Longinus, a Dacian archer.

[Gordopolis]

I visited the Roman Army Museum in Greenhead the other week, and came across this incredible story of Longinus, a Dacian, recruited into the First Hamian Archers (Cohors Prima Hamiorum Sagittaria) after Trajan's Dacian Wars, then sent to serve on Hadrian's Wall thereafter.

 

"A career recruit, Longinus was a new recruit in the first cohort of Hamians (cohors I Hamiorum sagittaria) in AD 107, a year after the end of Trajan's Second Dacian War (Bulgaria). It is likely that the Hamian archers had fought in that war and, needing new troops to replace casualties, took local recruits, including Longinus.

Travelling from his homeland to serve in distant lands, he was fortunate enough to have survived his years of military service on the frontier, and

received an honourable discharge after 25 years' service.

 

Longinus received his bronze 'diploma' on the 9th December AD132. Respectably the Emperor Hadrian granted him and the other veterans "citizenship and the right of marriage with the wives they had at the time of the grant of citizenship, or, if any are single, with those which they later marry, provided that each only has one wife".

There is no record of Longinus' wife, if she was still alive at this time, but citizenship was also granted to his two sons, Longinus and Sestius, and his daughter, Sestia. As many retiring soldiers chose, he took his family back to their Bulgarian homeland, where this diploma was discovered."

 

...how utterly fascinating!

Edited April 21, 2022 by Gordopolis

[Crispina]

I wonder what the plaque says.

[guy]

If I read this post correctly, Longinus was originally from Bulgaria and was stationed in Britain. 
 

The distance between these two places is about 1740 miles (2800 km). This is farther than the distance between Montreal, Canada and Miami, Florida:

 

 

It is amazing the great distances traveled with relative ease within the Roman Empire. The efficient and reliable road system in the Empire would have facilitated movement over long distances.

As mentioned before in previous threads, this extensive road system would have facilitated the movement and spread of many things: troops (both to defend and attack the Empire), ideas (such as Christianity), diverse goods and commodities, as well as disease (including the many plagues that devastated the Empire).

Obviously, an extensive transportation system and a common language (either Latin or Greek) would have been some of the keys to the Empire’s success and longevity.

[Gordopolis]

On 4/22/2022 at 2:45 PM, guy said:

If I read this post correctly, Longinus was originally from Bulgaria and was stationed in Britain. 
 

The distance between these two places is about 1740 miles (2800 km). This is farther than the distance between Montreal, Canada and Miami, Florida:

 

 

It is amazing the great distances traveled with relative ease within the Roman Empire. The efficient and reliable road system in the Empire would have facilitated movement over long distances.

As mentioned before in previous threads, this extensive road system would have facilitated the movement and spread of many things: troops (both to defend and attack the Empire), ideas (such as Christianity), diverse goods and commodities, as well as disease (including the many plagues that devastated the Empire).

Obviously, an extensive transportation system and a common language (either Latin or Greek) would have been some of the keys to the Empire’s success and longevity.

That's a great point - a good measure of the strength and stability of any state is the ability to move freely and rapidly (and safely) within it.

Also, I only realised after posting that the quoted text about Longinus is alittle erroneous - it equates Dacia with Bulgaria, when in fact the Dacia of Trajan's time was in fact equivalent to modern Romania. Perhaps an easy mistake to make though as later in the empire (376AD ish), the Romans named part of what is now modern Bulgaria 'Dacia' (very confusing, I know!)

Maps of Trajan's Dacia vs later empire Dacia attached:

[caldrail]

Roman roads were not a modern transportation system, they were there primarily for communication, with access to hostels for quick horse changes. Nothing to stop merchants using the road of course other than it might be faster for long distances to send the goods by water. since unless they were on official duty, the hostels did not serve their purposes. And of course, as this post makes obvious, strategic redeployment was simplified - but I say this advisedly, don't get too carried away with the concept. Remember that modern Russia relies on their internal railways in much the same way yet this does not make for guaranteed logistics.