03-04-2017, 08:39 AM
Nathan Ross:
The numbers of a cavalry vexillatio are unknown. If we can base them on the apparent size of a unit of equites promoti in Egypt c.AD320 they may have been about 300 strong; officially they might perhaps have been about the strength of an old-style quingenary ala.
There are cavalry tagmata and infantry tagmata known for the Roman Army so let’s see if we can reverse engineer ourselves to the solution.
About the Ala, how do we know that the ala is still the same for this period of the roman army as for Augustus’ time?
From:
Treadgold Byzantium and its army 284-1081
A papyrus written for a commander of an ala in the mid fourth century already refers to a centurion (hecatontarch) who evidently belonged to that cavalry regiment
Abinnaeus-Archive no 80 page 163
I wonder, could this be one of the officers for our cavalry tagmata/cohort?
From:
http://www.academia.edu/3677031/_Drungus...004_96-130
Maurice defines these formations as follows: A meros is a grouping or drungus composed of three moirai; while a moira is a body composed of tagmata or numeri or banda.
Nathan Ross:
Tagmata was a Byzantine military term, sometimes used inexactly to describe earlier formations like legions and numeri too
The Historia Augusta contains the term drungus/drungi. This could mean that the other terms of Maurice are also earlier then the 6th century. So tagmata could be from the Roman Army Timeframe. Also the history of Zosimus contains the term tagmata.
Nathan Ross:
It's perhaps a reference to the later Roman cavalry formations called vexillationes (maybe implying they were originally detached from some larger unit or other).
Which vexillationes do you mean? Is it the Greek bexiillation or the uexillationes?
The numbers of a cavalry vexillatio are unknown. If we can base them on the apparent size of a unit of equites promoti in Egypt c.AD320 they may have been about 300 strong; officially they might perhaps have been about the strength of an old-style quingenary ala.
There are cavalry tagmata and infantry tagmata known for the Roman Army so let’s see if we can reverse engineer ourselves to the solution.
About the Ala, how do we know that the ala is still the same for this period of the roman army as for Augustus’ time?
From:
Treadgold Byzantium and its army 284-1081
A papyrus written for a commander of an ala in the mid fourth century already refers to a centurion (hecatontarch) who evidently belonged to that cavalry regiment
Abinnaeus-Archive no 80 page 163
I wonder, could this be one of the officers for our cavalry tagmata/cohort?
From:
http://www.academia.edu/3677031/_Drungus...004_96-130
Maurice defines these formations as follows: A meros is a grouping or drungus composed of three moirai; while a moira is a body composed of tagmata or numeri or banda.
Nathan Ross:
Tagmata was a Byzantine military term, sometimes used inexactly to describe earlier formations like legions and numeri too
The Historia Augusta contains the term drungus/drungi. This could mean that the other terms of Maurice are also earlier then the 6th century. So tagmata could be from the Roman Army Timeframe. Also the history of Zosimus contains the term tagmata.
Nathan Ross:
It's perhaps a reference to the later Roman cavalry formations called vexillationes (maybe implying they were originally detached from some larger unit or other).
Which vexillationes do you mean? Is it the Greek bexiillation or the uexillationes?
