Ala Gallorum Atectorigiana
Heavy Cavalry(0.6.7)Side / Back
Short description
Ala Gallorum Atectorigiana: Highly disciplined and skilled cavalrymen who provide support to Roman legionaries in battle.
Description
This ala is known to have existed from the time of Augustus or perhaps Caesar, its first record appears in an inscription from Saintes.
Its title is generally believed to have been derived from that of a Gallic notable, Atectorix, whose name was attributed to the Gallic Pictones by A. Holder. Its early history remains uncertain. E. Stein considered it not improbable that it may have been in Germania before its move to Moesia but there is no record of its presence there. A diploma is the earliest indication that the ala was in Moesia inferior although it is attested in a diploma of ca. 152-154 and may also be recorded in diplomas of 145 and 161. Further, there is good epigraphic evidence of its attribution to the province in the later second and early third centuries. A heavily ligatured inscription from Rjahovo (Appiaria), set up by a prefect of the ala to his wife, may imply that its station in the late second or third century was on the Danubian limes west of Transmarisca.