Street-Regio VIII-Pompeii-Abderrahman from Stockholm
Relive the disintegration of ancient Rome through captivating storytelling. Step into the world of Roman history and experience its struggle to survive through civil wars, invasions, and imperial treachery, all brought to life through vivid narratives and compelling characters.
Who were the Goths, and why were they there. Read how they switched from foe to friend and back again through the pages of THE BANDIT KING novel series.
Explore the rich tapestry of Roman and barbarian culture and society, woven into the fabric of thrilling adventures and gripping tales.
Additions to the three columns below will be inserted weekly.
The Roman Military Machine
By the time of these stories, there were three types of legions. The old-style legions, the new-style legions, and the limitanei legions.
The old-style legions,
the ones Julius Caesar used were big, in the number of combatants. Divided into ten cohorts, each capable of independent deployment but collected into an army if needed.
Archeological evidence from Roman army barracks at this time show the size of the legion of four thousand, eight hundred legionnaires with an additional 200 cavalry giving a total of five thousand combatants. There was a support element that followed each legion; non-combatant camp followers, slaves of the legionnaires, and the legionnaire’s families who managed the supply train, assisted in camp duties, etc.
The Palatini, a new-style legion,
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They were the mobile line troops; typically assigned to the magister militum. They included the scholae palatinae, the palace guards. They were the core of the new mobile army accompanying the emperor and under his direct command in the field.
The comitatenses legion,
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The Comitatenses were a new style legion developed near the end of the third and early fourth century also meant to be legions of a mobile field army needed to repel invasions and drive the interlopers and invaders from Roman soil.
Among them were the elite legions such as the Joviani and Herculiani with five thousand soldiers and eight hundred cavalrymen. Other units' sizes would vary. Many were cohort-sized units (regiments) of about a thousand soldiers.
The Limitanei legions,
the frontier soldiers, were usually under the command of the duces of their respective provinces. Besides garrisoning fortifications along the frontier, they operated as border guards and customs police and prevented raids, not invasions, across the borders.
The size of the legions is unclear with some scholars suggestion as many as 3,000 troops, because they are often listed with 10 cohorts, and because they are sometimes divided among many bases and others argue that the legions probably had about 1,000 troops.
Their name, frontier soldiers, suggest that, besides garrisoning fortifications along the frontier ready to respond to raids, they garrisoned fortlets and walled towns deeper in Roman territory to deny routes to the enemy, protect food stocks and water supplies, operating as customs police, and gathering information on the tribes across the border.
The very best of the limitanei could be selected to be raised to become pseudocomitatenses, higher paid then the limitanei but less than the comitatenses, not as well armed, but of higher dignity than the limitanei.
The Gothic Tribes
Facing the Romans were two Gothic Tribes. They called themselves the Tervingen and the Greuthingen. Romans called them Tervingi and the Greuthingi. Historians named them the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths.
Miscellaneous Information
In this column you will find information concerning a multitude of minor details touching on not just the Romans and Goths, but Persians, Huns, and other internal and external forces that effected Ancient Rome.