“Victory would be vastly more glorious if won without the loss of Roman blood”.
Such statements by ancient Roman sources speak of a hierarchical separation between the Roman
army: On one side are the legions, composed of pure Roman citizens who represent the Empire.
On the other, are non-Roman auxiliaries; expendable troops to be sent as cannon fodder to preserve
the lives of the legionaries behind them.
Their lower status, salary and conditions of service also contribute significantly to
such belief.
So much, that they are sometimes not even mentioned by ancient sources, despite being
in the front lines of almost every engagement, and sometimes winning major battles on their
own, with the spectating legions behind them taking the credit.
Well in today's video, we will shine some light on this other half of the Roman army,
and expose the men that bled for the survival of the Roman Empire…
Serving in remote areas across Rome, Auxiliaries didn’t have access to great skincare products.
But thanks to our video’s sponsor, Tiege Hanley, YOU could.
Self confidence is key and it all starts from your appearance.
This is why Tiege provides simple and affordable skin care products for men.
We recommend trying their level 1 Skin Care System providing you with all you need to
look and feel amazing.
It comes with a daily face wash, a morning moisturizer which also works as sunscreen,
a twice-per-week exfoliating scrub, and an evening moisturizer to keep your skin hydrated.
It also comes with simple instructions for how to use your products, which is great if
you’ve never used them before.
Tiege has over 5000 positive reviews from around the world, and if you visit their website
at Tiege.com, you can see all that they have to offer.
Tiege products come with free shipping to the US, and low costs internationally.
Click our link in the description to get an additional 30% discount on your first box
plus a free gift!
And see how everything’s better with healthier skin!
The Roman “Auxilia” units were just as the modern word “auxiliary” implies: additional
support.
Since the 3rd century BC, when Rome only started its expansion outside Italy, their powerful
legions were always accompanied by non-citizen support troops, who consisted of a mixture
of local contingents, like Greeks, Iberians, or Gauls, and specialized foreign units like
Balearic slingers, Numidian cavalry or Cretan archers.
These troops were specifically hired for their unique military skills and native combat style,
which would compensate for any weaknesses the legions had, and together, create a more
effective and flexible force.
Auxiliaries would continue to be more and more standardized, until they would gain their
final form during the military reforms of Augustus, when they became permanent professional
units in the Roman army, divided into two branches: “cohorts”, predominantly heavy
infantry and “Ala”, consisting of cavalry.
Auxiliaries would serve in these units for a period of 25 years, receiving a generous
salary and the grand prize of acquiring Roman citizenship upon retirement…
In regards to recruitment into the Auxiliary, it is often thought that any non-citizen
population in the Empire was a good source.
But surprisingly, this was not the case.
As a matter of fact, the Romans were quite picky in the process, and only targeted specific
ethnicities with a high martial heritage and militaristic culture.
This ensured they needed as little training as possible to perform well on the battlefield.
For example, Gauls had a very militaristic culture and a strong warrior class, with a
legendary reputation for bravery and savagery on the battlefield.
Supplemented by their imposing height and strength, they were the perfect candidates
for serving as cavalry and heavy infantry, right after teaching them a bit of Roman discipline,
of course.
In fact, it is estimated that by the Early Empire, Gaul alone contributed between 74
-82 cohorts of heavy infantry and 33 Alae of cavalry, all of varying sizes.
That’s equivalent to 37,000 infantrymen and 16,500 cavalrymen, which stood as one
of the largest contributions to the Roman military.
Similarly, native Syrians were held in high regard.
Not because of their physical abilities, but for their legendary skill with the bow, which
made them ideal at countering eastern mounted and foot archers, and a fine addition to any
Roman force.
Finally, Thracians were valued for their high degree of flexibility on the battlefield.
By 70 AD, Syrians and Thracians made up 35 of the 64 infantry cohorts and 12 of the 15
cavalry alae of eastern origin - that’s almost 60% of all the eastern auxiliaries!
Unlike their legionary counterparts, auxiliary units never had a standardized composition
or size, and even their ethnicity could vary through the years, which has driven more than
one historian mad.
For example, “Cohors I Ituraeorum Sagittariorum Equitata Milliaria”, this unit was raised
in the Middle East..
The titles “Cohors” and “Equitata” tell us it was a part-infantry, part-cavalry
auxiliary cohort, while “Sagittariorum” tells us it also had archers.
Therefore, not only do we know the unit’s size, but also if it was composed of infantry,
foot archers, and cavalry, or perhaps just infantry and horse archers…
And despite being originally Middle Eastern, they may have recruited an increasing number
of local Dacians from the area they served in.
So now, we have a unit of unknown composition, size and ethnicity, which is the case for
most auxiliary units we know of.
What we know is auxiliary cohorts could be fully infantry, cavalry, archers, horse archers,
or a combination of all 4, but even this isn't a strict rule, as some were known to be composed
of special units.
The famous XXth mixed cohort of Palmyrenes, boasted a small contingent of exotic dromedarii,
or camel-mounted infantry…
But auxiliaries did have some basic patterns.
As a general rule, purely cavalry units were considered more prestigious and held in higher
esteem than units of infantry or mixed units.
