The Evolution of the Roman Army Part IV — The AuxiliariesIn case you missed : Part I, Part II,

The Evolution of the Roman Army Part IV — The AuxiliariesIn case you missed : Part I, Part II, Part IIIIn the previous post I mentioned how the Marian Reforms were a result of a manpower shortage in the Roman Republic. The old system where only wealthy Roman’s could serve in the army resulted in a limited pool of recruits for the army, resulting in an army that was too small to defend and manage Rome’s newly acquired provinces and territories. The solution to this was to remove those wealth qualifications and recruit from the plebeian class.  However, as the Roman Republic transformed into the Roman Empire, there still was a grave manpower shortage as Romans only made up ten percent of all the free inhabitants of the empire (at the time a Roman citizen was legally defined as someone living in Italy). The other 90% were the peregrini, the non-Roman subjects of the empire who lived in the provinces.Under the reign of Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, starting in 30 BC the empire began recruiting military units from the peregrini called the auxilia.  In the days of the republic there were times when the Roman Army conscripted secondary units from non-Roman subjects, however Augustus officially formalized this process. Recruits for the auxilia were always volunteers who joined because after 25 years of service they could retire to a free plot of land provided by the state, a pension, and would be granted Roman citizenship, a privilege which would be passed down to their heirs. It wasn’t uncommon for auxiliary units were stationed in provinces other than their home provinces, just in case an auxiliary unit should decide to revolt against the empire. Better to have a unit of Gaulic auxiliaries revolt in Syria, than Gaul.The auxilia came in two forms, regular infantry and specialty units. Regular auxiliary infantry were equipped and trained like regular Roman infantry. A common myth is that auxiliary units were issued equipment that was inferior to regular Roman army equipment. This is untrue however, as archaeological evidence proves auxiliary units were issued fine quality equipment and trained to the same standards as Roman legionaries. Some auxiliary units were even issued the coveted lorica segmentata, the segmented plate armor that offered the most protection. Typically auxiliary infantrymen were paid less than their Roman counterparts. Auxiliary infantry units were organized into cohorts identical to Roman cohorts. However there was one big difference, auxiliary cohorts were never organized into larger units such as legions. This was for three reasons. First the auxiliaries’ role was to support the regular Roman Army. They were often attached to Roman legions in the field for extra support. Second, auxiliaries were often used to police the empire against bandits and raiders, and thus needed to act independently in small units. Finally, if the auxiliaries should revolt, better to have a cohort of 500 men revolt, rather than a legion of 5,000 men.The other types of Auxiliary units were specialty units, units who had specialty skills that the Romans themselves often lacked. Typically such units received more pay in order to encourage more skilled recruits to join the army. During the Roman Empire, the vast bulk of Roman cavalry were auxiliaries. Other units could include archers, slingers, scouts, and specialty light infantry. In the 2nd century AD there was even a mounted camel unit stationed in Syria. The Roman’s made use of whatever special skills they could find for their army.By the second and third century AD, the use of auxiliaries grew to the point that they made up 3/5th’s of the Roman Army. To be Continued… -- source link

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