Comes Britanniarum

The Comes Britanniarum was a senior officer in the late Roman army of the West and owner of one of the highest command positions in the squad of late antique Britain the 4th to 5th century AD It seems to be doing but not to have acted on a constantly existing office and was probably not permanently occupied before 368. It may have been introduced already under Constantius Chlorus, after the reconquest of northern Gaul of Carausius. In the early 4th century Gratian the Elder, grandfather of the future emperor Gratian, mentioned as the incumbent. Probably Constantine III had. before his usurpation holds the office of supreme commander of the provincial forces.

Known by name incumbent:

• Gratian the Elder ( from 340 AD)
• Magnus Maximus ( late 4th century )
• Constantine (c. 410)

Definition and function

The remit of the Comes Britanniarum extended in contrast to his colleague, the

• Dux Britanniarum and the
• Comes Litoris Saxonici by Britanniam

Over the whole island and included the command of the elite organizations of the army movement ( comitatenses ). In the Notitia Dignitatum ( ND) the responsibility of the Comes Britanniarum is not in certain cities or castles, but symbolically as ' Castrum Britannia '. At the imperial court, he was a vir spectabilis to the highest rank class of the Imperial nobility.

Besides an extensive administrative staff ( officium ) of the Comes Britanniae following units had under his command:

• Three infantry units ( Commander in Chief was the magister peditum ): Victores luniores Britanniciani
• Primani luniores
• Secundani luniores

• Equites Catafractarii iuniores
• Equites scutarii Aureliaci
• Equites Honoriani Seniores ( a vexillation the comitatenses )
• Equites Stablesiani
• Equites Syri
• Equites Taifali

• The research sets the Britanniciani iuniores with the Victores iuniores equal, a unit of the auxilia Palatinae from which a cohort was stationed in Spain.

• The Secundani iuniores seem like the Secunda Britannica, in the list of Notitia Dignitatum the Master Peditum to be a unit of Legiones comitatenses, which is also found in Gaul, where it is called Secundani Britones. The Secunda in their name indicates that they probably were all once one unit. This unit could have been a vexillation the Legio II Augusta under the command of the Comes Litoris Saxonici by Britanniam in Rutupiae ( Richborough ) policy.

It is known that the identities of the infantry under the command of this is sometimes uncertain Comes in ND; this also applies to the cavalry: although the cavalry units are listed below the Comes Britanniarum command, they are originally from the army of Magister Equitum; this is especially true for the Equites Honoriani seniores. One unit of this name is also found in the field army of Gaul; they are probably one and the same.

The following units are much more difficult to assign:

• However, while the Equites catafractarii iunores in the LP not be registered under the Master Equitum as may be found in the list of Dux Britanniarum a prefect of the Equites catafractarii, so it is clear the presence of such a unit in Britain; it seems the army of Comes Britanniarum to have been assigned much later and were thus also their firm to their barracks.

• There are two units of Equites stablisiani ( Guard cavalry ), both originally recorded under the command of the Master Equitum, stationed in Africa, the Equites italicani stablisiani and the
• Equites stablisiani seniores.

The British unit of Equites is stablisiani maybe one of these two, but it's much more likely that their relatives were commanded by Praepositus equitum stablesianorum Gariannonensium, originally stood by Britanniam under the supreme command of the Comes Litoris Saxonici and then in the new field army of the Comes Britanniarum were detailed.

• Similarly, it appears in the subjects to be received scutarii Equites Aureliaci, it is likely to be the same unit as the men under the numerus maurorum Aurelianorum, a Limitaneieinheit commanded by a Praefectus under the Dux Britanniarum whose unit name is still visible from another epigraphic example known an inscription that dates back to the castle Burgh by Sans ( 253-258 ), which is a numerus Maur ( o) around Aur ( elionorum ) Valeriani Gallienia (ue ) is leading. The term, number, but ' does not distinguish whether it is legionaries or non - Legionaries to soldiers on foot or on horseback; it denotes only a number or greater accumulation of soldiers. Gallienus asked many units of cavalry in the 250cc new years on, this is obviously one of them.

• The Equites Syri far as their assignment is also a problem, because again, no such unit is listed in the LP, which is found also in the army of Magister Equitum; it could be one of the units, which is listed under the Dux Britanniarum. Kirkby Thore they interpreted as (corresponding to a reconstruction of the text) N ( umerus ) M ( ilitum ) S ( yorum ) S ( agittariorum ) ( archers ); horse archers would also be typical of a Syrian unit, although it is strange to find a unit of sagittarii in cavalry units that are still listed, see two British Limitaneikommandanten and are described as Equites; accordingly, they could be former members of an old Ala.

• Maybe they are given instead of the men under the command of Praefectus Numbers barcariorum Tigrisiensium (literally " ferrymen of the Tigris "). The original recruiting ground this unit was apparently a region on the Tigris, but was no longer considered part of Roman Syria. It is also strange that a unit should be recruited by mounted archers calculated from boatmen. Perhaps the Equites Syri but have nothing to do with such horse archers (if one interprets the copy in the Notitia so that the copyist may have confused Syria with Sagittarii ), in which case it could be Rider of the Ala- units be mentioned under the command of the Dux Britanniarum.

• The Equites Taifali might be one of the units that were also listed under the Dux Britanniarum (there are usually no written evidence for a different Taifaleneinheit in Britain); they are probably the same ones that are specified as the Equites Honoriani Taifali iunores under the command of the Master Equitum in Gaul.

The troops of the list Comes Britanniarum is so very confusing at first glance. His army was a relatively new facility and intended for UK units were probably contracted entirely from the Gallic army. We know that many of these units originally came under the command of the Master Equitum from Gaul and the first limitanei of Britanniarum Dux and Comes Litoris Saxonici were allocated by Britanniam, but then later sent back to Gaul (due to the local military precarious situation ) were.

Presumably so the soldiers were first incorporated by the limitanei in the British army in the field of Comes Britanniarum ( Pseudocomitatenses ), only to be again transferred back to the Gallic army. The service in the British army in the field may have been thus a kind of test for an appreciation of these forces (see comitatenses / limitanei ) and that between the period when the Notitia was compiled in its first version - so early in the 390er years - and their last update to 425 This also explains why some of the units that are listed in the Gallic army, at the same time also occur in the British army in the field.