Late Roman Army Grade/Rank List under Anastasius

[Nathan Ross]

this so called Legion.

Yes, I was aware of the difficulty of identifying this unnamed unit! Referring to it always in quotes as a "legion" seemed a little unecessary though. It was, more correctly, a numerus (or arithmos) - although, as you say, the text of Slab B on three occasions refers to a legion (λεγεoσιν / λεγεόνων / λεγεoναςas) as well. Quite possibly, as we discussed before, these terms could have become interchangeable by this late date.

However, I still think that the permanency and monumental nature of this inscription indicates that we are looking at a single military unit of a set establishment, both in structure and location, at a known historical moment; that makes it uniquely valuable, although no less challenging to interpret!

a mounted group of such a high quota compared to the infatry has nothing to so with a legion in the late antiquity and transition periode: as already described roughly 1000 : 300.

Quite so. It's the 'cavalry component' that causes the problems here, I think. Were it not for the veredarii we could quite feasibly reconstruct an infantry-only numerus legionum of around 1000-1200 men, and happily believe that we were looking at a surviving example of a 'new style' legion of the Constantinian era, perhaps.

But, as you say, we don't know how representative this particular unit might have been. It could be, perhaps, that military units in Pamphylia and Isauria during this period operated extensively in a counter-insurgency (or 'anti bandit') role, and therefore may have had additional mounted sections of light cavalry 'hunters' attached to aid them in this work.

the Armaturae Duplares and Semissales are probaly forming a schola of handcraftsmen. If they stood in a row with the other fighters is debatable. The Optiones are writers and belong to the administrative staff of the numerus like the actuarius or chartularius in other regiments.

I'm not sure about this. The Armaturae I would guess to be men skilled in the armatura fighting drill, rather than craftsmen - so certainly part of the ordines. The optiones and others (mensores, librarii, beneficiarii) would, on the model of the earlier legion, also be included on the strength of the century (or 'ordo'). Onur gives an example in his paper of a 6th-century Optio fighting in battle. So I suspect that all of these men were included in the fighting ranks, although they may also have had other tasks of an administrative nature.