Late Roman Unit Sizes

[antiochus]

Nathan wrote:
As Evan says, it's seven. I haven't seen anyone credibly suggesting otherwise - where did the alternative figures come from?

Coello lists six units. Roger Tomlin, seven units and another interpretation I found from some years back in a discussion forum claimed it was five units.

Nathan wrote:
However, the legions mentioned in the Panopolis papyri (cAD300) were old-style frontier formations, still apparently using the Severan model, so not surprisingly they seem to feature integral lanciarii and equites.

How do you define the Severan model? Size, organisation etc?

Nathan wrote:
Whether this same model endured even much further into the 4th century is unknown, but it can't be used to work out the structure of later Roman legions more generally, still less those of the imperial field armies.

This is debatable. I like mathematics because mathematics has its own language and it can tell a story. I’ve compiled the empirical data from the reign of Diocletian onwards for unit sizes and have found there is a common denominator among all of those figures that they are divisible by. The way I work is I make a mathematical grid from the available empirical data to see if I can calculate the larger unit sizes and then their subunits. The Late Roman legion has both a horizontal organisation and a vertical organisation, so if you enjoy crossword puzzles you will understand how it looks.

Nathan wrote:
Luke Ueda-Sarson, meanwhile, has a page about lanciariihere that you might find interesting.

Thanks for the hands up Nathan, I have downloaded it and will process tomorrow. Also I have put in a footnote in my book thanking you for drawing to my attention Columbia (7 188). Should you not want to be named could you please PM me.