08-17-2010, 03:30 PM
Quote:I can't think of a single example of a detached legionary cohort -- can anyone else?
Hmm, good point. I'd thought that Caesar might have used single cohorts, but a look through the Gallic Wars reveals that he only used cohorts in detachments of two and above as separate tactical units. No commanders are mentioned, from what I can make out.
I considered that the single cohort left as a garrison at Jerusalem might have been legionary, but as they originally formed part of the force of the procurator Florus, auxiliary is more likely. There's a note in Josephus, Jewish Antiquites XVII.10.7, about the rebel Athronges (late 1st BC) attacking a 'company' of Romans bringing supplies to the army at Emmaeus - in certain translations 'company' is rendered as 'cohort'. The commander was a centurion called Arius, so perhaps a century is intended?
The only other reference in Josephus is Jewish War 2.I.3, where Archelaus sends a 'tribune with his cohort' against a mutinous mob during Passover. Archelaus was, I believe, supported by Roman troops at this point, so the cohort could have been legionary. Again, though, this is in the republican era and may not reflect later practice.
One problem with this might be that vexillations are so often described merely as 'vexillatio legionis XIII Geminae' (for example), but we don't know how many cohorts of the legion were in the detachment. Perhaps it could have been only a cohort, or any number of cohorts... :?
- Nathan
Nathan Ross
