Tombstone of C. Romanius of the Ala Noricorum.
(By kind permission of the authorities of theStadtmuseum, Mainz.)

Frontispiece

OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1914

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK
TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY
HUMPHREY MILFORD M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY

The following essay is an attempt to deal with an interesting branchof Roman military history which has not previously been made thesubject of an independent treatise. In a study of this kind, whichrelies largely upon epigraphical evidence to which additions areconstantly being made, it is equally necessary that the scatteredmaterial available should at intervals be collected and utilized, andthat the unfortunate collector should realize that his conclusionswill inevitably be revised in the future in the light of freshevidence. I hope, accordingly, that I have made some use of allsources of information available without acquiring or expressingexcessive confidence in the finality of my deductions. Students ofthe military system of the Roman Empire may complain that a certainnumber of complicated questions are too summarily disposed of in thefollowing pages, but if discussion of the evidence in detail has beenoccasionally omitted with the idea of keeping the size of this bookwithin reasonable limits, I hope that I have been careful to indicatewhere uncertainty lies.

I have in many places been glad to acknowledge my indebtedness to mypredecessors in this field of study, who in one branch of the subjector4 another have removed so many difficulties from my path. To twoscholars, however, my debt is too extensive and general to havereceived adequate recognition in the footnotes. Mommsen’s article, ‘DieConscriptionsordnung der römischen Kaiserzeit,’ was written thirtyyears ago; I have, I hope, been diligent in collecting the evidencewhich has since accumulated, but I have found little to induce me toleave the path indicated by the founder of the scientific study of theRoman Empire. I owe much to Professor A. von Domaszewski’s ingeniousand comprehensive work, Die Rangordnung des römischen Heeres, andfeel my obligation to its learning and suggestiveness none the lessthat I have sometimes been compelled to differ from the conclusionsstated in it. I am also deeply indebted to Professor Haverfield forconstant encouragement and much valuable criticism, and can only wishthat this essay were a more adequate testimony to the value of hisinfluence upon the study of Roman history at Oxford. I desire alsoto express my gratitude to my colleague, Mr. N. Whatley, of HertfordCollege, for reading this essay in manuscript, and making many valuablesuggestions.

G. L. CHEESMAN.

New College, Oxford.

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