Provincial units of the Later Roman Empire
The
limitanei
(
Latin
, also called
ripenses
), meaning respectively "the soldiers in frontier districts" (from the Latin word
limes
meaning frontier) or "the soldiers on the riverbank" (from the Rhine and Danube), were an important part of the
late Roman
and early
Byzantine army
after the reorganizations of the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. The
limitanei
, unlike the
Comitatenses
,
palat?ni
, and
Scholae
, garrisoned
fortifications along the borders
of the
Roman Empire
and were not normally expected to fight far from their fortifications.
The
limitanei
were lower-status and lower-paid than the
comitatenses
and
palat?n?
,
[1]
and the distinction in role and status between
scholae
,
palatini
,
comitatenses
, and
limitanei
had largely replaced the older one between
praetorians
,
legionaries
, and
auxiliaries
.
[2]
The
limitanei
and
palatini
both included legionary units alongside auxiliary units.
[3]
The nature of the
limitanei
changed considerably between their introduction in the 3rd or 4th century and their disappearance in the 6th or 7th century. In the 4th century, the
limitanei
were professional soldiers,
[4]
[5]
[6]
and included both infantry and cavalry as well as river flotillas,
[3]
[7]
but after the 5th century they were part-time soldiers,
[4]
and after the 6th century they were unpaid
militia
.
[8]
[9]
The role of the
limitanei
remains somewhat uncertain.
[10]
Hugh Elton
and
Warren Treadgold
suggest that, besides garrisoning fortifications along the frontier, they operated as border guards and customs police and to prevent small-scale raids.
[11]
[12]
They may have driven off medium-scale attacks without the support of the field armies.
[13]
Edward Luttwak
saw their role as a key part in a strategy of defence-in-depth in combination with the provincial
[
clarification needed
]
field armies.
[14]
Origins and history
[
edit
]
In the early 3rd century, the Roman military was organized into several provincial armies under the command of the provincial governors, a smaller reserve under the command of the
emperor
, guard units such as the
Praetorian Guard
, and the urban cohorts.
[15]
[note 1]
Field armies were temporary formations, usually composed of the reserve and/or of detachments drawn from the provincial armies.
[17]
[18]
In the later 3rd century, due to the frequent wars, field armies could remain together for several years, under the direct command of the emperor, and would require their own recruitment systems.
[18]
[19]
By the mid 4th century, the Roman military was divided into frontier armies under the command of the provincial
duces
and permanent field armies under the command of the emperor, the
magistri peditum
,
magistri equitum
, or
comites
.
[20]
[21]
The frontier armies would patrol the borders and oppose small-scale raids.
[11]
[12]
They may have driven off medium-scale attacks without the support of the field armies.
[22]
The frontier armies would later be known as
limitanei
or
ripenses
.
[23]
The field armies would respond to larger-scale attacks, would fight against rival emperors, and would conduct any large-scale attacks into neighboring countries.
[
citation needed
]
The field armies would later be known as
comitatenses
or
palatini
.
[24]
The first known written reference to
ripenses
was in 325 and the first to
limitanei
was not until 363.
[25]
[26]
Historians disagree on whether the emperor
Diocletian
, or one of his successors, such as
Constantine I
, split the Roman military into frontier armies and field armies.
[27]
[28]
Theodor Mommsen
,
H.M.D. Parker
, and more recently,
Warren Treadgold
and
David S. Potter
[29]
attribute the reorganization to Diocletian.
[30]
[31]
E.C. Nischer
,
D. van Berchem
, and more recently,
M.C. Bishop
and
J.C.N. Coulston
attribute mainly an expansion to Diocletian, and the reorganization to Constantine I and his successors.
[32]
[33]
Karl Strobel
sees the reorganization as the culmination of trends going back well into the 3rd century, with Diocletian strengthening both the frontier and field armies.
[34]
The division of the Roman Empire, the collapse of its western portion, and the formation of the successor states means that the
limitanei
may have developed differently in the east and the west, or even in different regions of the west.
In the east, the emperor
Justinian
cancelled their pay.
[35]
After this, the eastern
limitanei
were no longer professional soldiers, but continued to exist as
militia
through the Persian Wars and the Arab Conquest.
[36]
[37]
The Arabic
ajnad
of Palestine, Jordan, Damascus, and Homs, may represent continuations of the commands of Palaestina, Arabia, Phoeniciae, and Syria.
