Question about Comites

[Ursus]

Counts (comes) commanded small detachments of the Dominate army, but exactly how big were these "small detachments?" How many men, for instance, were at the Saxon Shore forts who were commanded by a Count?

 

Also, since Count was a mark of personal favor from the Dominus that carried over into civilian administration (e.g., Count of the Sacred Largesse), how many of these Counts were actually qualified military commanders rather than mere sycophants of the imperial court?

[Gaius Octavius]

This is out of context:

 

"Command of the field armies was normally in the hands of senior officers known as magistri, though minor armies could be commanded by a comes."

 

See:

 

http://members.tripod.com/~S_van_Dorst/lrarmy.html

[Ursus]

So much I knew, but was looking for some details. I wonder if Adrian Goldsworthy covers the topic in _The Complete Roman Army_?

[Divi Filius]

though minor armies could be commanded by a comes.

 

As of now I say that it must have been more the 1-2 thousand.

 

Im checking out AHM Jones' tables but all of his abbreviated latin terminology has got me stumped.

Edited March 8, 2007 by Divi Filius

[DecimusCaesar]

The amount of soldiers a Count could command depended on where he was situated in the Western Empire. For instance, The Count of Britain had five units under his command ( Four Vexillatio Comitatenses and one Legio Comitatenses). The Count of Africa on the other hand would have thirty-one units under his command (including eight Legio Comitatenses, three Legio Palatina, and nineteen Vexillatio Comitatenses - not including other troops).

 

The size of these units varied, although it is not too incorrect to believe that most Counts would command up to a thousand troops. In the armies of the Dominate we see a shift from using large armies to using smaller detachments (the Vexillationes). Some Late Roman forts are only large enough to house one cohort, plus some extra groups such as marines, in the case of the Saxon shore forts.

 

The size and nature of the Dominate army is therefore a puzzle to some extent. It is difficult to know the amount of soldiers in units, especially considering that Foederati and Numeri would sometimes be added amongst the Limitanei, and the limitanei would sometimes be added to the Comitatenses- forming the Pseudo-Comitatenses.

[Ursus]

Hmm. Gratias, Decimus.

[Nikephoros Phokas]

Comes or companion was both a military and civilian rank. The imperial government of the Dominate was organized along military lines with civil servants being classed as soldiers. They even received rations like soldiers.

 

As a military rank, comes was second after magister (master). Magister was likely the Roman equivalent to Commanders-in-Chief or as they are now known "combatant commanders" who are the commanding generals of formations like Central Command (CENTCOM), EUCOM, PACOM, and SOUTHCOM. In the west, there were usually two magistri, while in the east, there were five or more at any given time during the 5th Century.

 

Comes or Comes rei militaris commanded forces assigned to various regions such as the Saxon Shore, Britain, Spain, Africa, etc.

 

Dux (duces) ranked below comes and commanded military forces in one or more provinces. These were usually limitanei as opposed to comitatensis or field/mobile armies. The limitanei usually were garrisoned in the frontier provinces and areas that were particularly unstable such as Isauria (southeastern Anatolia).