11-11-2016, 12:21 PM
(11-11-2016, 12:38 AM)Marcel Frederik Schwarze Wrote: If a cohortal system in a unit 1000 strong is still maintained is debatable. I don't believe it.
Me neither. The original two cohorts that may have made up a 'mobile' legion vexillation would probably have been blended into one integral unit ('numerus legionium') fairly soon. Whether that unit had any set internal structure (beyond, presumably, the century) is unknown...
(11-11-2016, 12:38 AM)Marcel Frederik Schwarze Wrote: If we assume 500 men for an auxilia then we need 2 of them to match the number of the numerus legionis. I guess you're right here.
Alternatively, if we give the original 'cohort' a paper strength of c.600 (based on the 6000-man 'traditional' legion of Vegetius, Lydus etc), then a 'numerus legionum' could have numbered c.1200, which fits with various previous theories. The 'numerus auxilium' could therefore be c.600 men - and the 300-man detachments we read about in Ammianus would be no more or less than half a numerus or quarter of a new legion!
Nathan Ross