[36]
In the west, the collapse of the empire cut off regular pay.
Peter Heather
notes an incident in the Life of
St. Severinus
, in Noricum in the 460s, where raiders had intercepted and cut down
limitanei
who were bringing their pay to the rest of their unit.
[38]
Organization
[
edit
]
The
limitanei
represented the largest part of the late Roman Army. The eastern portion of the
Notitia Dignitatum
, from about 395, may count some 195,500 personnel in the frontier armies not counting the river flotillas, 104,000 in the field armies not counting the fleets, and 3,500 in the palace guard.
[3]
The western portion, from about 420, is harder to work with, because it has been unevenly edited, it omits some frontier provinces, and it includes British provinces which were probably lost to the Empire.
The size of the army, and therefore of the
limitanei
, remains controversial.
[39]
A.H.M. Jones and Warren Treadgold argue that the late Roman army was significantly larger than earlier Roman armies, and Treadgold estimates they had up to 645,000 troops.
[3]
Karl Strobel denies this, and Strobel estimates that the late Roman army had some 435,000 troops in the time of Diocletian and 450,000 in the time of Constantine I.
[5]
The
limitanei
were usually under the command of the
duces
of their respective provinces. There were some exceptions, with
comites
commanding units of
limitanei
, and with duces commanding units from two or more provinces.
[40]
The units of the
limitanei
included
legiones
of infantry, often divided between two bases and sometimes divided among more, numeri, milites, and
cohortes
of infantry, as well as vexillationes, equites, cunei, and
alae
of cavalry. The size of the legions is unclear.
A.H.M. Jones
suggested that they could have as many as 3,000 troops, because they are often listed with 10 cohorts, and because they are sometimes divided among many bases. Warren Treadgold suggests that the legions probably had about 1,000 troops and the other units probably had about 500 troops each.
[41]
The different titles of numeri, milites, and cohorts, or vexillationes, equites, cunei, and alae, probably did not correspond with different structures or roles,
[42]
although according to Pat Southern and Karen Dixon, the
legiones
,
auxilia
, and
cunei
of the border armies were part of the
limitanei
, but higher-status than the older
cohortes
and
alae
in the same armies.
[9]
Warren Treadgold estimates that 50.1% of the
limitanei
were infantry and 49.9% cavalry, not counting river flotillas.
[41]
Roles
[
edit
]
The role of the
limitanei
remains somewhat uncertain.
[10]
Neither
Vegetius
, writing in the late 4th or early 5th century, nor
Mauricius
, writing in the late 6th century, discuss the
limitanei
in their military manuals. This is understandable. Vegetius called for the revival of earlier Roman practices, from before the organization of the
limitanei
, and Mauricius wrote after the decline of the
limitanei
.
Hugh Elton
and
Warren Treadgold
suggest that, besides garrisoning fortifications along the frontier, they operated as border guards and customs police and to prevent small-scale raids.
[11]
[12]
Hugh Elton describes their roles as "policing the border, gathering intelligence, and stopping raids".
[43]
They may have driven off medium-scale attacks without the support of the field armies.
[13]
Edward Luttwak
saw their role as a key part in a strategy of defence-in-depth, manning a range of defences from forts to walled towns in a deep defensive zone. These defences would deny routes to the enemy, securing food stocks and, in arid areas, water supplies both to restrict attackers and facilitate counterattack by provincial
[
clarification needed
]
field armies
[44]
Because units of
limitanei
operated in one area, had their own camps, and often recruited from the same area, they tended to maintain better relations with the locals than the
comitatenses
and
palatini
, who would often be transferred to other areas, and were often quartered in civilian homes.
[45]
[46]
They were light troops
[
citation needed
]
and served as a policing force to patrol Rome's distant, far-flung border regions and when necessary, to delay advancing enemy forces until counter-attacks could be arranged.
[
citation needed
]
They worked in conjunction with the
comitatenses
.
[47]
Pseudocomitatenses
[
edit
]
The relationship between the
limitanei
, of the border armies, and the
pseudocomitatenses
, the lowest-ranking units of the field armies, remains unclear. Theodor Mommsen proposed that the
pseudocomitatenses
were former units of
limitanei
incorporated into the mobile field armies,
[48]
and most authors since have followed his theory.
[49]
[50]
[51]
E.C. Nischer proposed the alternate theory that the
pseudocomitatenses
were positional garrison units which were independent of the border armies and thus placed under the same command as the field armies.
