06-23-2017, 07:09 PM
Nathan,
I like the ordering here as an exercise and I think the Perge slabs as a whole will yield up more insights in time. Especially as the article by Onur has only officially been in the public domain for a few weeks.
Your outline has acted as a provocation, however, on two levels. The first is one which has rankled with me from the early days and that is the question of the Veredarii. I still can't quite accept that this is a legion with such a huge integral cavalry component and one which is referred to in such a specific manner. Apart from Hyginus and the generic use of the word, has this descriptor appeared at all in the later Roman context to indicate a regular body of cavalry? If I recollect correctly were not the Veredarii described by Hyginus a stand alone unit and not a component of a larger one? I want to force that word into a new context such as light infantry or lanciarii but have no evidence for it. Anastasius clearly uses the grievances of this one unit to eradicate the injustices heap upon it - while also extending that eradication across a whole horizontal plane of the army. This unit's grade and rank formalisation also becomes a template for units of the same type. That would mean that either the palatinae, the comitanses, or the pseudo-comitantenses legions all included a huge light scouting cavalry component.
Something in me resists this hypothesis but how else can one reconcile the Veredarii???
The second provocation (I use the term lightly, of course!) is two-fold. Namely, why are we assuming that the grades are spread uniformly through the centuries? Might it not be possible that these grades were awarded on distinction under the eyes of the line officers and that as a result each century might have a disproportionate number within its ranks? This would lead to a fierce rivalry between centuries in the legion as each miles knows that only a certain number of each grade may be permitted in total within the legion. Just a thought, really . . .
The second aspect is your positioning of the flaviales on the flanks. You have a double file of flaviales on the right flank of each century. If we accede to the idea that these grades were evenly distributed throughout each century and that the flaviales represented a higher grade of legionary based on fighting skills and valour under arms then perhaps that inner file on the right flank would be better distributed as the rear rank. I think it is Mauricius or that anonymous writer (the military engineer who wrote under Justinian) who describes the files and ranks where the rear rank is also heavily armed in case the century/unit is flanked and attacked from behind? Having a strong rear line of armoured veterans would allow a flanking attack to be stopped. Is it worth looking at the distribution with that in mind, I wonder?
I like the ordering here as an exercise and I think the Perge slabs as a whole will yield up more insights in time. Especially as the article by Onur has only officially been in the public domain for a few weeks.
Your outline has acted as a provocation, however, on two levels. The first is one which has rankled with me from the early days and that is the question of the Veredarii. I still can't quite accept that this is a legion with such a huge integral cavalry component and one which is referred to in such a specific manner. Apart from Hyginus and the generic use of the word, has this descriptor appeared at all in the later Roman context to indicate a regular body of cavalry? If I recollect correctly were not the Veredarii described by Hyginus a stand alone unit and not a component of a larger one? I want to force that word into a new context such as light infantry or lanciarii but have no evidence for it. Anastasius clearly uses the grievances of this one unit to eradicate the injustices heap upon it - while also extending that eradication across a whole horizontal plane of the army. This unit's grade and rank formalisation also becomes a template for units of the same type. That would mean that either the palatinae, the comitanses, or the pseudo-comitantenses legions all included a huge light scouting cavalry component.
Something in me resists this hypothesis but how else can one reconcile the Veredarii???
The second provocation (I use the term lightly, of course!) is two-fold. Namely, why are we assuming that the grades are spread uniformly through the centuries? Might it not be possible that these grades were awarded on distinction under the eyes of the line officers and that as a result each century might have a disproportionate number within its ranks? This would lead to a fierce rivalry between centuries in the legion as each miles knows that only a certain number of each grade may be permitted in total within the legion. Just a thought, really . . .
The second aspect is your positioning of the flaviales on the flanks. You have a double file of flaviales on the right flank of each century. If we accede to the idea that these grades were evenly distributed throughout each century and that the flaviales represented a higher grade of legionary based on fighting skills and valour under arms then perhaps that inner file on the right flank would be better distributed as the rear rank. I think it is Mauricius or that anonymous writer (the military engineer who wrote under Justinian) who describes the files and ranks where the rear rank is also heavily armed in case the century/unit is flanked and attacked from behind? Having a strong rear line of armoured veterans would allow a flanking attack to be stopped. Is it worth looking at the distribution with that in mind, I wonder?
Francis Hagan
The Barcarii
The Barcarii
