08-07-2012, 01:51 AM
The auxilia palatina of the later Roman army are usually said to have been raised from 'Germanic' barbarians of one sort or another. Some of the units listed in the Notitia Dignitatum have the names of German tribes, although whether these relate directly to their recruitment or are ceremonial I don't know.
Some of the senior ones, though, have different and unusual names - what do these mean?
Cornuti is usually glossed as having something to do with horns, and a link sometimes made to the troops on the arch of Constantine with horned helmets (supposedly, although this seems a bit fanciful - they look more like feathers to me!)
Bracchiati means - something worn on the arm, perhaps?
Petulantes - what would the translation of 'petulant' be in this context? I keep thinking of a sulky schoolgirl, which surely isn't right...
Celtae - why would this unit be particularly 'celtic' if the others weren't?
Mattiaci - this at least is the name of a German tribe. But Mainz, or a fort in the vicinity, seems to have been named Castellum Mattiacorum at some point, and there's an inscription (AE 1911, 00232) from there to 'milites Mattiacorum', so perhaps this unit was raised or initially based in Mainz?
Karl Strobel ('Strategy and Army Structure between Septimius Severus and Constantine the Great', in Erdkamp's Companion to the Roman Army) makes the odd claim that the Cornuti, Petulantes etc were raised in Denmark and Schleswig - which seems very specific but is not explained! Anybody know where he got this idea?
Lastly - were the auxilia palatina organised as numeri? This would make sense, as the term goes back to the principiate for an irregular 'barbarian' unit. There are inscriptions to a numero Mattiacorum seniorum (CIL 05, 08737), a semissalis of the same unit (CIL 05, 08739), a centenario numeri bracchiatorum (CIL 05, 08740) and a couple decribed as biarcho de numero equitum bracchiatorum (CIL 05, 08760), all from Concordia (whatever was going on there?). Might the last two suggest that some of these auxilia units contained a mounted component?
Some of the senior ones, though, have different and unusual names - what do these mean?
Cornuti is usually glossed as having something to do with horns, and a link sometimes made to the troops on the arch of Constantine with horned helmets (supposedly, although this seems a bit fanciful - they look more like feathers to me!)
Bracchiati means - something worn on the arm, perhaps?
Petulantes - what would the translation of 'petulant' be in this context? I keep thinking of a sulky schoolgirl, which surely isn't right...
Celtae - why would this unit be particularly 'celtic' if the others weren't?
Mattiaci - this at least is the name of a German tribe. But Mainz, or a fort in the vicinity, seems to have been named Castellum Mattiacorum at some point, and there's an inscription (AE 1911, 00232) from there to 'milites Mattiacorum', so perhaps this unit was raised or initially based in Mainz?
Karl Strobel ('Strategy and Army Structure between Septimius Severus and Constantine the Great', in Erdkamp's Companion to the Roman Army) makes the odd claim that the Cornuti, Petulantes etc were raised in Denmark and Schleswig - which seems very specific but is not explained! Anybody know where he got this idea?
Lastly - were the auxilia palatina organised as numeri? This would make sense, as the term goes back to the principiate for an irregular 'barbarian' unit. There are inscriptions to a numero Mattiacorum seniorum (CIL 05, 08737), a semissalis of the same unit (CIL 05, 08739), a centenario numeri bracchiatorum (CIL 05, 08740) and a couple decribed as biarcho de numero equitum bracchiatorum (CIL 05, 08760), all from Concordia (whatever was going on there?). Might the last two suggest that some of these auxilia units contained a mounted component?
Nathan Ross
