08-17-2010, 10:50 AM
Quote:... Since vexillations consisted of one or two cohorts, that would also suggest that one man was in charge of a cohort (since I can't imagine that vexillations didn't have commanders).The composition of vexillations seems to be a bit more complex than that.
You are maybe thinking of the adlocutio Hadriani, where an entire cohort was detached as a vexillation, but even then, it was supplemented by soldiers from all of the other cohorts.
Besides the half-dozen cohortal building stones from Hadrian's Wall (which simply state, e.g., LEG(ionis) II AUG(ustae) COH(ors) II), presumably recording a building squad drawn from a particular cohort, I can't think of a single example of a detached legionary cohort -- can anyone else?
