Julian's Persian expedition; Which Legions and Cohorts Involved?

[Atheling]

Hi,

I'm fairly (re: very) new to Julian's Persian expedition and wanted to po a question if I may?

Do we know which Legions were involved in the expedition?

Same for the Cavalry units?

Is there a reference in any on the literature or online that is fairly accessible?

I'm trying to match up the Legions involved with the correct LBMS Transfers for the Middle Imperial Roman A&A Miniatures range

Any help in this matter be very much appreciated 

LBMS A&A Miniatures for their Middle Imperial Roman range: Can any of the following be matched to any of the Legions in the campaign?

[Duncan Head]

The main source for Julian's campaign is Ammianus, books XXIII-XXV; an English version online starts at https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/23*.html He mentions some units as he goes through, but doesn't give an order of battle.

Given that this campaign is in the mid-4th century, you are better off looking at Late Roman shield patterns, for which the main source is (of course) the Notitia Dignitatum - not the third-century shields of the "Middle" Imperial range. There has been major re-organization of the army in the interim, and changes in appearance.

But it occurs to me that you are looking at shields for the Middle Imperial army you mentioned in your previous post. Forget about Julian, then - wrong century.

I think that most of the shield decals you illustrate are fictional, and cannot be tied to specific units. One, the one with the standing Eastern god on a yellow field, is based on a surviving shield from Dura, but we don't know what unit it belonged to. See https://sword-site.com/thread/713/rectangular-oval-shields-dura-europos for illustrations of some of the Dura shields. The one with scorpions may be intended for Praetorian cavalry, as the scorpion is one of the Praetorians' badges.

See also http://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=4349.msg56236#msg56236 with some links.

[Atheling]

Hi Duncan, thanks for answering so promptly.

The main source for Julian's campaign is Ammianus, books XXIII-XXV; an English version online starts at https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/23*.html He mentions some units as he goes through, but doesn't give an order of battle.

The link above isn't working. Would it be Ok for me to ask you to post it again when you can find the time please?

Given that this campaign is in the mid-4th century, you are better off looking at Late Roman shield patterns, for which the main source is (of course) the Notitia Dignitatum - not the third-century shields of the "Middle" Imperial range. There has been major re-organization of the army in the interim, and changes in appearance.

But it occurs to me that you are looking at shields for the Middle Imperial army you mentioned in your previous post. Forget about Julian, then - wrong century.

This is a bit embarrassing as it appears that I'm in the wrong Century! Ahem, slight faux pas! 

I think that most of the shield decals you illustrate are fictional, and cannot be tied to specific units. One, the one with the standing Eastern god on a yellow field, is based on a surviving shield from Dura, but we don't know what unit it belonged to. See https://sword-site.com/thread/713/rectangular-oval-shields-dura-europos for illustrations of some of the Dura shields. The one with scorpions may be intended for Praetorian cavalry, as the scorpion is one of the Praetorians' badges.

Thanks again. It looks as though I'm going to have to be looking at Late Romans!

See also http://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=4349.msg56236#msg56236 with some links.
[/quote]

[Erpingham]

The link above isn't working. Would it be Ok for me to ask you to post it again when you can find the time please?

Fixed.  The automatic conversion to link had missed the final dot html.

[Atheling]

The link above isn't working. Would it be Ok for me to ask you to post it again when you can find the time please?

Fixed.  The automatic conversion to link had missed the final dot html.

Thanks. Very good of you 

[Duncan Head]

Thanks to Anthony for fixing the link.

Darrell, if you are interested in Late Roman shields, one good place to start is Luke Ueda-Sarson's pages on the Notitia Dignitatum, which is the main source for 4th-5th century shield patterns. See http://www.lukeuedasarson.com/NotitiaPatterns.html

But it can be a bit confusing. For example, in XXV.6.3, Ammianus mentions the Palatine legions of the Iovii and Victores killing some Persian elephants. By the somewhat later date of the Notitia, there are various units called Iovii and Victores, though they are auxilia rather than legions - see the alphabetical list at http://www.lukeuedasarson.com/NDalaphabetical.html#I and http://www.lukeuedasarson.com/NDalaphabetical.html#V

This article reckons Legio I Armeniaca was present - actually, the link to Luke's page on the shield-pattern gives the evidence.

[Atheling]

Thanks to Anthony for fixing the link.

Darrell, if you are interested in Late Roman shields, one good place to start is Luke Ueda-Sarson's pages on the Notitia Dignitatum, which is the main source for 4th-5th century shield patterns. See http://www.lukeuedasarson.com/NotitiaPatterns.html

But it can be a bit confusing. For example, in XXV.6.3, Ammianus mentions the Palatine legions of the Iovii and Victores killing some Persian elephants. By the somewhat later date of the Notitia, there are various units called Iovii and Victores, though they are auxilia rather than legions - see the alphabetical list at http://www.lukeuedasarson.com/NDalaphabetical.html#I and http://www.lukeuedasarson.com/NDalaphabetical.html#V

This article reckons Legio I Armeniaca was present - actually, the link to Luke's page on the shield-pattern gives the evidence.

Thanks again Duncan. Plenty to mull over and digest. Appreciated