Late Roman Army Grade/Rank List under Anastasius

[Nathan Ross]

The Anastasian Edict refers specifically to the status of all pseudo-comitatenses legions which had been withdrawn from the frontier zones and were now billeted under the remit of the Magisters. As such, these legions - and the Armenian ones in particular - brought with them a different legion structure which included a strong component of light cavalry.

Hmm, perhaps you should drink more of this coffee, Francis! Yes, I agree that seems like the most probable explanation.

Of course, we're rather hampered in our understanding by the complete lack (as far as I know) of evidence for ranks and unit structures within the regular palatine and comitatensis legions. Did they still use the traditional format - ordinarii commanding 'centuries', with optiones and signifers - as the legions and cohorts of the limitanei appear to have done? Or did they switch to the new rank structure used by the auxilia and field cavalry - centenarii, ducenarii, biarchi and circitores etc?

The particular status or composition of units from certain eastern frontier districts may explain the presence of the 'veredarii' - there may have been more of these, besides the Armeniaca ones. I've mentioned the martyr story of St Mercurius before: the note that '...the unit of those called the Martenses who were from Armenia Prima', and the martyr's father '...a Scythian by race; he served in the unit of the Martenses' might indicate that quite a few units with otherwise innocuous names may have been raised on the eastern frontier as well.

Can I impose on you and ask for the reference please.

Same ref as Onur uses in his paper: Vegetius II.7. See also Sozomen Ecc.Hist I.8.

I believe Slab C is a different matter

Why would the slabs be discussing different units? As Slab B says (Praeceptum Magistri Militum, 30-31): military legions should be under statute disposition... in accordance with the brevia arranged below (i.e on Slab C)

You have also omitted the 10 signifii commanding 10 centuries in your model. How do you explain them?

Are you referring to Onur's statement on p.159?: "The 10 signiferi given in the list in the Perge inscription were each in charge of 10 centuriae of the unit."

I asked about this above as I didn't understand what it meant - I still don't! I suspect what Onur means is that each of the ten signiferi were allocated to one of the ten centuries. Do you understand it differently?

Praeositii appear in the principate and did not replace the office of the military tribune.

They do appear in the principiate, and occasionally they are tribunes. However, after the middle of the third century all known praepositii are of centurion grade*. It seems likely that the old equestrian military tribunes did not survive the reforms of that era, and were phased out along with the equestrian cohort prefects and senatorial legati.

Frontier legions in the ND often have multiple praefecti, rather than tribunes. The new tribunes are unit commanders - either of field legions, auxilia numeri, cavalry vexillationes or frontier cohorts.

If you can find any reference to an old-style tribune in a legion after cAD250 please do let me know - I've been searching for some time!


[Edit] * - correction, there is one! AE 2010, 01246, a Diocletianic inscription from Brigetio: Vitalis tr[i]/bun(us) p(rae)p(ositus) lanci[a(riorum). Vitalis was a field army officer though, and his role may prefigure the appearance of tribunes commanding 'legions' shortly afterwards. Meanwhile, Macius Severinus (CIL 12, 1356) was tribuni legionis secundaes Italicaes in what appears to be a 3rd century inscription, although it's impossible to be any clearer as to the exact date for this one.

Vegetius does not formerly state this happened.

See reference above.

I find it better to explore all possibilities before dismissing without investigation.

I think the length and complexity of discussion in this thread so far suggests that nobody is dismissing possibilities. But we have to work with the information we possess, rather than trying to mould it to fit our preconceived ideas.