Ala (Roman military)

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Ala (Roman military)

Ala (Latin, wing ie wing of a bird or wing of an army), and its derivatives, Alares and Alarii, were used in different or at least modified senses at different periods.

, at a later date, the Roman armies were composed partly of Roman citizens and partly of Socii (allies from the rest of the Italian mainland), either Latini or Italici, it became the practice to marshall the Roman troops in the centre of the battle line and the Socii upon the wings.

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Ala (Latin, wing ie wing of a bird or wing of an army), and its derivatives, Alares and Alarii, were used in different or at least modified senses at different periods.

Mid-Republic

When, at a later date, the Roman armies were composed partly of Roman citizens and partly of Socii (allies from the rest of the Italian mainland), either Latini or Italici, it became the practice to marshall the Roman troops in the centre of the battle line and the Socii upon the wings. Armies of the middle republic would consist of two legions of Roman citizens and two legions of "ala", with the ala supplying thirty turmae of cavalry per legion, whereas the Roman provided only ten turmae. Hence ala and alarii denoted the contingent furnished by the allies

Allies

In general, allies are people, groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose....
, both horse and foot, and the two divisions were distinguished as dextera ala (right wing) and sinistra ala (left wing) (Livy

Livy

Titus Livius , known as Livy in English language, was a Ancient Rome historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time....
, xxvii.2 , Livy, xxx.21 , Livy xxxi.21 ; Lips. de Milit. Rom. ii. dial. 7. We find in Livy x.40 , the expression cum cohortibus alariis ("with wing cohorts"), and in x. 43 , D. Brutum Scaevam legatum cum legione prima et decem cohortibus alariis equitatuque ire...jussit ("He ordered Decius Brutus Scaeva, legate, with the first legion and ten wing cavalry cohorts, to go and oppose said detachment...").

Late Republic

When the whole of the inhabitants of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
had been admitted to the privileges of Roman citizenship the terms alarii and cohortes alariae were transferred to the foreign troops serving along with the Roman armies. In Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
(The Gallic War i.51 ) we see the Alarii expressly distinguished from the legionarii, and we find the phrase cohortes alariae et legionariae (The Civil War i.73 ), while Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Ancient Rome philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Constitution of the Roman Republic. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest rhetoric and prose stylists....
(ad Fam. ii.17 ) speaks of the Alarii Transpadani.

Empire

Lastly, under the empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, the term ala was applied to auxiliary cavalry

Auxiliaries (Roman military)

Auxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen Roman legion. By the 2nd century, the auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and in addition provided almost all the Roman army's Roman cavalry and more specialised troops ....
regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a military unit, composed of variable numbers of battalions, commanded by a Colonel. Depending on the nation, military branch, mission, and organization, a modern regiment resembles a brigade, in that both range in size from a few hundred to 5,000 soldiers ....
s, raised it would seem with very few exceptions in the provinces, operating as fighting cavalry independent of the legions and the non-combatant legionary cavalry.

Sources

This article is based on an article by William Ramsay, M.A., Professor of Humanity in the University of Glasgow on pp 73-74 of "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities", John Murray, London, 1875, edited by William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D. This article is in the public domain
Public domain

File:PD-icon.svgThe public domain is a range of abstract materials?commonly referred to as intellectual property?which are not owned or controlled by anyone....
. The information contained herein, as such, may therefore be outdated.