Late Roman Army Grade/Rank List under Anastasius

[Nathan Ross]

The Cod. Iust. clearly shows that basically and technically all old troop designations (e.g. cohors, legio, ala etc.) were still existing in the 6th century - however, the generic term for all units was the αριθμος or numerus in latin.

I just wanted to add a quick note to this.

There's an odd line in Sozomen's Ecclesiastical History (I.8) about the provision of Christian worship for soldiers. It reads: "From that period [i.e of Constantine] the Roman Legions, which now were called by their number, provided each its own tent, with attendant priests and deacons."

'Now were called by their number' seems obscure, as they always had been! - could this be a faulty translation of 'which now were called numeri'? In which case, this might be evidence for the change in unit nomenclature going back to the early 4th century.

Also, these priests and deacons manning the prayer tent might perhaps be the Perge 'clerici vel deputati'!