Cohors II Gallorum veterana equitata

Cohors II Gallorum veterana equitata
Roman infantry helmet (late 1st c.)
Active	Not later than AD 14 to at least 244
Country	Roman Empire
Type	Roman auxiliary cohort
Role	infantry/cavalry
Size	600 men (480 infantry, 120 cavalry)
Garrison/HQ	Moesia Inferior 99-106; Mauretania Caesariensis 107; Britannia 122-249
Engagements	prob. Dacian Wars (99-106)

Cohors secunda Gallorum veterana equitata ("2nd part-mounted veteran Cohort of Gauls") was a Roman auxiliary mixed infantry and cavalry regiment.

The regiment was probably constituted under Augustus, the founder of the Roman empire (r. 30 BC - AD 14). It was originally recruited from natives of Gallia Lugdunensis (northern/central France).^[1]

The unit is first attested in the datable epigraphic record in AD 99 in Moesia Inferior (N. Bulgaria), from where it probably took part in the emperor Trajan's Dacian Wars (101-6). It was briefly stationed in Mauretania Caesariensis (N Algeria), where it is attested for 107. From at least 122 until its last known attestation of 244-9, it was in Britannia, and thus saw the building of Hadrian's Wall (122-32).

In Britannia, the regiment garrisoned, from 178 at the latest, the fort at Old Penrith (Cumbria).^[2]

The reason for its unusual title of veterana, which only appears in an inscription dated 178, is unclear. It has been suggested that the title indicates some form of seniority over other units in the province.

The full names of 4 praefecti (commanders) of the regiment are known, all from the 2nd century. Three appear to have been northern Italians and one was from Nicomedia in Bithynia. In addition, we have the name of a single pedes (ranker foot-soldier), a Mysian from the province of Asia (99 AD).^[3] There is also attested (178) a certain Dacus, an eques (ranker cavalryman). The name, which simply means "the Dacian" was probably adopted by him because his native Dacian name was unpronounceable for Romans.

Citations

1. ^ Holder (1980) 111
2. ^ Spaul (2000) 157
3. ^ Spaul (2000) 158

References

• Holder, Paul Studies in the Auxilia of the Roman Army (1980)
• Spaul, John COHORS 2 (2000)

See also

• Roman auxiliaries
• List of Roman auxiliary regiments