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Roman Legion in late Antiquity
#76
Quote:we accept that the palatine Batavi date to the early 4th c. or even earlier, there are not yet Laeti who were settled in the old Batavi civitas.

At the risk of veering off into a different debate, literary evidence (i.e. the panegyrics) suggest that the old Batavian country had been occupied by 'Franks' in the late third century (Pan 7.7), and these same people were then defeated by Constantius and resettled elsewhere (Pan 6.5.3: "Not content with having conquered, he transported these peoples themselves into Roman territory..."). Who these 'Franks' might have been is unknown, but as they had been living in Batavia, surely troops raised from their settled descendents might viably be called Batavi?


Quote:According to chapter 7 the Pangeyrici Latini Constantius Chlorus resettled a large number of them in Flanders and Kent, along the Rhing down to about Tournai and Arras

There's only one reference to Frisii in the panegyrics - 8.9.3 has them ploughing Gaul alongside the Chamavi. Nothing abut them in Britain - but this is for the 'terp tritzum' thread!
Nathan Ross
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#77
At least according to Dio, the Batavi need not be Batavians themselves as they were a picked cavalry corpse, that was called thus after Batavia, the island in Rhine, where the best horsemen are. So, the actual units might be comprised of German or even (although it would be my personal opinion that a certain cultural uniformity was maintained) non-German horsemen as he he seems to suggest. I have to say here, that the era in question is not one I know much about, since I only lately have occupied myself in depth with the relevant sources, so I do acknowledge that other sources I have not studied yet may easily claim or prove otherwise.

"ξένοι τε ἱππῆς ἐπίλεκτοι, οἷς τὸ τῶν Βατάουων ἀπὸ τῆς Βατάουας τῆς ἐν τῷ Ῥήνῳ νήσου ὄνομα, ὅτι δὴ κράτιστοι ἱππεύειν εἰσί, κεῖται·" 55.24.7.
Macedon
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George C. K.
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#78
Quote: According to chapter 7 the Pangeyrici Latini Constantius Chlorus resettled a large number of them in Flanders and Kent, along the Rhine down to about Tournai and Arras, in 297, where they persisted there from their characteristic "Terp Tritzum" pottery style throughout the 4th century and into the 5th century in where Frisiavones (Frixiavones) they are listed in the Notitia with the other British Units at Vindobala and Rudchester (this one is a Tombstone).
Frisian cohorts had been present in Britain long before that time, so you need to be careful about which Frisians serve where. The 'deportation' by Chlorus did evidently not take place from the traditional homeland of the Frisians (we see no break in inhabitation there), nor do we see those tribes appear in the traditional areas of the Batavi. It is very much possible that the name was used but without a hard ethnical identification. Roman sources are not known for their correct identification of barbarian tribes. The areas 'along the Rhine down to about Tournai and Arras' is where we find large Frankish settlements, and even Sarmatians, but large groups of Frisians. maybe these were small numbers from the mouth of the Rhine?

Quote: The foederati section of the Notitia was updated until 442 and the Batavi are not listed. Nor are Saxons or Frisians.
That's not correct. Even if we accept that the ND was written c. 394, the Eastern section was never updated. Of the Western section, only parts were updated. Some claim this was as late as the 420s, but evidence remains shaky. No claim that 'the ND'(or even the Western sections) was updated to a date as late as 442. And besides that, even from the original MS large parts of the British section seem to be missing, which makes it impossible to draw any hard conclusions about the British garrison at all.

Quote: The Frisii return as the "Frisian Kingdom" beginning in 511, but these were actually a kingdom of Saxons and Angles, the Frisii had been absorbed by the Roman and then Merovingian supercultures by this point.
I really hope you won't ever set foot in Friesland claiming that! Old habits die hard! Big Grin
Actually we have no clue who was where during the 6th century, no clear sources exist. The Frisians of Tacitus were long gone, but the a culture of indigenous Frisians mixed with Scandinavian influences (Angles/Saxons Frisians as mentioned by Bede) took shape much as the Franks and Alamanni did. By the later 8th century the Franks claim suzerainty again on the Lower Rhine, and then they defeat the Frisians who have their capital at Utrecht. But that's much much later.

Quote: According to chapter 7 the Pangeyrici Latini Constantius Chlorus resettled a large number of them in Flanders and Kent, along the Rhine down to about Tournai and Arras, in 297, where they persisted there from their characteristic "Terp Tritzum" pottery style throughout the 4th century and into the 5th century in where Frisiavones (Frixiavones) they are listed in the Notitia with the other British Units at Vindobala and Rudchester (this one is a Tombstone).
Frisian cohorts had been present in Britain long before that time, so you need to be careful about which Frisians serve where. The 'deportation' by Chlorus did evidently not take place from the traditional homeland of the Frisians (we see no break in inhabitation there), nor do we see those tribes appear in the traditional areas of the Batavi. It is very much possible that the name was used but without a hard ethnical identification. Roman sources are not known for their correct identification of barbarian tribes. The areas 'along the Rhine down to about Tournai and Arras' is where we find large Frankish settlements, and even Sarmatians, but large groups of Frisians. maybe these were small numbers from the mouth of the Rhine?

Quote: The foederati section of the Notitia was updated until 442 and the Batavi are not listed. Nor are Saxons or Frisians.
That's not correct. Even if we accept that the ND was written c. 394, the Eastern section was never updated. Of the Western section, only parts were updated. Some claim this was as late as the 420s, but evidence remains shaky. No claim that 'the ND'(or even the Western sections) was updated to a date as late as 442. And besides that, even from the original MS large parts of the British section seem to be missing, which makes it impossible to draw any hard conclusions about the British garrison at all.

Quote: The Frisii return as the "Frisian Kingdom" beginning in 511, but these were actually a kingdom of Saxons and Angles, the Frisii had been absorbed by the Roman and then Merovingian supercultures by this point.
I really hope you won't ever set foot in Friesland claiming that! Old habits die hard! Big Grin
Actually we have no clue who was where during the 6th century, no clear sources exist. The Frisians of Tacitus were long gone, but the a culture of indigenous Frisians mixed with Scandinavian influences (Angles/Saxons Frisians as mentioned by Bede) took shape much as the Franks and Alamanni did. By the later 8th century the Franks claim suzerainty again on the Lower Rhine, and then they defeat the Frisians who have their capital at Utrecht. But that's much much later.

Quote:Fun fact: Genetic markers show the Frisii, Frisiavones, and Chauchi werein fact not of Germanic origin like the Batavii, Chatti, Gothones, etc were.
Aren't you confusing language with genetic background (Germanic)? Their origin may have been different but they spoke Germanic languages.
I do wonder though how we determine a Frisian from a Frisiavone skeleton..
Robert Vermaat
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FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
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#79
I suggest we concentrate the Batavi discussion in the 'Batavian Legion' and the 'Terp tritzum' threads?
Robert Vermaat
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
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