05-20-2015, 03:34 PM
Sorry for this necromancy but there needs to be an update on this thread due to the paper that Prof. Fatih Onur recently published. We now know that the Perge fragments, dated to around 500AD give the size of what may have been a Palatine Legion at between 1440 and 1660 men strong. This is much larger than is quoted by the majority of historians when discussing Late Roman legion sizes.
Coello was one of the principle causes of the outlook that Late Roman legions were quite small, around the 1000-1200 men strong. I am sure that Coello will now be wanting to take a reevaluation of his work as I am sure had he been aware of the existence and subsequent translation of the fragments we would be in agreement that Late Roman legion sizes could well have been around the 2000 strength mark I believe they were during the 4th Century when the Empire had access to resources and manpower the Eastern Empire in 500AD no longer had.
Coello was one of the principle causes of the outlook that Late Roman legions were quite small, around the 1000-1200 men strong. I am sure that Coello will now be wanting to take a reevaluation of his work as I am sure had he been aware of the existence and subsequent translation of the fragments we would be in agreement that Late Roman legion sizes could well have been around the 2000 strength mark I believe they were during the 4th Century when the Empire had access to resources and manpower the Eastern Empire in 500AD no longer had.
Adrian Coombs-Hoar
