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Princeps as a Title for 'ad hoc' Commanders

Author(s): Michael P. Speidel


Source: Britannia, Vol. 12 (1981), pp. 7-13
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
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Princeps

Title
for
ad
Commanders
as

By MICHAEL
I.

hoc

P. SPEIDEL

THE REGULAR PRINCEPS IN THE LEGIONS AND AUXILIA

IN

the hierarchy of legionary centurions, the princeps prior of the first cohort held the
second highest position, ranking immediately below the primus pilus. He was the princeps
as such, often without further specification. By contrast, the princepsposterior of the first
cohort, and the principes in the other nine cohorts, had to specify their titles as prior and
posterior and to add their cohort, e.g. octavus princeps posterior or (centuria) X (decimi)
pr(incipis) pos(terioris).1
The job of the legionary princeps (besides leading his centuria) was, according to Vegetius
in legioneprope omnnia,
(2, 8), to process the orders for the entire legion: adquemn
quae ordinanda
sunt, pertinent. For this he had a special office, the tabulariumprincipis of which 'Hyginus'
(20) says: scholae cohortibusprimis, ubi munera legionum dicuntur,in scamno legatorunzcontra
aquilam dari debent. For assistance, the princeps had special clerks: the librarii and adiutores
principis. Thus, considering that the primus pilus served only one year in his capacity, the
princeps may be called the most essential centurion of the legion.
Among the auxilia, the infantry cohorts had a centurio princeps, while the alae and the
equites singulares Augusti had an equivalent decurio princeps, and the part-mounted cohorts
may have had both a centurioprinceps and a decurioprinceps.3These auxiliary principes could
likewise be called princeps for short (or princeps equitum),and they fulfilled the same functions
in their units as did the princeps of the legion. Very possibly they also had the assistance of an

1 A. v. Domaszewski, Die Rangordnung des romischen Heeres, 2nd, enlarged ed. by B. Dobson (Koln, 1967),
9o ff. and xxiii ff. For the title of a legion's administrative princeps, both specified and not specified, see CIL
viii, 18072, contra: G.-Ch. Picard and H. Le Bonniec, 'Du nombre et des titres des centurions l~gionnaires sous
le haut-empire', Revue Philologique xi (1937), I12-24. For specified titles of other centurions see A. Passerini,
'Legio' in E. de Ruggiero, Dizionario Epigraphico IV (1950), 549-629, esp. 587 if: also W. Ensslin, Princeps,
RE viii (1956), 628-640, esp p. 628 f. This paper was written with the help of a grant by the National Endowment
for the Humanities (Research Materials); the views presented here are not necessarily those of the Endowment.
I am grateful to Professors Eric Birley and B. Dobson for valuable suggestions.
2 CIL viii, 18072; Domaszewski, op. cit. (note 1), 50. According to Domaszewski (I.c. 97) the staff of a provincial
governor was also headed by a princeps, assisted by an adiutor.
3 Cohorts: Pap. Dura Emuopos89 = R. O. Fink, Roman Military Records on Papyrus (Cleveland, Ohio, 1971),
50, 1, I and 8; 11, I and a, I: otdinatuts princeps adinissa pronuinta'it (cf. ibid. 51, ii, 6); for a possible decturio
princeps in the same cohort see Timinius Paulinus, Fink, op. clt, 47, 1, 6 and the possible two principes of
CIL 111,7631; Ann. Epigr. 1968, 436; Dessau 2595 (princeps equituml). Alae: CIL ill, 5938: DEC I AL. Cf. P.
Abinn. 10 (A.D. 350). The curious decurto et princeps of an ala (Ann. Epigr. 1915, 69), and the corresponding
KEVTupi6v 6 KCa[I]rrpiVKIY of a cohort (Inscr. Giaec. ad res ronm. pert. 1, 894), seem to show that a real function
and not just a ranking of officers was involved. Equites singulares Auigusti: CIL vi, 31174 and Ann. Epigr. 1935,
156: princeps. Very possibly of a part-mounted cohort is CIL iii, 8029 = Inscr. Daciae Rom. il, 338 (RomulaMalva, Dacia): Placidae Reginae eq(uites) v(otum) I(tbentes) p(osue iunt)per Proculo princ(ipe) et [G]aio opt(ione).

