Spaul John. Cohors²: The Evidence for and a Short History of the Auxiliary Infantry Units of the Imperial Roman Army

Archaeopress, 2000. — 572 p.Cohortes - these all-infantry units were modelled on the cohorts of the legions, with the same officers and sub-units. They were typically considered to be more of a light infantry than proper legionaries. Some auxiliaries may however have been equipped with the lorica segmentata, the most sophisticated legionary body-armour, although scholars dispute this. There is no evidence that auxiliary infantry fought in a looser order than legionaries. It appears that in a set-piece battle-line, auxiliary infantry would normally be stationed on the flanks, with legionary infantry holding the centre e.g. as in the Battle of Watling Street (CE 60), the final defeat of the rebel Britons under queen Boudicca. This was a tradition inherited from the Republic, when the precursors of auxiliary cohortes, the Latin alae, occupied the same position in the line. The flanks of the line required equal, if not greater, skill to hold as the centre. John Spaul continues his up-dating of Conrad Cichorius' articles in Real-encyclopädie der Altertumswissenschaft with this complete documentation of the epigraphic sources for cohorts of the Roman army. Contents: Cohortes Ciuium Romanorum; Cohortes Provinciae Sardiniae, Lusitaniae, Hispaniae, Galliae, Britanniae, Germaniae, Alpium, Raetiae & Norici, Dalmatiae, Pannoniae, Moesiae & Macedoniae, Senatus, Orientis, Australia, Aliae & Alienae. The catalogue is followed by a broad discussion of cohorts and their deployment around the Roman Empire.