[52]
Farmer-soldiers
[
edit
]
In the past historians have suggested that the
limitanei
were organized as units of part-time farmer-soldiers. In this view, the
limitanei
were used in stationary roles along the frontier and were granted plots of land to cultivate, which essentially turned them into part-time soldiers/farmers.
[53]
It was usually assumed that over time the
limitanei
settled down more permanently in their posts and became farmers and
land owners
as well as soldiers; raising families and earning a living from agricultural means rather than purely military service. It is now more generally assumed that there is no good evidence for this.
[54]
The current consensus seems to be that the
limitanei
were organized as units of professional soldiers,
[4]
[55]
[56]
[57]
but they gradually became part-time soldiers and eventually an unpaid
militia
,
[37]
[58]
relying on other professions including farming for income.
[37]
Why this new class of soldiers developed is disputed by historians. According to
Azar Gat
, many scholars believe that empires stationed these soldiers on the outskirts of empires as a first line of defense against raiding barbarians tribes.
[59]
As the soldier profession is often not productive (prolonged periods of training with only occasional conflict), empires had long resorted to this principle of "military colonists". Thus, the late Roman empire adopted the system of
limitanei
(frontier-colonist-soldier) for economic reasons.
[
citation needed
]
By employing soldiers in this way, Rome was able to capitalize on their knowledge of warfare as well benefit from the agriculture produced by
limitanei
.
[
citation needed
]
Edward Luttwak, however, sees the change as due a strategic shift away from a firmly held frontier (
preclusive defence
) to a less firmly held frontier zone backed with mobile forces (
defence-in-depth
) as responsible for the change,
[60]
though again referencing parallels of military colonists at other times in history.
[61]
Equipment
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
September 2013
)
|
M.C. Bishop and J.C.N. Coulston, in a major work on Roman military equipment, do not distinguish that of the
limitanei
from that of the
comitatenses
and
palatini
.
[62]
It is doubtful whether there were any universal differences between the equipment of the
limitanei
and of the other forces.
The late Roman empire had centralized fabricae, introduced by Diocletian, to provide arms and armor for the army.
[7]
[62]
[63]
[64]
[65]
The 4th century
limitanei
included both light and heavy infantry,
[note 2]
as well as light and heavy cavalry,
[note 3]
and river flotillas.
[3]
[7]
Fortifications
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
September 2013
)
|
The
limitanei
garrisoned fortifications along the borders of the Roman empire. Hugh Elton divides these into four categories: "garrison forts, detachment forts, watchtowers, and fortified landing places".
[66]
These fortifications could be organized into lines along rivers, such as the Rhine and Danube, or at times part of the Euphrates, along fortified walls such as
Hadrian's Wall
, or along otherwise unfortified roads such as the
Strata Diocletiana
.
Garrison forts are those at or near the towns along the frontiers, as well as other forts, garrisoned by independent units of
limitanei
.
[66]
Detachment forts are those too small for independent units, garrisoned by detachments from the nearest garrison fort.
[66]
Fortified landing places are those on the opposite side of riverine borders.
[67]
Both Diocletian and Constantine I reinforced the frontier fortifications.
[68]
The fort of
Deutz
/Divitia, an important bridgehead on the east bank of the
Rhine
, was built in this period.
[69]
Generally speaking there were more and smaller forts along the late Roman border than along the earlier Roman imperial borders. This has been interpreted as evidence that units were smaller than before, that units were divided among multiple forts, or both.
Effectiveness
[
edit
]
The effectiveness of the
limitanei
, as units, and as part of the larger system, remains controversial.
The soldiers of the frontier armies were paid less than their counterparts in the field armies. However, this does not imply that the field armies always hired the most promising recruits; some may have preferred to stay close to home rather than to join units which could be deployed anywhere else.
[56]
The soldiers of the frontier armies are often supposed to have been part-time farmer-soldiers without the same degree of training as the soldiers of the field armies; however, they were originally full-time soldiers.
[5]
[56]
Although these military reforms brought about a more effective defensive army than the previous arrangement had,
[
citation needed
]
it did have its pitfalls.
Constantine I
was criticised for allowing what were perceived as "second-class" infantry, often recruited from non-Roman backgrounds, to be given the responsibility of watching over Rome's most troublesome regions. The elite
comitatenses
and
Scholae Palatinae
(the personal bodyguards of the late Roman Emperors such as
Constantine I
) resented being reduced to trivial home guard duties and acting more similarly to an urban police force until such a time that a serious enough threat presented itself at a nearby border, when they were called upon for duty.