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MICHAEL P. SPEIDEL

adiutorprincipis.4 The praetorian guard and the fleets had corresponding ranks in the princeps
castrorum and the nauarchus princeps.5 In sum, most or all units had a princeps as head of day-

to-day operations.
2. PRINCEPSPEREGRINORUM,

The princeps as head of day-to-day operations obscured another use of that title in technical
army language: the princeps as ad hoc commander. Only in one context has the princeps
correctly been identified as ad hoc commander, in the castra peregrina in Rome where he was
in charge of the soldiers whom the provincial armies detached to Rome for special duties.
In 1923, P. K. Baillie Reynolds, in an important study, established the following facts about
the princepsperegrinorum:
I. He was the commander of the irregular unit of the peregrini.
2. He was assisted by an optio (the optio peregrinorumn).

3. The title conveyed no rank or promotion, it designated only an appointment.


4. Centurions of very different ranks could be appointed to this position.
5. During their function as princeps peregrinorum,centurions remained members of their
former units and in their former ranks.6
In the following we will attempt to show that the same features applied equally to other
principes as ad hoc commanders, in particular to the princeps vexillationis.
3. PRINCEPSVEXILLATIONIS

There exists a substantial body of inscriptions mentioning principes or centurionesprincipes


as commanders of vexillations, usually aided by an optio.7 For the clarity of the discussion the
texts may be quoted here in full.
Epon(a)e Regin(ae),
111,12679 (Doclea, Dalmatia). I(ovt) o(ptlo) mn(aximno),
loct, P. Benniius
Gemno
tinc(ipis),
p
coh(ortis)
v(otlum)s(olvit).
co(n)s(ularIs)
b(ene)J(t1cariui)
iol(untartorum) adiu[t(or)]
Egregtus, mil(es)
Doimaszewski, op. cit. (note i), 34, saw this adiror as a beneficiarius of the governor, seconded to the provincial
headquarters' staff, but the findspot of the monument away from the capital suggests rather that Egregius
wvasfirst adiutor principis in his cohort's staff, then beneficiatius detached to Doclea. J. J. Wilkes, Dalmatia
pr[in(cipis)] of the
(London, 1969), 123, rightly assumed stationing as bf. cos. at Doclea. For a likely
adiittor
equites singulares Auglustisee CIL vi, 3196 with Domaszewski, op. cit. (note I), 53, but it is doubtful whether the
tabliarium numert of the equites singulares Augusti was the office of their decurto princeps as assumed by
Domaszewski, op. cit. (note i), 50, cf. M. Speidel, Die Equites Singuilares Augusti (Bonn, 1965), 35 f. For the
administrative function of the auxiliary plinceps see also J. F. Gilliam, 'An Egyptian Cohort in A.D. I17',
Bonner Historta-Augusta-Colloquiunm1964/65 (Bonn, 1966), 91-7, esp. 92.
5 For the praetorian princeps castrorum see Domaszewski, op. cit. (note I), ior and M. Durry, Les cohortes
pretoriennes (Paris, 1938), 137 f. B. Dobson and D. J. Breeze,'The Rome Cohorts and the Legionary Centurlonate',
Epigr. Studien viii (1969), o00-24, esp. 119, reject Domaszewski's identification of the pi inceps praetorii with the
pilnceps castiorum and, rightly so, at least as far as the further hypotheses are concerned that Domaszewski
built on the princeps praetorti. For the nautarchuspi inceps see L. Wickert, 'Die Flotte der romischen Kaiserzeit',
Jahrbucher Iv (1949-50), 100-25, esp. 15; D. Kienast, Untersuchlungenzu den Kriegsflotten der
W4'urzburger
romischen Kaiseizeit (Bonn, 1966), 20 and 40.
B.
6 P. K. Baillie-Reynolds, "The Troops Quartered in the Castra Peregrinorum', JRS xiii (1923), 168-89
Dobson, Die Primipilares (Koln, 1978), 222, suggests the title became a regular rank, but his inscription no. 265
does not support this.
The optio was necessary for a commander as his deputy, see Vegetius (2, 7): Optiones ab adoptando appellati,
quod antecedentibus aegritudine praepeditis hi tamquam adoptati eorum atque vicarii solent universa curare. See
also Festus, 184 M (as quoted by G. E. F. Chilver, A Historical Commentary on Tacitus' Histories I and I[
(Oxford, 1979), 87): optio in re militari appellatuts is quem decurio alit centurio optat sibi rerum privatarum
officia.
administrum, quo facilius obeat
ptublica
ICIL

