Auxilia

Auxilarius, hunting wild animals. Roman mosaic from Villa del Casale near Piazza Armerina (Sicily). IV c. n e.

Auxilia ( lat.auxilia ) - an auxiliary unit of the ancient Roman army , recruited partly from vassal and allied peoples, partly from foreign mercenaries.

In the era of the Roman Republic, auxilarias were exhibited by the peoples subject to Rome, who did not enjoy the rights of Roman citizens and did not belong to the number of allied peoples. Their acquisition was carried out partly by hiring , and partly by the obligatory supply of warriors by the above-mentioned peoples. These soldiers were not part of the legions , but made up separate units - auxilia, and their number and organization were diverse, they were divided into cohorts . These forces included, for example: Cretan archers, Balearic slingers , Gallic cavalry. Under the emperor Augustus , the reform of the auxiliaries was carried out and they received new equipment and weapons, and also began to form cohorts of 500 people and a millionaire ^[1] . At this time, the service life was 25 years (in the Praetorian guard - 16 years, in the legion - 20), it was possible that it was free, but upon retirement, those who served received the rights of a Roman citizen . Under Trajan, the old detachments of auxilaria were replaced by new units. Auxiliary troops were usually replenished in those provinces in which they were deployed. During the reign of Diocletian and Constantine the Great, light infantrymen were called auxillaries. The total number of these units (riflemen and slingers) in the Eastern Empire reached 41, in the Western - 65, and they represented the police supplied by the border peoples.

In the 4th century, Auxilia Palatina (the imperial court auxiliary troops) - detachments of elite heavy infantry - became shock infantry units. Despite the name, they ranked higher than mobile legionnaires - committees in rank.