03-24-2014, 11:42 AM
'AFAIK I have always known it to be "Shield Bearers" but the Scutarii AFAIK were not an Elite Guard unit other than the specific part of the Schola Palatina called Scutarii. Equites Scutarii are posted throughout the Empire as both Limitanei and Comitatensian Cavalry.'
It's my view that Ammianus would not continually mention the Scutarii unless there was something significant about that unit, which being a unit of the Scholae would place them as such. The Scholae were higher status than the other cavalry units as they appear in their own page in the Notitia. The same goes for the Sagittarii who are also mentioned a fair few times by Ammianus.
It's my view that Ammianus would not continually mention the Scutarii unless there was something significant about that unit, which being a unit of the Scholae would place them as such. The Scholae were higher status than the other cavalry units as they appear in their own page in the Notitia. The same goes for the Sagittarii who are also mentioned a fair few times by Ammianus.
Adrian Coombs-Hoar