A Few Questions

[Nathan Ross]

when were Late Roman units paid?... Monthly, weekly, bi-weekly? In layman's terms, how often would soldiers have dosh to spend?

Traditionally, soldiers were paid their stipendium in three instalments throughout the year - as far as I know that continued into the late empire. There would also be cash donatives on the emperor(s)'s accession and at five-year intervals after that, so at a time of collegiate emperors the troops could be getting quite a bit of coinage. The annonae (pay in kind) would presumably be distributed at the same time as the rest of the stipendium. Paul Elliot's The Last Legionary has some good best-guesses for the pay and conditions of a late Roman soldier.

the Notitia Dignitatum lists under the authority of the Dux Britanniarum a few units we know almost nothing of... I don't think it would be outside of the bounds of reason to speculate maybe one or other of those were stationed closer to the wall than the "old" ones, simply because the wall in those turbulent 20-30 years was where all the action was happening, and it was clear the existing garrison plus the old legions were unable to handle what was going on effectively... I do believe it may have been possible Corbridge housed one of these "legions" which we know were no bigger than 500-1000 men...

But was the 'action' really happening close to the wall? We don't actually get much idea from the sources where these various supposed campaigns in Britain took place or what they involved. The events of 367, as Ammianus reports them, certainly involved Picts and Scots (from north of the wall, but also Ireland), but otherwise featured the defeat of Fullofaudes at an undisclosed location and of Nectarides in (presumably) a southern coastal area...

The later account of Theodosius's actions in restoring the province suggests that the fighting encompassed the whole of Britain, and the enemy crossed the wall defences quickly and easily. The reference to Theodosius 'protecting the borders with guard posts' actually suggests that the Hadrian's wall defences had been virtually abandoned by this date, and the watch on the frontier entrusted to those mysterious and duplicitous 'areani' - this would explain how the Picts managed to penetrate so far into Britain as to reach London and the south coast. They may also, like the Scots and Attacotti, have been moving by sea...

So I don't think there's necessarily any reason to imagine large concentrations of troops at Corbridge or anywhere else in the frontier zone. But there are, of course, so many unknowns in the picture that you could probably invent whatever you liked. I'd still be wary of importing field army units though - Ammianus 27.8 suggests that the regular garrison of Britain was entirely limitanei in 367, and fell to pieces very rapidly!

It will be a historical novel, fiction obviously, grounded in the year(s) and the events leading up to the Barbarian Conspiracy of 367-368, through the eyes of the prefect of one of the numerus on the wall.

Have you seen this one, published last month? Less of a direct military focus, perhaps. I actually wondered if you might be the author...