Comitatenses

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Comitatenses

Comitatenses is the Latin plural of comitatensis, originally the adjective derived from comitatus
Comitatus

Comitatus may refer to:* Comes, a Latin word with similar meaning* Comitatenses, the Roman late Imperial mobile army* Comitatus , a political term used in various meanings, in Europe's classical period and in the Middle Ages...
('company, party, suite'; in this military context it came to the novel meaning of 'the field army'), itself rooting in Comes
Comes

Comes is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus , especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. The word comes derives from com- "with" + ire "go."...
('companion', but hence specific historical meanings, military and civilian).

However, historically it became the accepted (substantivated) name for those Roman imperial troops

Roman army

The Roman Army was employed by the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire, as part of the Roman military. Its most important infantry constituent for much of its history was the Roman legion....
(legion

Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
s and auxiliary) which were not merely garrisoned at a limes

Limes

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Encyclopedia

Roman army

Roman legion

Limes

A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the Borders of the Roman Empire.The Latin language noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting Field , a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any distinction or difference....
(fortified border, on the Rhine and Danube in Europe and near Persia and the desert tribes elsewhere) — the limitanei
Limitanei

The limitanei or riparian were border units in the armies of the late Roman Empire. They were light troops and served to hold off invaders until heavier troops could arrive....
or ripenses, i.e. 'along the shores' — but more mobile line troops; furthermore there were second line troops, named pseudocomitatenses, former limitanei attached to the comitatus; palatinae, elite ('guard') units typically assigned to Magistri militum
Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine I . Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire....
; and the scholae palatinae
Scholae Palatinae

The Scholae Palatinae , were an elite military Imperial Guard unit, usually ascribed to the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great as a replacement to the Praetorian Guard....
of actual palace guards, notably under the magister officiorum
Magister officiorum

In Late antiquity, the Ancient Rome position of magister officiorum can first be traced to the rule of Roman Emperor Constantine I, but may have been first established by Diocletian....
, a major court official of the Late Empire.

List of comitatenses units

Among the comitatenses units listed by Notitia Dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum

The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Ancient Rome imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western Roman empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial level....
there are:

under Magister Peditum:
1. Undecimani.
2. Secundani Italiciani (Legio II Italica
  Legio II Italica
  
  Legio secunda Italica , was a Roman legion levied by emperor Marcus Aurelius in 165 together with Legio I Italica at a time when the Roman Empire was fighting both in Germania and in Parthia....
  , Africa);
3. Tertiani Italica (Legio III Italica
  Legio III Italica
  
  Legio tertia Italica was a Roman legion levied by Marcus Aurelius around 165, for his campaign against the Marcomanni tribe. The cognomen Italica suggests that recruits were originally from Italy....
  , Illyricum);
4. Tertia Herculea, Illyricum;
5. Secunda Britannica, Gallias;
6. Tertia Iulia Alpina, Italia;
7. Prima Flavia Pacis, Africa;
8. Secunda Flavia Virtutis
  Legio II Flavia Virtutis
  
  Legio II Flavia Virtutis was a comitatensis Roman legion, levied by Emperor Constantius II , together with Legio I Flavia Pacis and Legio III Flavia Salutis....
  , Africa;
9. Tertia Flavia Salutis, Africa;
10. Secunda Flavia Constantiniana, Africa Tingitania;
11. Tertio Augustani (Legio III Augusta);
under the Magister Militum per Orientem:
1. Quinta Macedonica (Legio V Macedonica
  Legio V Macedonica
  
  Legio quinta Macedonica was a Roman legion. It was probably originally levied by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Augustus in 43 BC, and it existed in Moesia at least until 5th century....
  );
2. Septima gemina (Legio VII Gemina
  Legio VII Gemina
  
  Legio septima Gemina was a Roman legion; its full name was Legio VII Gemina Felix. VII Gemina dates back to the Year of the four emperors , when the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, Galba, levied a legion to march on Rome....
  );
3. Decima gemina (Legio X Gemina
  Legio X Gemina
  
  Legio decima Gemina , was one of the four legions used by Julius Caesar in 58 BC, for his invasion of Gaul. There are still records of the X Gemina in Vienna in the beginning of the 5th century....
  );
4. Prima Flavia Constantia;
5. Secunda Flavia Constantia Thebaeorum
  Legio II Flavia Constantia
  
  The Legio II Flavia Constantia was a comitatensis Roman legion, created by Diocletian, probably in the year 296 or 297.II Flavia Constantia was formed together with Legio I Maximiana to garrison the newly created province Thebaidos, Aegyptus ....
  ;
6. Secunda Felix Valentis Thebaeorum;
7. Prima Flavia Theodosiana;
under the Magister Militum per Thracias:
1. Prima Maximiana Thebaeorum
  Legio I Maximiana
  
  The Legio I Maximiana was a comitatensis Roman legion, probably created in the year 296 or 297 by the Emperor Diocletian.The I Maximiana was formed together with Legio II Flavia Constantia, to garrison the newly created province Thebaid, in Aegyptus ....
  ;
2. Tertia Diocletiana Thebaeorum
  Legio III Diocletiana
  
  Legio III Diocletiana was a comitatensis Roman legion, levied in 296 by Diocletian, from whom the legion took its name.The aim of this legion was to guard the newly re-organized province of Aegyptus , being based in Alexandria....
  ;
3. Tertiodecimani (Legio XIII Gemina
  Legio XIII Gemina
  
  Legio decima tertia Gemina , is one of the more historically remarkable Roman legions. It was one of Julius Caesar's key units in Gaul, and in the Roman Republican civil wars, and was the legion with which he famously crossing the Rubicon on January 10, 49 BC....
  ?);
4. Quartodecimani (Legio XIV Gemina Martia Victrix
  Legio XIV Gemina
  
  Legio decima quarta Gemina was a Roman legion of the Roman Empire, levied by Augustus after 41 BC. The cognomen Gemina suggests that the legion resulted from fusion of two previous ones, one of them possibly being the Fourteenth legion that fought in the Battle of Alesia....
  ?);
5. Prima Flavia gemina;
6. Secunda Flavia gemina.

External links

(A Late
Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world: generally from the end of the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century to the Islamic conquests and the re-organization of the Byzantine Empire under...
& Post-Roman Romano-British
Romano-British

Romano-British culture is that of the Romanised Britons under the Roman Empire and later the Western Roman Empire, and of those exposed to Roman culture in the years after the Roman departure from Britain....
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment

Historical reenactment is a type of roleplay in which participants attempt to recreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire period....
& Living history
Living history

Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time....
group portraying the Legio Praesidiensis, a comitatensis unit listed in the Notitia Dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum

The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Ancient Rome imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western Roman empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial level....
under the Gallic command, but based in Britain during the late 4th century.)

Comitatenses

List of comitatenses units

External links

See also