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June 08, 2018, 10:06 AM
#1
Who served in the Legions 3rd century and onwards?
So, I'm listening to Mike Duncans history of Rome, and in episode 100 he said that after emperor Severus disbanded and reorganized the Praetorian guard, the era of Italian and Latin legions practically ended, and that for some time the Legions along the Rhine and in the east (so most of the Legions, really) had already consisted of Provincials, such as Gauls, Germans and North Africans.
Did the Roman army truly become such a non-Italian entity? Were there no or few ethnic "Romans" serving in the Legions in mid to late Imperial period? And if so, how was the loyalty of these legionnaires maintained? Did the Germans within the empire see themselves as Romans?
I've known there were strong Provincial, especially Gallic and Hispanic elements in the Legions already in the late Republican/ early Imperial period, but such a complete shift is hard for me to picture.
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June 10, 2018, 03:39 PM
#2
Re: Who served in the Legions 3rd century and onwards?
Actually the majority were from the Danube regions (Illyrians and Thracians).
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June 11, 2018, 06:33 AM
#3
Re: Who served in the Legions 3rd century and onwards?
During the first century most of the legions were already composed of provincials citizens. That is roman citizen living outside Italy. They were either migrants, descendant of migrants or less often locals who received the roman citizenship.
Progressively the sons of legionaries became an important recruitment pool. If I remember right Severus made it obligatory for legionaries' sons to serve the army too. Simultaneously he improved the soldiers' living condition and allowed them to have legal union.
The edict of Caracalla made most inhabitant of the empire roman citizens. However it hardly affected the army as since the republican days, more than half of the army was composed of non roman citizens.
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