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Summary
During the so-called second Tetrarchy (305–324) the Emperor Constantine I established an expeditionary (field) army, which originally quartered in Gaul and then was moved in Illyricum and finally in the Lower Danube region, that is in Thrace (324), where it continued to be until 353.
These expeditionary forces were composed in Gaul, its ground and main essence were vexillations detached from Rhine frontier legions. At the same time epigraphic data enabled us to maintain a structure of military corps, which was an enemy of Constantine I in 312 — we mean a personal guard of Maximianus Herculius and his son Maxentius, in 306 this guard deserted to Maxentius and supported his usurpation. Among the units adherent to Maxentius were elite vexillations
equites promoti, comites domini nostri, Moesiaci, Minervii,
Moorish cavalry and also a detachment of spearmen
(lanci arii).
Apart from units enumerated above, Maxentius had a support from a garrison of the city of Rome, that are praetorian guard and units of
equites singulares Augusti
(a cavalry imperial guard formed as early as during the Principate times).
So, when Constantine I defeated Maxentius, a victorious Emperor destroyed a usurper's guard in part — firstly, we mean the praetorian cohorts and the units of
equites singulares Augusti,
which were immediate instigators of Maxentius' plot. Also we assume that Constantine abolished a corps of spearmen
(lanciarii).
However, we think that the vexillations of
Minervii
and
Moesiaci
still existed after 312, Constantine simply moved them from Italy to Rhine frontier and deprived them of their elite status (rank) of palace units, they were modified into regular frontier garrisons.
Another field guard (the so-called
comitatus
) defeated by Constantine was a guard of Licinius, this one was a very fluent and incoherent military group, Licinius' field guard existed as a single and united composition only during and for the military campaigns. After completion of a military activity the
comitatus
of Licinius was dispersed and stopped to exist. The crucial element of Licinius' military forces were frontier units (legions, vexillations, alae and cohorts) of the Danube regions. These units stood not in the ruler's residence, but in different fortresses at the Danube frontier, so, they were scattered along the entire course of the river.
Inscriptions from Balkan and Danube regions enabled us to trace that vexillations under Licinius' command were mostly of two kind, that are detachments of shield bearers
(scutarii)
and archers
(sagittarii),
also Licinius commanded over units of mailed cavalry
(catafractarii).
As to field army of Constantine I, we turned to epigraphic data in order to make clear an internal structure of this army. For the most part expeditionary forces of Constantine I established in Gaul consisted of two kinds of military units.
The first one are mercenary ethnic detachments composed of the Germans. As anybody knows, Constantine I managed some military campaigns at the Rhine frontier against the German tribes, but Constantine I also signed treaties with some of these tribes about the military assistance and alliances from the part of the Germans in favor of the Romans. According to these treaties, the Germans sent its military retinues in army of Constantine I, their service was paid by money and as a result of this they occupied a privileged place within Constantine's army.
The second one were regular vexillations levied from internal (local) citizens of Empire, mainly from the populace of Gaul. First of all, inscriptions mention about a vexillation detached from the legio II Italica, this vexillation quartered in the fortress of
Divitia,
within modern Köln, and was named
Divitenses
after the place of its garrison. Apart from
Divitenses,
Constantine I commanded over the vexillation of legio IV Flavia (the legion itself located in upper Moesia), a mailed cavalry, Dalmatian cavalry and two self-sufficient legions, that are
loviani
и
Herculiani,
they had stood in Gaul since the first Tetrarchy. Latin panegyrics report that the strength of Constantine's army was nearly 40 000 men.
Among Constantine's vexillations were also two units of mailed cavalry from Poitiers and Amiens and vexillation entitled as
Ursarienses
after a name of the city of
Ursaria,
which located in the Gallic province of
Maxima Sequanorum
(at the south-east of Gaul, near to borders between Italia and Raetia).
