Unit Browser for RTR: Imperium Surrectum

Short description

Auxiliaries from Syria armed with swords and javelins, carrying large oval shields.

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.

Though Syria was more famous for the archers it provided for the Roman army, regular infantry units were raised there, such as the Cohortes Hamiorum, Damascenorum, and Ituraeorum. They are armed with a gladius, which is the standard infantry sword of the Roman army, and a cluster of javelins. For protection, they carry a large oval shield called a clipeus, and wear scale armour and a bronze helmet. Like most Roman heavy infantry, these troops are generally best employed against enemy infantry, where their gladii and large shields come into their own. Historically, infantry units from Syria served in Egypt, Mauretania, Armenia, Germania and Cappadocia, as well as in their home province, and several Syrian units, including Cohors I Hamiorum Milliaria and Cohors I Ituraeorum were awarded Roman citizenship as a reward for their valorous deeds, and carried the suffix Civium Romanorum thereafter.