''Auxilia palatina'' (sing. ''auxilium palatinum'') were infantry units of the Late Roman army, first raised by

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

as part of the new field army he created in about 325 AD. Some of the senior and probably oldest of these units had special names such as ''

Cornuti The ''Cornuti'' ("horned") was an '' auxilia palatina'' unit of the Late Roman army, active in the 4th and 5th century. It was probably related to the ''Cornuti seniores'' and the ''Cornuti iuniores''. History According to some scholars, they a ...

'' or '' Brachiati''; others were named after the tribes from which they were recruited (many of these in eastern Gaul, or among the German barbarians). These units all became palatine units when a distinction was drawn between ''

palatina The ''palatini'' (Latin for "palace troops") were elite units of the Late Roman army mostly attached to the ''comitatus praesentales'', or imperial escort armies. In the elaborate hierarchy of troop-grades, the ''palatini'' ranked below the ''scho ...

'' and the remainder of the ''

comitatenses The comitatenses and later the palatini were the units of the field armies of the late Roman Empire. They were the soldiers that replaced the legionaries, who had formed the backbone of the Roman military since the Marian reforms. Organizati ...

'' around 365. There is no direct evidence for the strength of an ''auxilium'', but

A.H.M. Jones Arnold Hugh Martin Jones FBA (9 March 1904 – 9 April 1970) (known as A. H. M. Jones or Hugo Jones) was a prominent 20th-century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire. Biography Jones's best-known wor ...

(''History of the Later Roman Empire'', Blackwell, Oxford, 1964 p 682) estimates that it may have been 600 or 700. Some '' auxilia'' are attested as ''

limitanei The ''līmitāneī'' (Latin, also called ''rīpēnsēs''), meaning respectively "the soldiers in frontier districts" (from the Latin phrase līmēs, meaning a military district of a frontier province) or "the soldiers on the riverbank" (from the ...

'', especially on the Danube. It is not clear whether these were regarded as a different category of unit.

List of ''auxilia palatina''

List of the ''auxilia palatina'' included in the early 5th-century '' Notitia Dignitatum'', which depicts also some of the shield patterns of the units. *

Attacotti The Attacotti (variously spelled ''Atticoti'', ''Attacoti'', ''Atecotti'', ''Atticotti'', ''Atecutti'', etc.) were a people who despoiled Roman Britain between 364 and 368, along with the Scoti, Picts, Saxons, Roman military deserters and the i ...

* Batavi seniores * Batavi iuniores *

seniores *

iuniores * Brachiati seniores * Celtae seniores * Heruli seniores * Heruli iuniores *

Mattiaci The Mattiaci were by Tacitus recorded as an ancient Germanic tribe and related to the Chatti, their Germanic neighbors to the east. There is no clear definition of what the tribe's name meant. The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' sugge ...

seniores *

iuniores *

Petulantes ''Petulantes'' was an ''auxilia palatina'' of the Late Roman army. History It is possible they fought in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge for Emperor Constantine I (312). This assumption is based on the fact that Constantine had possibly had th ...

seniores * Ascarii seniores * Ascarii iuniores * Iovii seniores *

Sagittarii Nervii ''Sagittarii'' (Latin, plural form of ''sagittarius'') is the Latin term for archers. The term ''sagittariorum'' in the title of an infantry or cavalry unit indicated a specialized archer regiment. Regular auxiliary units of foot and horse arc ...

* Leones seniores * Leones iuniores * Exculcatores seniores * Sagittarii Tungri * Exculcatores iuniores * Tubantes * Salii * Grati * Felices seniores * Felices iuniores * Gratianenses seniores * Invicti seniores * Augustei * Iovii iuniores * Victores iuniores * Bructeri *

Ampsivarii The Ampsivarii, sometimes referenced by modern writers as Ampsivari (a simplification not warranted by the sources), were a Germanic tribe mentioned by ancient authors. Their homeland was originally around the middle of the river Ems, which fl ...

* Gratianenses iuniores * Valentianenses iuniores * Raeti *

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 ac ...

Sequani The Sequani were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper river basin of the Arar river (Saône), the valley of the Doubs and the Jura Mountains during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Sequanos'' by Caesar (mi ...

* Sagittarii venatores * Latini * Sabini * Brachiati iuniores * Honoriani Atecotti seniores * Honoriani Marcomanni seniores * Honoriani Marcomanni iuniores * Honoriani Atecotti iuniores * Brisigavi seniores * Brisigavi iuniores * Celtae iuniores * Invicti iuniores Britanniciani * Exculcatores iuniores Britanniciani * Felices Valentinianenses * Mattiaci iuniores Gallicani * Salii Gallicani * Sagittarii Nervii Gallicani * Iovii iuniores Gallicani * Seguntienses * Galli victores * Honoriani victores iuniores * Honoriani ascarii seniores * Felices iuniores Gallicani * Atecotti iuniores Gallicani * Tungri * Honoriani Gallicani * Mauri tonantes seniores * Mauri tonantes iuniores * Mauri Osismiaci * Mauri Cetrati * Mauri Vneneti * Honoriani Mauri seniores * Honoriani Mauri iuniores {{div col end Image:Ampsivarii shield pattern.svg, Ampsivarii Image:Felices seniores shield pattern.svg, Felices seniores Image:Heruli_seniores_shield_pattern.svg, Heruli seniores Image:Honoriani ascarii seniores shield pattern.svg, Honoriani ascarii seniores Image:Invicti iuniores Britanniciani shield pattern.svg, Invicti iuniores Britanniciani Image:Iovii seniores shield pattern.svg, Iovii seniores Image:Leones seniores shield pattern.svg, Leones seniores Image:Petulantes seniores shield pattern.svg, Petulantes Image:Sequani shield pattern.svg, Sequani

List of ''auxilia palatina''

Further reading