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The ''Primani'' was a '' legio palatina'' of the
The ''Primani'' was a '' legio palatina'' of the Late Roman army
In modern scholarship, the Later Roman Empire, "late" period of the Roman army begins with the accession of the Emperor Diocletian in AD 284, and ends in 480 with the death of Julius Nepos, being roughly coterminous with the Dominate. During th ...
, active in the 4th and 5th century.
History
They fought against theAlemanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...
under the ''Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...
'' Julian in the Battle of Strasbourg
The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the Western Roman army under Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount King Chnodomar. The battle took place near Str ...
(357). They were deployed in the middle of the second line of the Roman formation, with three ''auxilia palatina
''Auxilia palatina'' (: ''auxilium palatinum'') were infantry units of the Late Roman army, first raised by Constantine the Great, Constantine I as part of the new field army he created in about 325 AD.
Some of the senior and probably oldest of th ...
'' units on their left and other three, among which ''Regii
The ''Regii'' or ''Reges'' was a Germanic ''auxilia palatina'' (light infantry) unit of the Late Roman army, active between the 4th and the 5th century. There was also a '' legio comitatensis'' with the same name. The Regii had its main period of a ...
'' and '' Batavi'', on their right. During the battle, the Roman first line broke under the pressure of the Alamannic infantry, which pushed on the ''Primani''. The soldiers resisted and counter-attacked, causing the enemy to flee.
The ''Notitia Dignitatum
The (Latin for 'List of all dignities and administrations both civil and military') is a document of the Late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very ...
'', a document describing civil and military offices in the Western Roman Empire around 420 and in the Eastern Roman Empire in 395 circa, records the existence of the ''Primani iuniores'' under the command of the ''comes Britanniarum
The (Latin for "Count of the Britains") was a military post in Roman Britain with command over the mobile field army from the mid-4th century onwards. It is listed in the List of Offices as being one of the three commands in Britain, along wit ...
'', therefore within the ''comitatus
Comitatus may refer to:
*Comitatus (warband), a Germanic warband who follow a leader
* ''Comitatus'', the office of a Roman or Frankish comes, translated as count.
* ''Comitatus'', translated as county, a territory such as governed by medieval cou ...
'' of the ''Magister peditum
(Latin for "master of soldiers"; : ) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the e ...
'' of Gaul, and that of the ''Primani'' under the army of the second ''magister militum praesentalis
(Latin for "master of soldiers"; : ) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the e ...
'' of the East.''Notitia dignitatum, pars Orientalis'', vi.
Notes