Friday, November 14, 2025
Thursday, November 13, 2025
GEOFFREY D. TULLY ON VEXILLATIONS OF THE LEGIO VI VICTRIX IN BRITAIN AND ELSEWHERE
The Arm[...]s lacuna as Armoricos or Armenios
The Arm[...]s lacuna as armed tribes (Arthurian battles)
Oddly enough, when considering whether or not L. Artorius Castus led his legions or legionary vexillations inside or outside of Britain, to my knowledge no one has bothered to check whether or not we have a record of such detachments being used externally.
When I posed this question to Lawrence Keppie (Professor Emeritus of Roman History and Archaeology and retired Senior Curator of Archaeology, History, and Ethnography at the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, author of Understanding Roman Inscriptions and The Legacy of Rome: Scotland’s Roman Remains), he kindly referred me to the standard work on Roman vexillations by Geoffrey D. Tully:
Vexillatio : temporary units and special commands of the Roman army 211 BC-AD 268 (University of Queensland, 2002)
Although this work was not available to me, I was able to write to Tully. When I asked him whether we knew of vexillations from the Legio VI Victrix being sent outside the province, he responded as follows:
"I've just done a search of my catalogue of evidence for vexillations (last updated in 2004!). This is work which I did not submit, owing to time constraints as it would have made my PhD thesis two volumes. Alas, I can find no example of vexillations of VI Victrix outside Britain after AD 119. All fifteen examples I could find relate to Britain; most from the Antonine Wall.
That might seem disappointing, but it does support the frequently expressed notion that the legion was stationed to cover the North, and presumably its men could not be spared for duties elsewhere. That would make perfect sense."
Now, I would remind my readers that the Sixth Legion was permanently stationed at York in AD 122.
Thus, any argument that insists L. Artorius Castus led three legionary detachments either to Armorica or Armenia must grapple with the fact that we have no evidence whatsoever - aside from what we may ascribe hypothetically to the Castus inscription itself, of course - that any detachments from the Sixth were sent anywhere other than to Hadrian's Wall and to points farther north.
It has often been remarked that the 1500 spearmen who went to Rome during the reign of Commodus may have been composed of three 500 men detachments drawn from each of the British legions. But according to Dio's account, this force never saw action. It is probable (as detailed in John S. McHugh's THE EMPEROR COMMODUS) that the spearmen were merely a protective escort for removed senatorial legates heading back to Rome. The size of the escort may have been required because the Continent was currently in the grips of the Deserters' War. We also have no idea which legion or legions the 1500 spearmen were drawn from (if, indeed, they were legionary troops; they could just as well have been auxiliaries).
In balance, I think Tully's observation lends support to the idea that Castus led his legionary force into northern Britain, and not to some destination outside of the province.
Thursday, November 6, 2025
ARMATAS GENTES, GENTIUM PEREGRINARUM: MORE SUPPORT FOR MY PROPOSED READING OF THE CASTUS STONE
I've recently run across an inscription whose reading lends support to the possibility that the ARM[...]S lacuna of the L. Artorius Castus memorial stone can be reconstructed ARM(ATAS) GENTES.
