02-20-2014, 01:20 PM
Quote:I have to agree about the existence of a triarius. I cannot lightly dismiss the evidence of AE 1981 777.
Of course, but remember Sander wrote his article in 1950. This time there was no epigraphic proof for a triarius. When Sander says, that we should trust in Vegetius, he means that Vegetius had no reason to invent anything. He just copied the terms he found in older sources.
Of course, that does not mean, that we should trust in Vegetius' numbers. Speidel wrote an interesting article, how easily all numbers about Vegetius' ancient legion could have been pure speculation, because Vegetius like modern historians found no exact numbers in his sources and had to design something, he thought could be reasonable.
Similar story with the triplicarius. Domaszewski speculated 1905, that this highest rank of the principales must have existed. For 100 years most historians tended to disgree with him. And then we found this tombstone of a mounted archer in Germania, who was a triplicarius.
Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas
