Cohors quinta Delmatarum ("5th Cohort of Dalmatae") was a

Roman auxiliary The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of inf ...

infantry unit. It is named after the

Dalmatae The Delmatae, alternatively Dalmatæ, during the Roman period, were a group of Illyrian tribes in Dalmatia, contemporary southern Croatia and western Bosnia and Herzegovina. The region of Dalmatia takes its name from the tribe. The Delmatae ap ...

, an

Illyrian Illyrian may refer to: *Illyria, the historical region on the Balkan Peninsula **Illyrians, an ancient tribe inhabiting Illyria **Illyrian languages, languages of ancient Illyrian tribes * Illyrian (South Slavic), a common name for 17th to 19th cen ...

-speaking tribe that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountain range of the eponymous

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, stre ...

. The ancient geographer Strabo describes these mountains as extremely rugged, and the Dalmatae as backward and warlike. He claims that they did not use money long after their neighbours adopted it and that they "made war on the Romans for a long time". He also criticises the Dalmatae, a nation of pastoralists, for turning fertile plains into sheep pasture. Indeed, the name of the tribe itself is believed to mean "shepherds", derived from the Illyrian word ''delme'' ("sheep"). The final time this people fought against Rome was in the

Illyrian revolt The (Latin for 'War of the Batos') was a military conflict fought in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples of the two regions of Illyricum, Dalmatia and Pannonia, revolted against the Roma ...

of 6–9 AD. The revolt was started by Dalmatae auxiliary forces and soon spread all over

and

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

. The resulting war was described by the Roman writer

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

as the most difficult faced by Rome since the

Punic Wars The Punic Wars were a series of wars between 264 and 146BC fought between Rome and Carthage. Three conflicts between these states took place on both land and sea across the western Mediterranean region and involved a total of forty-three ye ...

two centuries earlier. But after the war, the Dalmatae became a loyal and important source of recruits for the

Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...

. According to Holder, a total of 12 ''cohortes Delmatarum'' appear to have been raised after the suppression of the Illyrian revolt in two series, of 7 and 5 respectively. All these units were in existence by the time of emperor Claudius (r. 41-54)Holder (1980) 112 Of these, 9 appear to have survived into the 2nd century. The regiment was probably raised by founder-emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

(r. 30BC-14AD) after 9 AD. It was certainly in existence by the time of Claudius (r. 41-54). It is unclear why two ''cohortes Delmatarum'' were given the same number ''V'': this regiment and

cohors V Delmatarum c.R. Cohors quinta Delmatarum civium Romanorum ("5th Cohort of Dalmatae Roman citizens") was a Roman auxiliary infantry regiment. It is named after the Dalmatae (or ''Delmatae''), an Illyrian-speaking tribe that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountai ...

Mauretania Tingitana Mauretania Tingitana (Latin for " Tangerine Mauretania") was a Roman province, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco. The territory stretched from the northern peninsula opposite Gibraltar, to Sala Colonia (or Chell ...

). Spaul suggests the regiment in Mauretania may be the

cohors I Liburnorum A cohort (from the Latin ''cohors'', plural ''cohortes'', see wikt:cohors for full inflection table) was a standard tactical military unit of a Roman legion. Although the standard size changed with time and situation, it was generally compose ...

renamed.Spaul (2000) 309 The regiment first appears in the datable epigraphic record in 74 AD in

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north ...

(prob. Superior). It was still 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 ('' Vesontio ...

in 185, the time of its last datable inscription.Holder (2003) 137 The regiment's tile stamp has been found at the Roman fort of

Böckingen Heilbronn () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Middle Ages, it developed into an important trading centre. ...

and epitaphs at Arnsburg,

Moguntiacum Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Mainz ...

and

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

. The names of 1 ''praefectus'' (regimental commander) and 2 ''

centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 le ...

es'' (infantry officers) are preserved, without origins. The names of 3 ''caligati'' (common soldiers) are also preserved, two of whom were Illyrians.

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) Auxiliary infantry units of ancient Rome Dalmatia (Roman province) Germania Superior

See also

Citations

References