Roman auxilia cavalry

 Prior to the Republican period, Rome depended on their non-citizen allies to provide, train, and equip cavalry known as the Foederati. But, when the Republic transitioned into the Empire, Augustus created a regular Auxilia corps. Although still non-citizens, these troops were now a regular part of the Roman army that were paid and trained by the Roman State. A typical cavalryman of an ala would be paid 20 percent more than a typical citizen legionary. Roman auxilia cavalry were usually heavily armored in mail and armed with a short lance, javelins, the spatha long sword, and sometimes bows for specialist horse archer units. These men primarily served as medium missile cavalry for flanking, scouting, skirmish, and pursuit.  Riders and horses were housed together in the same barracks.

Structurally, a cavalry alae of the type ala quingenaria consisted of 480 horseman (ideally) divided into 16 turnmae of 30  men each under a decurio. The ala milliaria, however, contained 1008 horseman divided into 24 turmae of 42 men each.  The overall commander of either type was always a praefectus alae of equestrian rank.

Although commanders of auxilia infantry were appointed by the governors of the provinces in which they served, praefectus alae were appointed directly by the emperor in Rome.  In the middle of the second century another rank was added, the prefectus alae milliariae.  This rank, seldom awarded, was the highest rank an equestrian could attain. It paved the way for a procuratorship, managing the financial administration of an entire province.

From the late 1st century CE onward, a new type of non-citizen force arose in the provinces, the numeri. Numeri, consisting of 100-200 guard and reconnaissance units, were stationed along fixed lengths of frontier and were not sent outside their assigned province on campaign.  Mounted units of numeri were referred to as exploratio and were used to explore and secure areas beyond the frontiers, particularly in remote forest regions such as the Dacian limes.

Technical Reference: Army of the Roman Emperors: Archaeology and History by Thomas Fischer © 2019.

Roman parade helmet from the vicus of Theilenhofen, Bavaria 150-200 CE.  It bears the names of its owners and their troop units: (Turma) PATERCLIANA ATTONIS; behind the left ear protection: (Turma) ATAVLVANI FL(avi) FLAVIANI; on the right side IVLIA ALIQAN; on the forehead: ALIQANDI COHOR(tis) III BRACARAV(gustanorum Turma) NONI.  Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Pirkheimer. 

Image:  Much less ornate Type "B" Roman auxiliary cavalry helmet, 1st century CE, at the British Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Michel wal.  

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The Vermand Treasure

The Vermand Treasure was discovered in the last quarter of the nineteenth century by Benoni Lelaurain.  It was recovered from a cemetery near the modern village of Vermand, which is located beside the Celtic oppidum of Viromandui.  In the 3rd century CE, Vermand served as a castra hiberna within the network of provincial Roman border defenses. It was also a thriving glass production center and home to a large number of refugees following the destruction of Augusta Viromanduorum in the late 3rd century by barabarian invaders.

The treasure was found in one of the few military burials in the cemetery.  However, grave robbers had previously plundered the burial, cracked the stone sarcophagus and scattered the contents. Perhaps they had been interrupted in their violation of the grave as six objects including this gilt silver spear shaft mount were left behind.  Others, documented in the excavation report, remained as well but it is thought the excavator's workmen pilfered the hilt of a sword and the majority of objects, held at the the Musée Lécuyer in St.  Quentin "disappeared" by the end of World War I.  These objects included an iron battle-ax head, ten small javelin heads, a lance head of iron inlaid with silver and copper, two small belt buckles with ferrets, an oval silver plaque, fragments of a sword blade and one or two more small bronze objects.

The grave was likely that of an auxiliary soldier.  The six-pointed interlaced star seen on the mount was not at that time a Jewish symbol.  It appears as a decorative motif in both Roman and Germanic art.

The objects were originally thought to be Merovingian artifacts dating from the 4th - 7th centuries but were reevaluated by The Metropolitan Museum of Art's curator of medieval art and reclassified as late Roman dating to the second half of the 4th century CE.

Image: Gilt silver (niello) mount for a spear shaft from the Vermand Treasure 400 CE courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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