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Numeri Britonum and Odenwald limes

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2013

Abstract

The paper will be devoted to the question of manpower on Roman frontiers. In the spotlight will be the Numeri Brittonum on the Odenwald Limes in Upper Germany.

The special attention will be paid to the question of origin of these semi-barbarous units, which is frequently situated to the area of nowadays Scotland. The author will also notice the way these units could manage their part of the frontier and why they were designated to the relatively remote part of Germania Superior.

There can be found visible notable links and parallels to the Antonine Wall in this subject, therefore they will be discussed in the report. There are also certain hints, that the recruitment of Numeri Brittonum was directly associated with Roman campaigns in Scotland during Flavian times.

Shortly after Flavian occupation of Scotland the forts occupied by Numeri Britonum units arose in the Odenwald section. In the conclusion, the author will try to summarize what the example of Numeri Brittonum can tell us about the ways how the Romans managed their frontiers in first two centuries AD and what kind of relationship they could have to the British tribes - once enemies, then recruits for an Imperial Army.