Legion near Judea at time of Jesus

[Nathan Ross]

While the prefect of Judea would not have commanded legionary units, there may have been legionaries on his staff, individuals seconded from the legions in Syria - these might have been beneficarii praefecti (adjutants), singulares (bodyguards) or secretaries of one sort or another. None would have been centurions though.

Some of the centurions of the auxiliary cohorts in the province might have been men promoted from the legions, and as mentioned above the cohort commanders at this date might have been promoted centurions.

The auxiliary units available to Pilatus have been discussed here several times (this post provides a good summary, while this post by DB Campbell raises the interesting suggestion that the cohors augusta mentioned in the Bible might have been Cohors I Augusta Thracum, known later in Judea/Palestina.

A couple of interesting points from other old threads on this topic:

Graham Sumner has asked me to post this:

Garrison Of Judaea:

It is believed the garrison of Judaea was initially one cavalry unit, the ALA I SEBASTENORUM and at least five cohorts of infantry, one of them was possibly a COHORS I SEBASTENORUM. Local militias could also be raised as occasion demanded whilst the nearest Legions were in Syria. The total number of troops in Judaea was perhaps therefore no more than 3-5000 men.

The soldiers were recruited mainly from the Romanised cities, especially Sebaste and Caesarea. The Romans undoubtedly exploited the fact that the local Samarians hated the Jews who were generally exempt from service in the Roman Army because of their unwillingness to fight on the Sabbath.

However the Acts of the Apostles suggest there may have been other non local units based in Judaea including an 'Italian' cohort and a COHORS AUGUSTA. The true identity of both of these units has been hotly debated by various scholars.

When St Paul was arrested he was sent to Caesarea by the Tribune Claudius Lysias, commander of the Jerusalem garrison. Paul was escorted by 200 foot soldiers and 70 horsemen so possibly the Jerusalem garrison at that time was a COHORS EQUITATA.

During the trial of Christ, Pontius Pilate speaks directly to him. There is no mention of a translator being present and as Pilate was unlikely to speak Aramaic and Christ, Latin the common language must therefore have been Greek.

Like most English speaking Roman re-enactors today who know the Latin commands but don't speak it, the same must have happened in the Roman east where the official language of the army was Latin but the ordinary soldiers spoke to each other and wrote in Greek.

After the trial of Christ the Romans do not seem to have expected too much trouble as the New Testament informs us that Christ was escorted to his execution by only four soldiers and a Centurion. Paul was obviously considered a greater security risk! The way the soldiers play dice and divide up Christ's clothes afterwards is also an illuminating account.

For further information see 'The Roman Army in Judaea under the Procurators', M.P. Speidel.

For the first six years of Pilate's governorship there was no legate in Syria (Tiberius was keeping him in Rome for some reason), so his access to the Syrian legions may have been limited. Pilate's feeling therefore may have been that any signs of disorder or disrupting influence in the province would have to be stamped out quickly and thoroughly, since he might not have recourse to the legions if things began to get out of hand. The Jewish authorities may have been aware of this handicap, which could be one reason why Pilate's attitude towards the Jews, and his relationship with the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem, seems so strange in the Gospels.