After all, the famous cavalry guard of the emperor, the Equites Singulares Augusti, always
came from auxiliary cavalry units.
Every unit was also labeled either as quingenaria, or milliaria, consisting of five hundred or
one thousand men, respectively, with the latter having higher prestige and seniority.
The former though, was not set in stone, as they were often strengthened up when the need
arose.
So we can safely say a healthy auxiliary unit would number between 480 and 1000 men.
Regarding the equipment of auxiliaries, it was also not at all standardized.
Syrian archers were famous for wearing their unique pointed helmets and eastern clothes,
while Batavian and Germanic auxiliaries often carried their native weapons, cloaks, and
belts.
Other cultures would have local fair paint, facial hair, and other accessories..
With time though, many native pieces would be gradually replaced as the units became
more accustomed to serving with the legions…[Rome 2 fragment]
Now for the most shocking fact about auxiliary units, which seems to undermine their key
distinction from the legions: not all of them were non-Roman citizens.
Units that excelled on the battlefield or had an illustrious service record could be
granted Roman citizenship on the spot, without having to finish their 25 year enlistment.
Some of these units would continue serving in the auxilia with the title Civium Romanorum
to mark the distinction that they are already citizens of Rome.
Occasionally, there were even auxiliary units levied from the core of Roman citizens, like
the Cohors Itálica Voluntariorum, which held the same distinct title.
The final nuance worth pointing out is that auxiliary units could become ethnically mixed
through time.
The Romans made sure to respect each ethnicity by modifying the unit names.
An example of this is the unit “Cataphract Ala of Gauls and Pannonians”...
During military campaigns and battles, we know that auxiliaries were usually placed
in front of the highly prized Roman legions.
But what was their role outside the battlefield?
It might surprise you, but administratively, auxiliary units always tried to mimic the
legions as much as possible.
Each auxiliary prefect or tribune had a personal staff of clerks, specialists and trusted soldiers
to carry out various errands and keep the paperwork in order.
Yes, the auxiliaries also had paperwork, because the Romans loved their lists.
Ranks like Beneficiarii and singulares have been recorded in both legions and auxilia,
and tablets found at Vindolanda also mention the existence of auxiliary medics and vets…
External auxiliary tasks could range from providing bodyguards to local governors, to
escorting supply shipments, patrolling frontier sectors, collecting tolls and taxes, helping
in construction efforts and assuming administrative duties in mines.
In a previous video, we broke down the colossal duties of Roman Legions in the provinces,
but in some, like Mauretania Tingitana and Caesariensis, no legions were stationed there.
So it was up to local auxiliaries to mimic the Roman legions and complete all previously
mentioned tasks by themselves, which was an enormous effort.
But this Romanization of auxiliaries didn't mean that their local traditions were tossed
aside, as each unit was a microsocial cosmos of its own.
If the officers in charge of the unit were native nobles, they were still addressed with
local titles by their men, like “chieftain” or “king”.
Furthermore, they still venerated their local religion and deities, and Latin was not widely
spoken between themselves.
This is demonstrated by many surviving documents having spelling mistakes and overly simple
sentences.
In the eastern provinces, Latin was even more uncommon, as Greek was the predominant language…
A big difference between auxiliaries and their legionary counterparts were the conditions
of service and hopes of promotion.
Auxiliaries were paid less, had longer service periods and their prospects of retirement
were far less welcoming.
Even promotions were a lot scarcer and only accessible to the more veteran members of
the unit, as proven by archaeological documents.
The only exception to the rule were the aforementioned Equites Singulares, recruited from the best
auxiliary horsemen the Empire had to offer.
These guardsmen were so highly revered that they were often granted promotions to legionary
centurions and became highly respectable and wealthy individuals.
[Rome 2 clip here??]
One of these lucky few was Marcus Aurelius Lucilius.
Born in Pannonia, he enlisted in an unknown "Alae" at the age of 20, and was soon transferred
to the "Equites Singulares Augusti", where he would get promoted to the rank of "decurio".
At age 45, he was granted citizenship and chose to adopt the name of the Emperor, Marcus
Aurelius, as his own.
After being honorably discharged, he chose to re-enlist into the army as a centurion
in the 1st Adiutrix Legion, and would go on to serve in the 2nd Traiana Fortis (egypt),
8th Augusta(rhine), 7th Claudia, 14th Gemina Martia Victrix, and finally the 7th Gemina
legion in Hispania.
Here, in the provincial capital of Tarraco, he was hired to train and command the governor's
personal bodyguard.
It is here when death would take him at the age of 60, after having spent 40 years in
the army and traveled all over the Roman Empire.
His lifetime companion and wife, Ulpia Iuventina, buried her benevolent and pious husband and
inherited all his possessions.
Others, like the Briton Secundus, didn't enjoy such a prestigious career, but still managed
to survive until discharge and secure the status of veteran.
In this document dated April 14.
And many sons are known to follow in their father’s footsteps and join the army - but
this time as Roman legionaries!th, 131 AD, Secundus’ honorable discharge was recorded.
Such documents granted all the benefits of Roman citizenship for auxiliaries AND their
descendants
We would like to express a warm hearted thank you to our Patreons for helping us deliver
such videos for you!
Consider joining them and helping us out!
We hope to see you in the next one!