10-27-2011, 10:01 AM
I've read (and re-read) Duncan Campbell's article in the latest Ancient Warfare about Diocletian's army reforms. Much of the scholarly debate has been about how many legions were raised and if they were "old-style" with 10 full cohorts. The question that I have not seen addressed is where that manpower came from? Did Diocletian come up with 50-100,000 more men?
One theory I remember reading about was that they were created from sweeping old Principate auxiliary cohorts into newly branded legions. It seems plausible with the loss of citizenship distinction between auxiliaries and legionaries after Caracalla. Has anyone done research into this? Do many of the old Principate auxiliary cohorts disappear from the record at around the time that the Jovia and Herculia legions appear?
Thanks,
Austin
One theory I remember reading about was that they were created from sweeping old Principate auxiliary cohorts into newly branded legions. It seems plausible with the loss of citizenship distinction between auxiliaries and legionaries after Caracalla. Has anyone done research into this? Do many of the old Principate auxiliary cohorts disappear from the record at around the time that the Jovia and Herculia legions appear?
Thanks,
Austin