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Ave Civitas,
I was looking through the Notatia Dignatarium and couldn't identify which of the units listed were Limitanei units and which were not.
Were they listed in the Notatia Dignatarium and how does someone identify a Limitanei from a Cohort or Alae or the line?
Again, thanks for all your help.
Tom
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Most units with shield patterns are labelled - Cohors usually means Limitanei or a Palatina. The grade of the troops are in the actual text though. I'm sure someone can describe it better than me.
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The ND also shows the command structure of the army. So according to the type of leader (dux, comes, magister), the unit belongs to, you can say, if these units are limitanei or comitatenses / palatini.
There are just a few central and regional field armies. The rest are limitanei.
Well, for some regions it might be a bit tricky. Not every comes commands comitatenses. But is possible to identfy them.
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Yeah. The Comes in lower Aegyptus, the one on the Saon Shore, etc. command limitanei.
Generally, if the Notitia lists a field army, the commander is a magister, or sometimes a comes, and the units are listed without stations. In the east, there are five such lists, one for each field army. In the west, there are four big lists, one with all the cavalry of the field armies, one with all the infantry of the field armies, one with all the cavalry divided up by field army, and one with all the infantry divided up by field army.
If the Notitia lists a border army, the commender is a dux, or sometimes a comes, and each unit is listed with its station.
Some units, including most of the pseudocomitatenses, are named after specific stations. This has encouraged speculation about the origin of the pseudocomitatenses, and whether they are mobile units formed out of former limitanei, or if they are fixed garrisons which [for various reasons] have come under the command of one of the field armies. I personally suspect that some fit into each category.
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Ave Civitas,
Thank you guys very much.
So then, can I assume that
--Milites quarti Constantiani, Durostoro.-- under the Duke of Lower Moesia
is the Fourth Constantinian, a Limitanei infantry cohort stationed at Durostorum?
Have I followed your clues rightly?
Again, thanks
Tom
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Yes, that one in particular is Limitanei, attatched to the 11th Legion probably.
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Hi Tom,
Quote: So then, can I assume that
--Milites quarti Constantiani, Durostoro.-- under the Duke of Lower Moesia
is the Fourth Constantinian, a Limitanei infantry cohort stationed at Durostorum
Yes you can. Actually, any unit listed in a border command and garissoned in a fixed place is a limitanei unit.
Milites quarti Constantiani - the '4th Constantinians' are indeed a border unit.
Quote:attatched to the 11th Legion probably.
I doubt that. This is the passage from chapter XL:
Milites quarti Constantiani, Durostoro.
[four units inbetween]
Praefectus ripae legionis primae Italicae cohortis
quintae pedaturae inferioris, Sexagintaprista.
Praefectus legionis undecimae Claudiae, Durostoro.
Praefectus ripae legionis undecimae Claudiae
cohortis quintae pedaturae superioris, Transmariscae.
Praefectus ripae legionis undecimae Claudiae
cohortis quintae pedaturae inferioris, Transmariscae.
It looks like only the praefect of the 11th (undecimae Claudiae) has his headquarters at Durostoro (Silistra, Bulgaria). However, the 11th itself seems to have been split up. Part of the 5th cohort of the 11th legion (cohortis quintae pedaturae superioris) is stationed at Transmarisca (Tutrakan, Bulgaria), as is the the other half (cohortis quintae pedaturae inferioris). No sign of any of the rest of the legion, or its other cohorts. Parts of the legion had already fought in Egypt (295) and Mauretania (302), and it's unknown if these vexillations ever returned.
Therefore I doubt that these are all to be found at Dorostorum, with the 4th Consntini. Btw, Aetius was born there, but I think you might be already aware of that fact? 
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The Undecimani were stationed in Taurica (the Ex-Regnum Bospori) and Spain, possibly in the Gallic Field Army, as well.
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For many Danubian legions, the Notitia lists the praefectus of five lower cohorts [1-5, presumably] and the praefectus of 5 higher cohorts [6-10, presumably].
It's often suggested, but never proven, that these legionary cohorts are weaker than the independent cohorts, and that these legions are only about 1,000 strong, based on the size of their forts, based on the fact that independent cohorts are individually listed, with separate bases, while these are not individually listed, and scattered other evidence.
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Ave Civitas,
Again, thanks very much. Your answers clarify a lot in the reading of the ND.
Tom
AKA Tom Chelmowski
Historiae Eruditere (if that is proper Latin)
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