[
citation needed
]
They are historically significant in that their appearance, as part of a plan of military reforms enacted in the late 3rd century, was able to extend the life of the
Roman Empire
by pushing back the great
barbarian invasions
of
late antiquity
.
[
citation needed
]
The quality of these border troops declined because the
limitanei
had to live in poor conditions in impoverished and isolated towns,
[
citation needed
]
unlike their well-off counterparts the
comitatenses
, who were typically assigned to more urban and prosperous areas of the empire. This affected the discipline and morale of the
late Roman army
.
[
citation needed
]
A factor that should also be examined and considered, is how the
limitanei
ended up as part time forces and eventually even, not being paid at all.
[70]
[71]
Traditionally, the quality of troops degrades as they spend less and less time as active soldiers, and soldiers that aren't being sent their wages, are obviously not being sent new equipment, or money to repair or replace broken equipment.
The
limitanei
were nonetheless a fairly well equipped and trained force of infantry for their time, especially in relation to other standing armies of the day fielded by Rome's
Germanic
,
Celtic
,
Iranian
, and Eastern neighbours, collectively referred to as "
barbarians
" by the Romans themselves.
It can be surmised, due in part to these reforms, that the Western Roman Empire continued to live on for another 140 years after the end of Constantine's reign, in the face of numerous migrations and invasions from northern and eastern, nomadic peoples such as the
Huns
,
Goths
,
Vandals
,
Ostrogoths
,
Sarmatians
,
Alans
,
Burgundians
,
Saxons
and
Franks
, which continually weakened the Empire until its eventual
collapse
in 476 AD.
[
citation needed
]
[
original research?
]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
The
limitanei
are in
Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion
as an infantry unit that can be recruited by any Roman faction. They are a cheap and easily trained unit that has poor attack, but very high defense, simulating their role in holding the frontier and bogging down enemies while the field armies mobilized.
In
Civilization VI: Rise and Fall
,
limitanei
are available as a military policy. The policy causes military units to increase the loyalty of the city they are garrisoned in.
In
Age of Empires IV
,
limitanei
are cheap anti-cavalry infantry available for the Byzantines.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
The reserve would include the
Legio II Parthica
. Although
Septimius Severus
may not have used it as a reserve, his successors did.
[16]
- ^
The
Notitia Dignitatum
does not seem to list any infantry units of sagittarii in the limitanei, so this should be taken cum grano salis.
- ^
The
Notitia Dignitatum
attests several cavalry units of sagittarii, and one unit of catafractarii, the last under the Dux Scythiae.
References
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
Treadgold 1995, pp. 149?157.
- ^
Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 19, 35?37, 57.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Treadgold 1995, pp. 44?59.
- ^
a
b
c
Treadgold 1995, p. 161.
- ^
a
b
c
Strobel 2011, p. 268.
- ^
Southern & Dixon, 1996, p. 57.
- ^
a
b
c
The
Notitia Dignitatum
.
- ^
Treadgold 1995, p. 60, for the pay cancellation but not the role.
- ^
a
b
Southern & Dixon, 1996, p. 36.
- ^
a
b
Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 29 and 33.
- ^
a
b
c
Treadgold1995, p. 93.
- ^
a
b
c
Elton 1996, pp. 204?206.
- ^
a
b
Southern & Dixon, 1996, p. 65.
- ^
Luttwak 1976, pp. 130?145.
- ^
Le Bohec, Yann
,
The Imperial Roman Army
, pp. 19-35.
- ^
Southern & Dixon 1996, pp. 5-9 and 9-11.
- ^
Southern & Dixon 1996, pp. 9-11.
- ^
a
b
Strobel 2011, pp. 269-271.
- ^
Southern, Pat, and Dixon, Karen R., 1996,
The Late Roman Army
, pp. 9-14.
- ^
Elton, 1996, pp. 208-210.
- ^
Southern and Dixon, pp. 57-60
- ^
Southern & Dix, 1996, p. 65.
- ^
Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 35-37. The earliest reference, from 325, distinguishes
comitatenses
,
ripenses
, and
alares et cohortales
, so certain lower-status frontier units were not counted as part of the ripenses though they would later be counted as part of the limitanei.
- ^
Elton, 1996, p. 94.
