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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Quote:Michael wrote:
I don't think we could expect Tacitus to be that specific.

I beg to differ.
What I was thinking of was that we should not necessarily expect Tacitus to state explicitly that the vexillarii served in cohorts.


Quote:I see those who had served sixteen years as evocati and are organised into their own distinct cohorts or vexillations.
I have thought of evocati as soldiers who had been discharged and then recalled to the colours. That this would be after sixteen years would certainly be so in the case of Praetorians but I would assume it to be later in the case of legionaries.


Quote:I have references that show the pilani still served in the field.
Under the Republic and during the reign of Augustus maybe but is the same the case after the concessions wrung from Germanicus? I wonder whether this might be another reason for Postumus' inaction that, as his fortress was not under immediate attack, he did not think it appropriate for his veterans to be called to fight elsewhere.


Quote:Michael wrote:
Incidentally, they appear, in defending the camp, to have similar duties to the old triarii and triarii were organised in vexilla (Livy, 8. 8. 8). It is interesting to see similar terminology persisting.

That is because most of these organisations were established with the Servian constitution and hadn’t changed except the name in some cases. Cohorts, maniples, centuries and vexillations were all part of the Servian constitution. Everything established then, can be found in the late Roman army.
What I was thinking was that, as the triarii served in vexilla, they could reasonably be called vexillarii and we find this term being used in relation to veterans during the Empire.


Quote:Michael wrote:
Did I say that? If I did, I did not mean to. Perhaps there has been a misunderstanding. Could you point me to the relevant post?

I cannot remember what posting, but you did mention on this forum about the commands of the junior centurions and also sent me your paper offline.
I see what you mean. The thread in question is probably 'AE 1981 777' in which we discussed the career of Aurelius Gaius during the reign of Diocletian in which the post of optio triarius appeared to be the most junior of those that he held. I mentioned there and in the paper that you refer to that Vegetius' triarius prior appeared to be the most junior centurion in his First Cohort. I was not necessarily thinking that these late-period triarii were still the oldest soldiers in the legion (in fact, rather the opposite) but, given the apparent tendency to preserve the forms of earlier times, I suppose that this could be so.
Michael King Macdona

And do as adversaries do in law, -
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
(The Taming of the Shrew: Act 1, Scene 2)
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Messages In This Thread
Re: Calling all armchair generals! - by Ensifer - 03-11-2010, 03:13 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-18-2012, 06:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 12:02 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 02:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 05:40 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 11:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 09:42 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 10:10 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:25 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 08:36 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-27-2012, 01:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 08-05-2012, 02:24 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-07-2014, 02:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-08-2014, 01:50 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-11-2014, 02:03 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-18-2014, 07:54 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Renatus - 11-18-2014, 04:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-20-2014, 02:37 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-25-2014, 08:29 AM

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