''Petulantes'' was an ''

auxilia palatina ''Auxilia palatina'' (sing. ''auxilium palatinum'') were infantry units of the Late Roman army, first raised by Constantine I as part of the new field army he created in about 325 AD. Some of the senior and probably oldest of these units had speci ...

'' of the

Late Roman army In modern scholarship, the "late" period of the Roman army begins with the accession of the Emperor Diocletian in AD 284, and ends in 480 with the death of Julius Nepos, being roughly coterminous with the Dominate. During the period 395–476, ...

History

It is possible they fought in the

Battle of the Milvian Bridge The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the battle and started on the pa ...

for Emperor

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 ...

(312). This assumption is based on the fact that Constantine had possibly had them portrayed on his triumphal arch in Rome. In the 4th century, the ''Petulantes'' were in the army of the emperor Julian. The unit amounted to 500 men, but, in order to obtain a tactically valid unit, they were often united with the '' Celtae''. As part of Julian's army, the ''Petulantes'' took part in the victorious

Battle of Strasbourg The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the Western Roman army under the ''Caesar'' (deputy emperor) Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount King Chnodomar. ...

(357). When Julian, camped in

Lutetia The Gallo-Roman town of ''Lutetia'' (''Lutetia Parisiorum'' in Latin, in French ''Lutèce'') was the predecessor of the modern-day city of Paris. It was founded in about the middle of the 3rd century BCE by the Parisii, a Gallic tribe. Tra ...

, received the order from his cousin the Emperor

Constantius II Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germani ...

to send some troops (including the ''Petulantes'') to the east, the troops revolted, because Julian had promised to keep them near their families. One of the standard-bearers of the ''Petulantes'', Maurus, put the crown on Julian's head, proclaiming him ''

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 ...

'' (361). Together with the ''Celtae'', the ''Petulantes'' fought against the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

near Sanctium, in

Raetia Raetia ( ; ; also spelled Rhaetia) was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with T ...

. In 365, the ''Augustus Senior'' of the west,

Valentinian I Valentinian I ( la, Valentinianus; 32117 November 375), sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor, he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces. Vale ...

, and the ''Augustus Iunior'' of the east,

Valens Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...

, divided the army in two parts, and it is possible that in this occasion the ''Petulantes'' were divided into two units, the ''seniores'' and the ''iuniores''. The ''

Notitia Dignitatum The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents of ...

'', an early-5th century document, lists the ''Petulantes seniores'' among the ''

'', the elite units, under the command of the ''

magister peditum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

'' of the west. The same document gives the ''Petulantes iuniores'' under the command of the ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

per Illyricum'', with a different shield pattern.''Notitia Dignitatum'', ''in partibus Orientis'', ix.

Notes

References

Primary sources

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally Anglicisation, anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Ancient history, antiquity (preceding Procopius). His w ...

, ''Res Gestae Libri XXXI'' * ''

Secondary sources

* * {{cite book , last=Speidel , first=Michael , title=Ancient Germanic Warriors , year=2004 , publisher=Routledge , isbn=0-415-31199-3 Auxilia palatina