Late Roman Unit Sizes

[Robert Vermaat]

I appreciate the conclusion from prof Onur (summarised because I don't have the full English translation yet) but I am not jumping the gun as yet to make it the new standard for all late Roman legions.
IF this was a palatine legion (and Onur is not sure about that) that does not mean that ALL palatine legions were between 1440 and 1660 strong.
Nor does it mean that it was the blueprint standard size of any other late Roman infantry unit.

For one, the evolution from the classic legion into the new one was a lengthy process in which the larger legions were downsized into several smaller units. We have but a theoretic notion of how that happened. Perhaps they were cut in half first, or along cohortal lines, or maybe only small detachments were removed?

Also, our understanding of the process in which new units were created is sketchy at best. Were they created at full strength at once, or around cadres of parent units?

Anyway, I'd say that, knowing the Roman army, it's far too early to ditch Coello (or others) even now that we may know how one late Roman (palatine) legion was built up.