehand...)

[Carlton Bach]

The auxilia are a bit of a problem. Or ratherm, they are acknowledged to be (we don't know half as much abnout the legions as we think, either).

Basically, your standard quingenary infantry cohort consisted of centuries headed by centurions with optiones and signiferi under them, which in turn consisted of contubernia headed by - somebody or nobody, whichever theory you subscribe to. So far, so good.

Auxilia probably did not have many specialist troops on their strength. They must have had scribes for administration, and they probably had craftsmen and other MOSes to meet their immediate needs, but neither artillery nor sappers nor AFAIR other highly specialised craftsmenm or administrators beyond the unit are assumed. I don't remember the exact details, but there was some debate over whether auxilia had artillery (probably not).

It is quite possible that in the second and early third centuries, the auxilia were the combat-ready forces turned out when someone needed killing while the legions were half tied up in the administrative needs of the empire and reserved as main battle forces for the big gigs.

As to the military role of auxiliaries, I think the 'light auxilia, heavy legions' is a red herring. Of course I used to think it was 'multirole auxilia, one-trick legion' until I reread some of the sources. By now I tend to believe that the legionaries were mostly intended as forces for major engagements, held back in readiness until needed. That allowed them to diversify into technical skills and to be used for nonmilitary tasks. The auxilia on the other han d were rapid reaction and detail forces whose main purpose was instant readiness for combat. And I don't think it was ever meant to go that way, but rather that the legionary tradition of trusted employment in administrative functions and technical expertise for sieges and engineering tasks came more to the fore once a regular combat force for the everyday low-level warfare was available in the less trusted, less civilised, less Roman auxiliaries.

And of course, Pliny says that some commanders in Germania turned out entire cohorts out in winter to go duck-hunting for weeks on end, make of that what you will.

[Gaius Titus]

That sounds pretty near the mark. I always (very generally) thought of the Legions as soldiers of Rome itself and the auxilia more as soldiers of the empire.
Would it be fair to say the auxilia were medium infantry? i'd really like to know about their tactics. i have some theories, but i won't air them here, as my knowledge of Roman strategy is still limited :oops:

[Gaius Titus]

...and it's lucky for me there's hundreds of ducks on the lake! :lol:

[Peroni]

Adrian.. email sent with documents..