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Where was the Roman Army in AD408?
#33
I was just having another look through Zosimus, and his note about the five tagmata sent from Dalmatia in 408/409 (mentioned earlier in this thread) caught my eye:

"The affairs of Rome being now in no better condition than before, the emperor sent for five regiments of soldiers, who were quartered in Dalmatia, to guard the city of Rome. These regiments consisted of six thousand men, who for strength and discipline were the flower of the whole Roman army (or, in Ridley's transation: "comprised six thousand men in all, whose daring and strength made them the best soldiers in the Roman army"). Their general was Valens, a person ready for the greatest and most hazardous enterprises." (New History 5.45.1)

Why would 'the flower of the whole Roman army' be based in Dalmatia at this point? The phrase suggests that these were the very elite of the western field army - presumably the Ioviani and Herculiani and other palatine legions, or the most senior units of the palatine auxilia.

Alternatively, Valens's command could have been the one allocated to the Comes Illyricum in the ND, which included several comitatenses legions. But why would these be considered the 'best soldiers in the army'?

One possibility (mentioned by Burns in Barbarians within the gates of Rome) might be that the force in Illyricum included the troops mentioned by Sozomen (HE 9.4.6): "Stilicho then [ie in early summer 408]... set out, at the head of four legions [tagmata? arithmoi?], to carry on war in the East."

Unfortunately it's not clear from Sozomen whether these 'four legions' actually got very far eastward on their mission or not; if they did, a number of palatine legions might indeed have formed a decent escort for Stilicho, and been accounted the 'flower of the army'. But how did four units turn into five?

Either way, it doesn't say much for whatever was left of the field army at Ticinum in 408 if a small number of units in Dalmatia were accounted so much better than them! What had happened to the 'thirty numeri' assembled there by Stilicho for his war against Radagaisus a few years before? Had all the best soldiers been defeated under Sarus?

Wherever they came from originally, Valens's six thousand men (whether four units or five - and does this figure include a cavalry component, or not?) were completely annihilated by Alaric before reaching Rome. It's a shame we don't know more about where this battle might have taken place, since it apparently saw the total destruction of the last best troops in the western Roman army!... somewhere in Tuscany, or perhaps on the Flaminian Way, might be the best guess I suppose.
Nathan Ross
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RE: Where was the Roman Army in AD408? - by Nathan Ross - 11-13-2017, 07:37 PM

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