All vexillations enumerated above were sent from Gaul in Western Illyricum in 316 for to fight against Licinius. Therefore, an army of Constantine I arrived in Western Illyricum and then located there from 316 to 324 (precisely in Pa
However, during the second Tetrarchy, in 305–324, military reforms touched upon not only Balkan areas, but also the Near East regions. As we suppose, Maximinus II Daia, Caesar and then a self-proclaimed Augustus, who reigned in Eastern provinces of Empire during 305–313, managed a vast reform, which resulted to an establishment of a self-sufficient and single province of Minor Armenia and creation of a new office, that is dux of Minor Armenia, this reform enabled Maximinus to reinforce a defence of the Near East front from Persian invasions. The evidence of many hagiographie texts gave us a chance to maintain that Maximinus managed his reform during 305–312, a territory of Minor Armenia was singled out of Cappadocia and modified into a self-sufficient province, the head of this province was a special military official, we mean dux, so, three powerful legions stood under his supervision, that are XV Apollinaris, XII Fulminata and I Pontica.
We suppose that it was dux of Minor Armenia who headed and managed a huge military operation by order of Maximinus II Daia, this campaign was deployed on the territory of Great Armenia, an independent state under the ruling of the Arsacid dynasty, Great Armenia immediately bordered to Minor Armenia and lied east of Minor Armenia.
We dated this campaign by 312–313, in order to study the course of events we turned to Syrian and Armenian historical chronicles translated into modern West European and Latin languages. According to our point of view, in 312 the tribes of the Huns invaded in Great Armenia by instigation of the Persians, these Huns lived north to Caucasus mountain chain, obviously within modern Dagestan in Russia, they crossed the mountain passes and arrived in Great Armenia.
So, when the Huns invaded in Great Armenia and began to damage its territories, the king of Great Armenia Trdat III, who came to power by an assistance of the Romans as early as 298, applied to Maximinus II Daia for military help, in response Maximinus sent to Armenia a military corps, which consisted of three legions, that are XV Apollinaris, XII Fulminata and I Pontica.
In sum, dux of Minor Armenia and legions subordinated to him really held military action on the territory of Great Armenia, but not against Great Armenia, because their enemy was the Huns, who ravaged Armenian lands and could invade further in Roman lands.
We proposed that the first phase of a military campaign against the Huns happened under Maximinus II Daia in 312, in any case, before the winter of 312–313, but these military actions were successfully ended only by the new Emperor Licinius, who took control over Asia Minor in the spring of 313. At the same time, epigraphic data, hagiographical sources and administrative treatises enabled us to conclude that the Near East army of Maximinus, as in Minor Armenia, was composed only from the frontier units, that are vexillations, legions, alae and cohorts.
As we have noted above, in 324 an expeditionary army of Constantine I was transferred in Thrace at the Lower Danube, and next year this army received a high-ranking status of
comitatenses,
i. e. «those who follow the Emperor». However, a situation at the Near East front was not in the best conditions. Epigraphic data from Syria, Mesopotamia and Arabia enabled us to trace that during the last years of Constantine I's life, especially between 330 and 334, a defence of these regions was supported exclusively by the small frontier garrisons, alae and cohorts, which located in very scattered fortresses, these fortresses were removed far from each other by a long distances, and as a result, one garrison could not arrive and help in time to another if an external enemy launched an assault. Moreover, we concluded that the Near East frontier featured by a full absence of any units of expeditionary army up to 337, i. e. to a death of Constantine I. The first partial relocation of Constantine I's Danube expeditionary army of
comitatenses
happened only in 337, the last year of Constantine's reign. Then, in the spring of 337, Constantine marched against Persia and took with him some military units from the army of
comitatenses,
the Emperor moved them in Bithynia.
We assume that military detachments which located in Bithynia in the spring of 337 as equally as all the rest part of the Danube expeditionary army which continued to be in Thrace, came under the power of Constantius II, a middle son of Constantine I, this event happened already in the summer of the same year. Up to the summer of 337 Danube frontier didn't subordinate to Constantius because in 335 Constantine I gave Balkan-Danube regions under the government of his nephew, Dalmatius the Junior, and it's natural that Thrace also was among the territories which came under Dalmatius' jurisdiction. We need to point out that Thrace was a residence-place for the army of
comitatenses,
so, between 335 and 337 the Danube army of
comitatenses
was headed strictly by Dalmatius the Junior.
Respectively, at the begi
As a result, to the summer of 337 Constantius ΙΓ troops included two military groups, the first one located at the Near East frontier and was a frontier army (alae, cohorts and vexillations), the second one resided in Thrace and was an expeditionary army of