Cohors prima Aquitanorum ("1st Cohort of Aquitani") was a

Roman auxiliary The (; ) were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen Roman legion, legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 27 BC. By the 2nd century, the contained the same number of infantry as the ...

infantry regiment. It was probably originally raised in

Gallia Aquitania Gallia Aquitania (, ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a list of Roman provinces, province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France and the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Val d'Aran in northeast Spain, wher ...

in the reign of founder-emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

after the revolt of the

Aquitani The Aquitani were a tribe that lived in the region between the Pyrenees, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Garonne, in present-day southwestern France in the 1st century BC. The Romans dubbed this region '' Gallia Aquitania''. Classical authors suc ...

was suppressed in 26 BC.Holder (1980) 111 Unlike most

Gauls The Gauls (; , ''Galátai'') were a group of Celts, Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman Gaul, Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). Th ...

, the Aquitani were not Celtic-speaking but spoke Aquitanian, a now extinct non

Indo-European language The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia ( ...

closely related to

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

. There is scholarly controversy about whether there were one or two infantry ''cohortes'' called I Aquitanorum. This is because a regiment of that name is repeatedly attested both in

Germania Superior Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesont ...

and

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

. Holder sees them as two separate units, one of which carried the title ''veterana'' and was permanently based in Germania Sup., the other in Britannia. Spaul considers it more likely there was a single unit, which alternated between the two provinces, although this was unusual for auxiliary regiments. Holder's view is supported by the fact that none of the British inscriptions carry the title ''veterana'', whereas several of the German ones do, and so appears more likely. Holder is followed here: this article concerns the unit stationed in Britannia. For the unit in Germania Superior see cohors I Aquitanorum veterana. The regiment was probably stationed on the Rhine frontier from an early stage. It first appears in the datable epigraphic record in 82 AD in

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

, if this record does not relate to its namesake unit. The regiment is first attested in Britannia in 122, probably transferred to the island along with several other regiments to help in the construction of

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

(122–32). The regiment remained in Britain into the 4th century, as it left an inscription in the

Saxon Shore The Saxon Shore () was a military command of the Late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the English Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the " Count of the Saxon Shore". In the ...

fort of

Branodunum Branodunum was an ancient Roman fort to the east of the modern English village of Brancaster in Norfolk. Name ''Branodunum'' is the Latinization of ''*Branodunon'', a Celtic compound based on ''brano-'' "raven" and ''dunon'' "closed area, fo ...

(

Brancaster Brancaster is a village and civil parish on the north coast of the English county Norfolk. The civil parish of Brancaster comprises Brancaster itself, together with Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale. The three villages form a more or le ...

, Norfolk). The regiments is attested in the following Roman forts in Britain: Bakewell, Brancaster (4th century), Brough-on-Noe (158), Carrawburgh.Spaul (2000) 142 Although a few names of ''praefecti'' (commanders) of the regiment have been preserved, none have a certain origin. One ''miles'' (common soldier) has a partially preserved origin "Cam-". This may be

Camulodunum Camulodunum ( ; ), the Roman Empire, Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important Castra, castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "wikt:strapline, strapline" in the 1960s ...

(Colchester).

Citations

{{reflist

References

* Holder, Paul ''Studies in the Auxilia of the Roman Army'' (1980) * Holder, Paul ''Auxiliary Deployment in the Reign of Hadrian'' (2003) * Spaul, John ''COHORS 2'' (2000) Military of ancient Rome Auxiliary infantry units of ancient Rome

See also

Citations

References