Cohors prima Raetorum ("1st Cohort of Raeti") was a
Roman auxiliary infantry regiment. It is named after the
Raeti
The Raeti (spelling variants: ''Rhaeti'', ''Rheti'' or ''Rhaetii'') were a confederation of Alpine tribes, whose language and culture was related to those of the Etruscans. Before the Roman conquest, they inhabited present-day Tyrol in Austria, ...
, a designation probably given to some Alpine tribes, which were part of the eponymous province
Raetia et
Vindelicum, later called simply Raetia. It comprised much of modern Switzerland, western Austria and Germany south of the river
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. The Raeti originally spoke a non
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...
language that seems related to
Etruscan __NOTOC__
Etruscan may refer to:
Ancient civilization
*The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy
*Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization
**Etruscan architecture
**Etruscan art
**Etruscan cities
**Etruscan ...
. However, by the time their territory was annexed by Rome under founder-emperor
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
(16 BC), they had become largely Celtic-speaking through contact with neighbouring peoples such as the
Vindelici. Finally, during the centuries of Roman rule, they became Latin speakers: their distinctive provincial ''patois'' survives today in the form of the
Rhaeto-Romance languages.
According to Holder, a total of 12 ''Raetorum'' ''cohortes'' appear to have been raised, 10 of them not later than the rule of
Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...
(41-54) and 2 shortly after 70 AD.
[Holder (1980) 111] But there is dispute about how many regiments survived into the 2nd century. This is due to confusion about how many regiments shared the name ''I Raetorum'' because the name is attested in three provinces in roughly the same periods. It has been suggested there were as many as 3 such regiments in the 2nd century in
Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...
,
Raetia and
Germania Inferior. Holder appears to follow this. Spaul suggests it was a single unit, ''I Raetorum equitata c.R.'', being moved about frequently. Here the 3-unit theory is followed. The c.R. title only appears in Germania Inferior so the unit there is denoted
cohors I Raetorum equitata c.R. The unit in Cappadocia was also ''equitata'', and so is denoted
cohors I Raetorum equitata. The unit in Raetia, the subject of this article, is denoted simply ''cohors I Raetorum'' as there is no evidence it was ''equitata''.
The regiment was probably raised by founder-emperor
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
(r. 30BC-14AD) after 15 BC. It was certainly in existence by the time of
Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...
(r. 41-54).
It first appears in the datable epigraphic record in 107, in its original home province, Raetia. It was still there in 166, the time of its last datable inscription. It is attested by an undatable tile stamp in the Roman fort at
Schierenhof in
Schwäbisch Gmünd
Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...
(Gamundia Romana), which may have been one of its bases.
[Spaul (2000) 276]
See also
*
List of Roman auxiliary regiments
*
Raetorum cohorts
*
Roman auxiliaries
The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of inf ...
Citations
{{reflist
References
* Holder, Paul ''Studies in the Auxilia of the Roman Army'' (1980)
* Holder, Paul ''Auxiliary Deployment in the Reign of Hadrian'' (2003)
* Spaul, John ''COHORS 2'' (2000)
Military of ancient Rome
Auxiliary infantry units of ancient Rome