Marcus\' levy during the Marcomannic Wars

[Epictetus]

A plague now spread over many provinces, and a great pestilence devastated all Italy. Everywhere country houses, fields, and towns were left without a tiller of the land or an inhabitant, and nothing remained but ruins and forests. It is said that the Roman troops and all the legions stationed far and near in winter quarters were so depleted that the war against the Marcomanni, which broke out immediately, could not be carried on without a new levy of soldiers. At Carnuntium, Marcus Antoninus held the levy continuously for three years.[emphasis mine]

Orosius, 7.15

I'm a bit unsure of how to interpret this wording. The English word "levy" could be a verb for the actual enlisting of men, or a noun for the recruits. Does this bolded section mean that for three years all new recruits for the Marcomannic Wars were sent to Carnuntium?

Also, by the second century AD, how, exactly, was a particular levy handled? What was the process? With the plague losses, I assume this levy was something special that went beyond regular recuiting.

[D B Campbell]

I'm a bit unsure of how to interpret this wording. The English word "levy" could be a verb for the actual enlisting of men, or a noun for the recruits. Does this bolded section mean that for three years all new recruits for the Marcomannic Wars were sent to Carnuntium?

Orosius is not the most careful historian. It is true that Marcus seems to have spent at least three seasons at Carnuntum, directing the northern wars. Eutropius (8.13) refers to "three whole years at Carnuntum" (probably meaning 170-172). Orosius' so-called "levy" may refer to Marcus recruiting slaves, bandits, gladiators and mercenaries to make good the losses from the plague (HA, Marcus 21.6) (or it may be a reference to Marcus' two new legions).

[Nathan Ross]

An inscription from Viminiacum (described here) (CIL III, 14507) details 225 men of Legion VII Claudia Pia Fidelis, apparently recruited in AD169 - many of them appear from their names to have been recently enfranchised, or possibly even given citizenship on enlistment.

If this can be connected to the levy of Marcus during the Marcomannic wars, it would suggest that the levy was not limited to Carnuntum and involved several of the Danubian legions.

[Mark Hygate]

My first post since discovering this entertaining forum - so be gentle please!

I've now seen some odd translations/interpretations as I revitalise my interest in the Roman Army, but this one does seem to be reasonably straightforward if I understand it correctly.

I would take it to mean that all recruiting, both normal and an extra drive or 3, was handled centrally for the period, so that Marcus' could apportion the new levies to the units he intended to use subsequently.

Nothing particularly clever in that - just good old fashioned directed management.

[Epictetus]

Welcome, Mark! RAT is an amazing place, and even after several years I’m still surprised at what I can find here.

I dug through Birley’s autobiography of Marcus and he seems to back up Duncan and Nathan. He mentions the extraordinary recruitment methods and points to the Viminacium inscription. Birley says the inscription shows that “at least twice the normal annual intake of recruits was necessary in 169.” I’m not sure what he is basing that upon, but he normally seems very accurate.

If many of these recruits were local, and there were twice as many as normal, and the literature points to extraordinary efforts, then it seems this “levy” must have been special.

[D B Campbell]

If many of these recruits were local, and there were twice as many as normal, and the literature points to extraordinary efforts, then it seems this “levy” must have been special.

I still think Orosius is confused when he records a levy at Carnuntum. He is probably confused by the fact that Marcus was at Carnuntum. I'm sure he was happy to take recruits wherever he could find them. :wink:

[Renatus]

Orosius, 7.15.6, in the Latin, reads: Exercitum vero Romanum cunctasque legiones per longinqua late hiberna dispositas ita consumptas ferunt, ut Marcomannicum bellum, quod continuo exortum est, non nisi novo dilectu militum, quem triennio iugiter apud Carnuntium Marcus Antoninus habuit, gestum fuisse referatur.

The key phrase is apud Carnuntium which could indeed mean that the levy was held 'at Carnuntum'. However, I wonder if it would be stretching the language too far to suggest that the phrase may relate to Marcus himself, rather than to the dilectus. On this interpretation, the passage could indicate that he held his dilectus 'while at Carnuntum', meaning that recruits might have been drawn from a wider catchment area than Carnuntum itself. Perhaps the Latinists amongst us could comment on this.

[D B Campbell]

Perhaps the Latinists amongst us could comment on this.

I'm not sure that there's much point, to be honest. There are good sources, and there are not so good ones. Orosius sadly falls into the latter category. For the later Roman material, he seems to simply select from Eutropius (who says nothing about a dilectus at Carnuntum). Orosius is known to have "put his own spin" on other events. (And not always deliberately!) This is probably what has happened here. (imho)

[Renatus]

Perhaps the Latinists amongst us could comment on this.

I'm not sure that there's much point, to be honest.

What I was really asking was whether my alternative interpretation had any validity. If it did, Orosius and Eutropius need not be at variance.