 RomanMilitary Glossary |
The Petrian Wing took its name from Titus Pomponius Petra, who was probably the original commander of the unit shortly after it was raised from the tribes of central Gaul at the turn of the first century AD. The unit is recorded at Moguntiacum (Mainz, Germany) in 56, and is known to have fought for Vitellius in 69 (vide infra).
"... since a single squadron of horse could not protect the broadest part of Italy, he¹ sent in advance infantry, made up of Gauls, Lusitanians, and Britons, and some German detachments with the squadron of Petra's Horse, while he himself delayed a little ..." (Tacitus Histories I.lxx)
"Meantime Claudius Sagitta, prefect of Petra's Horse, by a fortunate voyage, arrived before the centurion Papirius who had been dispatched by Mucianus ..." (Tacitus Histories IV.xlix)
The unit first arrived in Britain in the train of governor Petillius Cerealis in 71, and at this time was an ala quingenaria, a nominal five-hundred troopers strong. The ala was moved to Carlisle sometime during the reign of Trajan (98-117), by which time it had become milliaria, one-thousand strong. They were moved to a new fort at Stanwix when Hadrian's Wall was here replaced in stone (c.AD130), and were stationed there for the remainder of Roman rule in Britain.
Likely first stationed in Britain during the reign of Domitian (AD81-96), certainly by the time of Trajan (98). Possibly stationed at Benwell in 175, certainly by 205-208. A tile bearing the unit's stamp found at Wallsend, and the tombstone of a freedman at South Shields do not prove that the ala was ever stationed at either of those places. The unit resided at Benwell until the end of Roman rule in Britain.
First attested in Britain in AD122 (CILXVI.69), and recorded at Ribchester on an undated altar to the Mother Goddesses, which is probably of the second century. By 181 they were stationed at Chesters on Hadrian's Wall, and there they remained, until the end of Roman occupation in Britain. The appearance of a third century tombstone of a veteran at Lincoln is no evidence that the unit were ever posted there.
Possibly at Lancaster in the late 1st century, first identified at Chesters on Hadrian's Wall during Hadrianic period. The unit was likely removed from chesters after the accession of Pius (AD138) and campaigned somewhere in Scotland, the next known record of the unit being at Old Carlisle in 188, where it stayed until at least 242. The altar at Carlisle recording a victory won by the unit, probably belongs to the period when they were stationed nearby at Old Carlisle. The fate of this unit is unknown, but it may have been renamed Ala Augusta Gordia(na), also recorded at Old Carlisle.
The unit was named after a former commander, Julius Indus, sometime after AD21. The only record of this ala in Britain is the tombstone of an eques from Cirencester, undated, but placed on stylistic grounds in the late first century (c.AD70+). It is very likely that this unit were a part of the initial Claudian invasion army, though not proven. It is possible that they left the island with Agricola in 84, they had certainly gone by the turn of the second century, as they are recorded on a diploma in Lower Germany in 98, and were moved to Upper Germany by 134.
Although originally drafted from the various Gallic tribes, this unit were apparently bolstered by a large contingent of Picentine horsemen from the Adriatic region of central Italy. They are attested in Upper Germany on Diplomata issued in AD74 and 82. The only record of this unit in Britain is an altar dedicated by the prefect Candidus, from the ruins of the Severan bathhouse at Malton. The altarstone may have been relocated from a previous structure on the site. The later history of the unit is unknown.
This ala served in Upper Germany until the civil war in 69, where they were employed by the emperor Vitellius in his futile bid for supremacy. After serving for a short time in Italy, they were shipped to Britain sometime in the seventies, possibly in the train of Petillius Cerialis as early as 71.
"... At Ateste¹ they heard that three cohorts of the Vitellian forces and the squadron of cavalry called Sebosian had occupied Forum Alieni² and built a bridge over the stream there. ..." (Tacitus Histories III.vi)
The first record of this regiments service in Britain aside from diplomata is an Agricolan writing tablet from Carlisle. Attested on an inscription recording restoration work on the bathhouse and basilica at Lancaster, during the Gallic empire of Postumous. The early third century altar from Weardale which records the hunting exploits of a commander of the unit, may have been placed when on secondment at the nearby Binchester fort, although the unit are known to have been active in the north during the third century, as shown by stamped tiles from Brough-under-Stainmoor.
