A question about late Roman infantry...

[sonic]

"Comitatenses" as in the spatha-equipped Imperial legionary after the reforms of Diocletian (I think) in the 2nd century AD.
I had thought the word was used specifically to describe the Imperial legionary (beside the Limitanei) of the period. Or am I incorrect there?

I'd say not so much Diocletian (late 3rd century) but rather Constantine is credited with the modernisation of the Roman army which produced the more fixed border troops (Limitanei) vs. the so-called 'mobile' field army (Comitatenses).

Comitatenses are equipped liked the Limitanei, although their higher pay would mean in general better equipment. Both could be Germanic volunteers as well as Romans. Both were 'imperial legionaries', equipped with spear, shield, spatha.

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.

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

The fact that the comitatenses were better paid was not the main influence upon their equipment, but the fact that they had higher status than the limitanei: both were supplied by the government. It was only at the end of the fifth century that the troops were ordered to buy their own equipment - although even here limits were likely to have been set.

I agree with Goldsworthy that the troops were probably about equal in battle, although much would depend on location within the empire (eg frontier or interior province) and the quality of the officers assigned to individual units. Weak or indifferent officers are likely to have neglected training, so leading to troops' battle-readiness being lowered.

In an attempt to answer the original question, there is a record - I think in the 'Life of Saint Severinus' (but I don't have it to hand) - which has a unit in the Balkans sending men to Italy to collect their pay, but off the top of my head I couldn't tell you the date. Further, I believe some units in Spain were still recorded as extant long after Roman control had gone. However, both of these references might be to limitanei. Unfortunately, most ancient sources aren't really that interested in noting these things!

Maybe others could fill in the gaps?