"Third Century Roman Army Reconstituted" Topic

"The reconstitution of the army, started by Gallienus, played a vitally important part in the recovery of the empire:

By c. 200 the old differentiation of recruitment between legionaries and auxiliaries had disappeared or become nominal. . . . Since there were numerous legions in the east … local recruiting was larger still …. Consequently the predominant element in the Roman army came from the warlike population of the Danubian provinces.

The earlier idea of an indeterminate, variable, invisible frontier protection zone [came to be replaced] by the doctrine of fixed and fortified barriers. . .. [But] Gallienus, threatened not only by all manner of external invaders but by the dissident western empire of Postumus, took the important step of creating a field army of cavalry, which was intended to serve simultaneously as a reserve and a mobile striking force. Its principal base was Mediolanum [Milan], located at a convenient distance from the frontiers and Rome alike. This strategic centre, rapidly becoming even more important than the capital, was joined to Aquileia, Verona and Ticinum [Pavia] in a new system of north Italian defence necessitated by the loss of the upper Rhine-upper Danube area…"
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Amicalement
Armand

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Amicalement
Armand