- ^
Lee 2007, p. 11. Lee cites the Theodosian Code.
- ^
Theodosian Code 7.20.4 and 12.1.56
- ^
Southern & Dixon 1996, pp. 15-20.
- ^
Lee 2007, pp. 10-12.
- ^
D.S.Potter,
The Roman Empire at Bay AD 180-395
, pp. 451-453. Potter strongly doubts that the creation of ripenses could be attributed to a cooperation of Constantine with Licinius, therefore he dates it back to the reign of Diocletian. However he admits that there is no unequivocal evidence.
- ^
Treadgold 1995, p. 10.
- ^
Southern & Dixon 1996, p. 15.
- ^
Bishop, M.C., and Coulston, J.C.N., 2006,
Roman Military Equipment, From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome
, p. 199.
- ^
Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 15 & 35.
- ^
Strobel 2011, p.p. 268-269.
- ^
In 545. Treadgold 1995, pp. 60 and 97.
- ^
a
b
Treadgold 1995, pp. 97-98.
- ^
a
b
c
Southern & Dixon, 1996, p. 36
- ^
Heather, 2005, p. 412.
- ^
Lee 2007, pp. 74-79.
- ^
Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp.58-60.
- ^
a
b
Treadgold 1995, pp. 44-49.
- ^
Treadgold 1995, pp. 87-98.
- ^
Elton 1996, p. 204.
- ^
Luttwak 1976, pp. 130-145
- ^
Lee 2007, p. 175.
- ^
Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 169-170, 171-174.
- ^
Christon I. Archer, et al.,
World History of Warfare.
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002),
99-100
- ^
Nischer, pp. 30-31.
- ^
For example, A.H.M. Jones, Hugh Elton, Pat Southern, and Karen Dixon.
- ^
Elton, pp. 95 and 212.
- ^
Southern and Dixon, pp. 19 and 37.
- ^
Nischer, pp. 30-41.
- ^
Luttwak 1976, p.171.
- ^
Isaac 1988, pp. 125-147
- ^
Strobel 2011, p. 268. Strobel notes a law of 458 which still prohibited farming and herding by the soldiers.
- ^
a
b
c
Whitby 2011, pp. 522-523.
- ^
Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 35-37, 57.
- ^
Treadgold, Warren,
Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081
, p. 60, for the pay cancellation but not the role.
- ^
Gat, Azar
(2008).
War in Human Civilization
. Oxford: OUP. pp. 364?5.
ISBN
978-0199236633
.
- ^
Luttwak 1976, pp. 191-194.
- ^
Luttwak 1976, pp. 171-172
- ^
a
b
Bishop & Coulston 2006, pp. 233-240.
- ^
Michel Feugere, 2002,
Weapons of the Romans
, pp. 185-193. He dates this to the time of Diocletian, based on
John Malalas
's quoting one of
Lactantius
's works.
- ^
Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 89-91.
- ^
Elton, 1996, pp. 116-117.
- ^
a
b
c
Elton 1996, p. 158.
- ^
Elton 1996, p. 160.
- ^
Southern & Dixon 1996, pp. 23-37.
- ^
Southern & Dixon 1996, p. 33.
- ^
Treadgold, Warren, Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081, p. 60, for the pay cancellation but not the role.
- ^
Southern & Dixon, 1996, p. 36
Sources
[
edit
]
- Primary sources
- Secondary sources
- M.C. Bishop and J.C.N. Coulston,
Roman Military Equipment, From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome
(Oxbow Books, 2006)
- Hugh Elton,
Warfare in Roman Europe AD 350-425
(Oxford University Press, 1996).
- Peter Heather,
The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History
, (MacMillan, 2005).
- Benjamin Isaac
,
The Limits of Empire: the Roman Army in the East
(Oxford University Press, revised ed. 1992).
- A.D. Lee,
War in Late Antiquity, A Social History
(Blackwell, 2007).
- Luttwak, Edward
(1976).
The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire
. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.
ISBN
0801821584
.
- Pat Southern
and
Karen R. Dixon
,
The Late Roman Army
(Routledge, 1996).
- Karl Strobel
, "Strategy and Army Structure between Septimius Severus and Constantine the Great," in Paul Erdkamp,
A Companion to the Roman Army
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).
- Warren Treadgold
,
Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081
(Stanford University Press, 1995).
- Michael Whitby, "Army and Society in the Late Roman World" in Paul Erdkamp,
A Companion to the Roman Army
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).