The inscription in question concerns one L. Valerius Valerianus. A fair amount of literature has been devoted to the career of this man. See
Transcription:
L(ucio) Valerio Valeriano p[roc(uratori) provin(ciae)] / Syr(iae) Palaest(inae) provin(ciae) [---] / praeposito summ(a)e [feliciss(imae) exped(itionis)] / Mesopotamenae adv[ersus Arabes] / praepos(ito) vexil(lationis) feliciss(imae) [expedit(ionis)] / urbic(ae) itemq(ue) Asianae [adversus] / hostes publicos pr[aep(osito) eq(uitum) gentium] / peregrinarum adver[sus ---] / proc(uratori) Cypri praef(ecto) a[lae I Hispan(orum)] / Campagonum in Dac[ia trib(uno) c(o)hort(is) I] / miliariae Hemese[norum c(ivium) R(omanorum) in] / Pannonia praef(ecto) c(o)ho[rt(is) --- in] / Pannonia / Mevius Romanus |(centurio) [leg(ionis) VI ferr(atae)] / f(idelis) c(onstantis) Antoninianae [strator] / eius viro i[ncompara]/bili // Imp(eratori) [Cae]s(ari) C(aio) Valerio / D[io]cletiano / [P(io) F(elici)] Invic(to) Aug(usto) / [---] Cleme(n)s v(ir) p(erfectissimus) / [p]roc(urator) d(evotus) n(umini) m(aiestati)q(ue) e(ius)
Majuscle:
L VALERIO VALERIANO P[ ]
SYR PALAEST PROVIN [ ]
PRAEPOSITO SVMME [ ]
MESOPOTAMENAE ADV[ ]
PRAEPOS VEXIL FELICISS [ ]
VRBIC ITEMQ ASIANAE [ ]
HOSTES PVBLICOS PR[ ]
PEREGRINARVM ADVER[ ]
PROC CYPRI PRAEF A[ ]
CAMPAGONVM IN DAC[ ]
MILIARIAE HEMESE[ ]
PANNONIA PRAEF CHO[ ]
PANNONIA
MEVIVS ROMANVS | [ ]
F C ANTONINIANAE [ ]
EIVS VIRO I[ ]
BILI
IMP [ ]S C VALERIO
D[ ]CLETIANO
[ ] INVIC AVG
[ ] CLEMES V P
[ ]ROC D N MQ E
Chronological Data:
212 AD – 220 AD
The most recent and best treatment is by the noted Roman military scholar Michael A. Speidel. He concluded as follows concerning an unusual passage in this inscription:
Other difficulties of Valerianus' inscription also vanish with our new reading.
Above all, the events appear now to be recorded in the correct chronological
order. Since Valerianus' function in the Mesopotamian campaign is already
described, he would have been praepositus equitum gentium peregrinarum in
another war, perhaps not too long before A.D. 193.
[Valerius Valerianus in Charge of Septimius Severus' Mesopotamian Campaign
M. P. Speidel
Classical Philology, Vol. 80, No. 4 (Oct., 1985), pp. 321-326]
It's this praepositus equitum gentium peregrinarum that we need to take a look at more closely. The phrase concludes with adver[sus ---], giving us "commander of cavalry against foreign nations."
"Peregrinorum" is the genitive plural form of the Latin adjective "peregrinus," meaning "foreign," "strange," or "alien". It is used to describe something "of the foreigners" or "of the strangers". We may liken this to the adjective + noun formation ARMATAS GENTES, 'armed nations/peoples/tribes.'
The phrase gentium peregrinarum is a vague designation. Not as vague, it is true, as the ARMATOS proposed by Dr. Linda A. Malcor for the ARM[...]S lacuna. After all, we do know he is fighting against foreign nations. Not just nations. I suppose if we were to amend ARMATOS by calling them foreign armed men/soldiers we might be able to get away with that. At least then we know that they aren't our soldiers.
But I do think that if we can have a commander of cavalry against foreign nations, then we can allow for a dux (also commander) of three British legions (or large legionary vexillations, or the entire Sixth Legion plus generous detachments from the other two) against armed tribes.
And, indeed, the context of the L. Valerius Valerianus praepositus is a great deal more ambiguous than that of the dux of a prefect of the Sixth in northern England who is utilizing purely British legionaries.
Sunday, November 2, 2025
More Epigraphers on a Severan Date for the Castus Stone
As I get more opinions coming in, I will add them to this post...
The following scholars were asked if the PRAEFF and LEGG abbreviations in the L. Artorius Castus memorial inscription indicated that it was likely carved in the Severan period:
"Yes, that seems correct. The doubling of letters to indicate plurality (as later AUGGGG = 4 Augusti) perhaps first shows up in late 2nd c., but only fully takes form in the early 3rd. -- i.e. Severan."
John Bodel
W. Duncan MacMillan II Professor of Classics, Professor of History
https://vivo.brown.edu/display/jbodel
"Searching for LEGG in the EDCS gives only 15 results, which isn’t much of a sample, though there are a reasonable number of PRAEFF stones. It’s also worth checking the text of the EDCS entries carefully, as more of them can be dated than is encoded in the dating field. These do all look likely to be third century or later."
Dr. Hugh Elton, Ancient Greek and Roman Studies
Lady Eaton College, Trent University, 1600 Westbank Drive, Peterborough, ON, K9L 0G2, CANADA
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