Cohors peditata
The cohors peditata was a body of auxiliary units of the Roman army, composed solely of infantrymen, unlike the equitata cohort. It could consist of 500 soldiers or approximately 1,000.
History and internal structure
Augustan reorganization
, after the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, was compelled to decide not only how many legions should remain in service but also how many auxilia troops needed to be permanently integrated into the army. Their units were subordinate to the legate of the legion while remaining distinctly separate from it.The auxilia constituted the second fundamental component of the army. Given the degree of specialization of the legionary forces and their tactical limitations, it is clear that the auxilia were not merely additional forces but complementary to the legions. Many of these units likely did not exist before the Battle of Actium, but the names of some cavalry squadrons suggest they were recruited in Gaul by Caesar’s officers.
Composition
They were composed of List of [Roman army unit types|infantrymen], mostly provincial, who aspired to obtain Roman citizenship after more than two decades of service. Although used by Caesar during the Gallic Wars, their organization, as it has been passed down to us, dates back to the reform implemented by Augustus for the entire military system.The infantry cohorts had a structure very similar to that of the cohorts of the legions. They were initially commanded by a praefectus cohortis when they were still quingenariae and composed of peregrini, and later by a tribunus militum if milliariae or composed of cives Romanorum. The quingenariae cohorts consisted of 6 centuries of 80 men each, plus 6 centurions for a total of 480 infantrymen, in some cases equipped with throwing weapons to complement the heavy legionary infantry.
Starting from the Flavian dynasty, the first milliariae auxiliary units, consisting of approximately 1,000 soldiers, were introduced in all their types: from the cohortes peditatae to the equitatae and up to the alae of cavalry.
| Type of auxiliary unit | Service | Commander | Subordinate | No. of subunits | Strength of subunit | Unit strength |
| Cohors quingenaria | Infantry | praefectus cohortis | Centurion | 6 centuriae | 80 | 480 |
| Cohors milliaria | Infantry | tribunus militum | Centurion | 10 centuriae | 80 | 800 |
Internal hierarchy: officers, ''principales'', and ''immunes''
In the Augustan era, they were commanded by a native client king or prince, at least until after Tiberius, when they were then placed under a praefectus cohortis of the Equestrian order.The troop body of a cohors quingenaria, in addition to the officers, was divided into three subcategories:
- The principales, or those non-commissioned officers capable of commanding small detachments or, if necessary, taking the place of company officers. These included the imaginifer and probably a vexillarius, six signiferi cohortis, six optiones singularium, and six tesserarii.
- The immunes, or those infantrymen who, although not even non-commissioned officers, were exempt from certain routine or heavy duties. These included six curatores, some musicians to relay orders, such as the cornicen, the , and the bucinator, a cornicularius, some statores, a librarius, an actuarius, and an unspecified number of beneficiarii.
- All other infantrymen, not included in the first two categories.