It is possible that this unit was formed from another regiment, renamed in honour of the emperor Maximian (AD286-305), who adopted the title 'Herculius' soon after his accession in 286. The only record of this units name is the Olenacum entry in the Notitia Dignitatum, which has been tentatively identified with Elslack in Yorkshire.
It is very likely that this unit was named after a former commander, one Sabinus, whose exact identity, however, remains unknown. The only epigraphic evidence of this unit in Britain is a tombstone at Halton Chesters on Hadrian's Wall, which has been dated to the first half of the third century; they were stationed there for the remainder of Roman rule. Lead seals identifing the unit, from South Shields and Corbridge, were probably produced while the unit was at Halton Chesters.
Possibly named after their city of origin rather than a former commander, they are recorded in Britain only on a military diploma naming men discharged from the unit during a ceremony performed at the Caerleon legionary fortress in South Wales; it is possible that the regiment were stationed somewhere in Wales or south-east Britain at the time. The regiment had been transferred to Noricum by 130 and was shortly thereafter increased to milliary size, remaining on station by the Danube until the end of Roman rule.
This unit is attested only on two undated inscriptions from Ribchester. The Roman historian Cassius Dio speaks of 5,500 Sarmatian hostages taken from their Hungarian homelands in AD175 and sent to Britain (Dio History LXXXI.xvi); some of these were apparently formed into the Ala Sarmatarum and stationed at the Ribchester fort.
As the ala became depleted - through retirement mostly - its numbers were not replenished it seems, and its status changed to that of a numerus 'company' by 222-35, and thence to a lowly cuneus 'wedge' by the end of the fourth century. The tile stamped BSAR found at Catterick, may have connections with this unit in one of its several incarnations. During its entire lifetime the unit was stationed at Ribchester in Britain, and uniquely allowed to change its military classification.
Very likely raised during the AD30's from their homelands in southern Romania and Bulgaria, and then posted to Germany, from where they were gleaned to bolster the invasion army of Claudius in 43. Considering the fate of the hapless Ninth Legion (not to mention the thriving towns of Colchester, St. Albans and London) during the Boudiccan revolt, it is possible that the unit had already been moved elsewhere by 61, and it may be significant they are next identified at Cirencester immediately afterwards. The military withdrew from Cirencester in the late 70's, and it is possible that the unit were kept in reserve in South Wales until their withdrawal to Lower Germany by the mid-second century, where they apparently were to remain.
The Tungri were a tribe inhabiting the western Ardennes in central Europe. The only concrete evidence for the presence of this unit in Britain is an undated altar to Hercules unearthed at Mumrills on the Antonine Wall, where they were probably the first garrison. The only other records of this regiments service in Britain are on military diplomata from Chester and York. Another ala Tungrorum suffixed Frontoniana is known to have been stationed on the Danube.
The Vetonnes were a Hispanic tribe from the Roman province of Lusitania, who inhabited the upper Tagus valley to the immediate south of Salamanca in western Spain. This unit is first attested in Britain on the tombstone of one Lucius Vitellius Tancinus, a trooper in the ala from Bath. The tombstone of Candidus, another trooper from Brecon Gaer in south Wales, has been dated on stylistic grounds to the late-first / early-second centuries, and suggest that they were the first garrison unit following its construction in the mid-70's. By the late-second century the regiment had been moved to Bowes, and other undated inscriptions from Binchester, probably dating from the early-third century, attest their continued presence in the north of England.
This unit was stationed in Lower Germany until the beginning of the second century AD when it was apparently moved to Britain in the train of emperor Hadrian, during his visit to the islands in 122. The only concrete evidence of this unit is at Newstead in Scotland, very likely during the Antonine occupation of the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. Undated lead seals identifying this unit have been found at Leicester and South-Shields, but cannot be taken as proof of occupation at either fort.
This page owes a great deal to the superbly researched article by M.G. Jarrett Non-legionary troops in Roman Britain: Part One, The Units (Britannia Volume XXV, 1994, pp.35-77), the definitive list of British auxiliary units. 
