Unit Browser for RTR: Imperium Surrectum

Short description

Auxiliaries from Italia armed with swords and javelins, carrying a large oval shield.

Description

The Emperor Augustus' reforms of the Roman army resulted in the creation of the Auxilia cohorts that were recruited from the free non-citizens (or "peregrini") of the Empire. These were needed to add extra manpower to the Imperial army but at a far lower cost than a legion of citizen-legionaries. The auxilia were recruited from every corner of the empire, and their unit names usually reflect the tribe or area from which they came. The auxiliary cohorts were either "quingenaria" ("five-hundred-strong") or "milliaria" ("one-thousand-strong"), which were 480 men, and 800 men strong respectively. Though some units were recruited especially as light troops, skirmishers, or archers, most units of auxilia were heavy infantry that fought in much the same way as their legionary counterparts.

It was near the end of Augustus' reign that the Roman army faced acute manpower shortages following two serious military catastrophes - first, the Dalmatian revolt of 6 AD, where auxiliaries and tribesmen from Dalmatia and nearby Illyria revolted against their Roman commanders while being assembled for operations in Germania Magna. It took the Romans three years of hard fighting to quell the revolt, and not long after operations ceased in 9AD, news came of a second disaster - three legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus had been ambushed and annihilated in Germania Magna in a three-day battle that was to be known as the "Clades Variana" - the Varus Disaster, resulting in the loss of all of Rome's possessions east of the Rhine. During the years between the Dalmatian revolt and Varus' defeat, and for several months afterwards, Augustus, desperate for additional manpower and expecting the Germans to pour south and west over the Alps and into Italy, emancipated slaves that volunteered themselves in exchange for 25 years of military service. Some cohorts were formed of Roman citizens who volunteered en masse. Augustus did not want to have these former slaves in his legions (and neither, in all likelihood, would the proud legionaries have tolerated their presence), and so he formed the Cohortes Voluntariorum. As many as fifty of these cohorts were raised in this manner, and they were eventually posted all over the Empire - many served in Germania, to where they were doubtless rushed by the Palatium to reinforce the Rhine frontier soon after the Varus Disaster. Many others served in Dalmatia during the revolt, and others were used to garrison Spain. The rest were scattered throughout the Empire, in Pannonia, Cappadocia, and some units also served in Syria, where one, Cohors II Italica Voluntariorum Civium Romanorum served as a unit of archers, and as such gained the title "Sagittariorum". Despite their somewhat ad-hoc formation during a time of crisis, these cohorts actually enjoyed a status distinct from that of the other Auxiliary units. They were paid as much as legionaries and received the money usually given as a gift by successive emperors to the legions and Praetorian Guard, and they were usually well regarded by provincial commanders, as they, like the legionaries they fought alongside, were Roman citizens, and thus their loyalty was unquestionable. They are equipped with the standard panoply of the Roman auxiliary infantryman - a gladius, a cluster of javelins, and a large oval clipeus, with chainmail armour and a sturdy helmet. These troops are ideal for engaging enemy infantry, but being well disciplined Roman infantry, they are capable of holding their own against most enemies.