Alpinorum auxiliary regiments
The cohortes Alpinorum ("cohorts of Alpini") were auxiliary regiments of the early Roman empire originally recruited in the three provinces of the western Alps, Alpes Maritimae, Alpes Cottiae and Alpes Poeniae. Included in this article are the Ligurum cohorts raised from the Ligures people of Alpes Maritimae and Liguria regio of NW Italia.
Nature of the evidence
The literary evidence for auxiliary regiments is almost non-existent. Unlike for the legions, ancient Roman historians only rarely mention the auxilia at all, and never denote a specific unit. Knowledge of the auxilia is therefore dependent on inscriptions found bearing the regiment's name. Many of these are not datable (even roughly) and so are of limited value. The datable epigraphic record is thus very patchy and incomplete.
The epigraphic record includes: (1) inscriptions from Roman military diplomas, which were bronze certficates of Roman citizenship awarded to peregrini soldiers who completed the minimum 25 years' service in the auxilia: these are very useful as, if complete, they contain a precise date and the province in which the regiment was serving at the time (as well the name, origin and rank of the recipient). (2) tiles or bricks, used in building work on Roman forts, stamped with the regiment's name. These show the forts where a regiment may have been based, but are rarely datable. (3) votive stone altars or tablets, and tombstones. These can indicate the addressee's origin if they are found in provinces away from the regiment's base. A minority are datable.
The Alpini people
Several Celtic-speaking tribes inhabited the western Alps, most notably the Salassi of Val d'Aosta. They were finally subdued by Rome and their territory annexed in 15 BC. As a mountain people, they provided only infantry and no cavalry, to the Roman army, but that infantry was first-rate.
Alpinorum cohorts
According to Holder, a total of 7 cohortes Alpinorum and 2 cohortes Ligurum were raised in the early 1st century. Of these one, II Alpina is attested only in the early 1st century (in a single inscription) and was therefore evidently disbanded or destroyed in action. The other 6 survived into the 2nd century. The two cohortes Ligurum raised, Ligurum equitata (no number, attested) and II Ligurum (unattested but inferred) were merged after 70 AD with other a Spanish and Corsican unit respectively, to form I Ligurum et Hispanorum c.R. and II gemina Ligurum et Corsorum. Both of these survived into the 2nd century.[1]
The following table displays the available evidence for each cohors Raetorum. The provinces deployed rubric gives the minumum dates that the regiment was based in a province, but it may have been there much longer. The datable epigraphic record is very incomplete. For example, most of the regiments below were established before 37 AD, but only one is actually attested at that time, with the rest not attested before 75.
| Cohors name |
Period founded |
Earliest record |
Latest record |
Provinces deployed |
Forts occupied |
Personnel origins known (date) |
|---|
Note on c.R. title
The honorific title civium Romanorum (c.R. for short) was normally awarded by the emperor for valour to an auxiliary regiment as a whole. The award would include the grant of Roman citizenship to all the regiment's men, but not to subsequent recruits to the regiment. The regiment, however, would retain the prestigious title in perpetuity.[3] Until 212, only a minority of the empire's inhabitants (inc. all Italians) held full Roman citizenship. The rest were denoted peregrini, a second-class status. Since the legions admitted only citizens, peregrini could only enlist in the auxilia. Citizenship carried a number of tax and other privileges and was highly sought-after. It could also be earned by serving the minimum 25-year term in the auxilia.
Citations
References
- Goldsworthy, Adrian The Complete Roman Army (2005)
- Holder, Paul Studies in the Auxilia of the Roman Army (1980)
- Holder, Paul Auxiliary Deployment in the Reign of Hadrian (2003)
- Spaul, John COHORS 2 (2000)