01-13-2007, 09:51 PM
It depends. you have to make a difference between mercenaries, auxilia and allied contingents.
mercenaries are soldiers which are hired for a certain job or duty,paid and later when done go to search for another job. Xenophon's Anabasis is a good example if you want to read about mercenaries for example.
auxilia are simply a branch of the regular Roman army.with eques, footsoldiers, archers a.s.o. these are standing units in Roman service. the definition of who belongs to the auxilia and what they represent changes between the time of Augustus where they really came into existance and the late empire. to make it simple you could just see them as one part of the army, like you have marines,tank divisions, airforce, a.s.o.
allies are tribes or kings or towns which sealed a contract and provide troops for certain campaigns. take a look at Vespasian's army during the Judean war for example.
then we have the foederati in the later empire. they are allies but with a different legal status as to become a foederati you'd have to submit to Rome first, then be granted the right to be leader of your people by the Romans and could then lead your contingent(this is an oversimplification)
mercenaries are soldiers which are hired for a certain job or duty,paid and later when done go to search for another job. Xenophon's Anabasis is a good example if you want to read about mercenaries for example.
auxilia are simply a branch of the regular Roman army.with eques, footsoldiers, archers a.s.o. these are standing units in Roman service. the definition of who belongs to the auxilia and what they represent changes between the time of Augustus where they really came into existance and the late empire. to make it simple you could just see them as one part of the army, like you have marines,tank divisions, airforce, a.s.o.
allies are tribes or kings or towns which sealed a contract and provide troops for certain campaigns. take a look at Vespasian's army during the Judean war for example.
then we have the foederati in the later empire. they are allies but with a different legal status as to become a foederati you'd have to submit to Rome first, then be granted the right to be leader of your people by the Romans and could then lead your contingent(this is an oversimplification)
RESTITVTOR LIBERTATIS ET ROMANAE RELIGIONIS
DEDITICIVS MINERVAE ET MVSARVM
[Micha F.]
DEDITICIVS MINERVAE ET MVSARVM
[Micha F.]
