Ethnic recruitment and military mobility
By Carol van Driel-Murray
XXth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies (2006)
Introduction: It is commonly accepted that while ethnic recruitment and the stationing of auxiliary regiments far from their homelands formed part of Roman frontier policy in the 1st century, the more settled conditions of the 2nd century soon led to a situation where soldiers were recruited and stationed locally. But is this so? Is the available evidence sufficient for such conclusions to be drawn, or is the reality more complex?
Removing troublesome youth from tribal societies has always featured in the strategy of expanding states, and military recruitment is an efficient method of achieving this aim, while being compatible with the warrior ethos inherent in many of the groups involved. In terms of military strategy, therefore, ethnic recruitment was as relevant in the 2nd century as in the 1st. Actually tracing the movement of the soldiers themselves is beset with difficulties but indirect means may offer better perspectives, and it is in this context that the role of military families and dependents takes on a new importance.
The belief that Roman soldiers lived in virtuous celibacy has long been dispelled, and military families were clearly a fact of army life. Examining the material legacy of these families is not, however, just a case of adding human interest to military history, for in their adherence to regional costume and pottery traditions, it is especially the women who give us an insight into the maintenance of links with the far-off homeland and the course of ethnic recruitment.
Here I will touch on four instances of tribal recruitment –three of them from the Netherlands– where it can be shown that family members from the home region accompanied the soldiers to their new stations: Batavians (1st and 2nd century), Frisians (late 2nd and 3rd century), the Germanic forces at Cuijk (4th century) and the Germanic levies in the Taunus forts (late 2nd early 3rd century). From these case studies, it will appear that the ethnic identity of units was maintained for much longer than is usually thought, and that the movement of families was a regular occurrence, not only confined to the officer class. It can indeed be argued that the great migrations of the 4th and 5th centuries merely continued existing practices.
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