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PRINCEPS

AS A TITLE

FOR AD HOC COMMANDERS

A. Legions
A.D. 207

I. Obernburg/Germania8

In h(onorem) d(omus) d(ivinae) I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) Dolicheno s(acrum), vexil(latio)


leg(ionis) XXII pr(imigeniae)p(iae) f(idelis) agentium in lignaris sub principe T(ito) Volusenio
Sabino et T(ito) Honoratio Dentiliano opt(ione), Apro et Maximo co(n)s(ulibus).
2.

A.D. 209-2 II
Dura-Europos/Syria9
Pro sal(ute) et incol(umitate)d(ominorum)n(ostrorum)inmp(eratorum)
L. Sep(timi) Severi pii
Pert(inacis) et M. Aurel(i) Antonini[et P. Sept(im)i Getae] Auggg(ustorum)templumdei Solis
Invicti Mithrae sub Minic(io) Martiali proc(uratore) Aug(usti) rest(itutum) ab Ant(onio)
Valentino )(centurione)princ(ipe)pr(aeposito) ve[x(illationum)leg(ionum)III]I Scyt(hicae) et
XVI F(laviae) F(irmae) p(iae) f(idelis).

A.D. 211
3. Dura-Europos/Syrial'
I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) D(olicheno) s(acrum) pro sal(ute) M(arci) Ant(onii) Valentini
eiusq(ue) omnium )(centurionis) princ(ipis) vexill(ationum) leg(ionum) IIII et XVI F(laviae)
F(irmae)Anto(ninianarum)Agatocles lib(ertus)eius v(otum)s(olvit) /(ibens)a(nimo), Gent(iano)
et Basso co(n)s(ulibus).

A.D. 216

4. Dura-Europos/Syria"1

Imp(eratori) Caes(ari) [M(arco) Aurel(io) An]tonino Pio Felici Aug(usto) Arab(ico)


Adiab(enico)[Part(hico) Max(imo) B]rit(annico) [Max(imo) Ge]rm(anico)Max(imo) Pontifici
Max(imo) Patri Patriae et I[ulia]e A[ug(ustae) Matri Aug(usti) et C]astr(orum) et Sen(atus)
et Patr(iae), vexill(ationes)legionumIIII Sc[jyt(hicae)et] III [Cy]r(enaicae) [An]tonin[ian]arumn
anpyteatr[u]m a fun[damen]tis e[xtr]uxeru[nt] [a]gentes sub cur(a) Aur(eli) Mam[.......]
lustiano )(centurione)princ(ipe), Cattio Sabi[no II, Corn. Anul]lino [co(n)s(ulibus)].
A.D. 238
5. Dianium/Hispania Tarraconensis12
C(aius) Iul(ius) Urbanus,vet(eranus),princ(eps) vexil(lationis) leg(ionis) VII Gem(inae)p(iae)
f(elicis) jM[a]xim[i]n(ianae)j [m]iss(us) cum suis a D[e]cio Va[l]er[i]ano co(n)s(ulare).
L(ucius) A[l]f[i]us Donatus optiof(aciendum) c(uravit).
6. See the texts from Thenadassa, below, p. 12.

B. Auxilia
A.D. 251
7. Dura-Europos/Syria'3
eE
0
Adl
AXi
Ao
"ETrousp3p',
pIEyi-ar(C) KC0l
o0itQ(AaTricov) o-TEipls P' CTTapAay6v(cov)
v
Ilda00(Triou)
-irri S
FaAcuavis O iuoa{o}tcavia
'loux(iou) 'loukitavo(Q) KparTioTOU OUKbo
(EKcTrovr&PXou)TrrpivK(l-roS) Kcl Mcxpivo.
....
ITOY.
(ocXuo-rTEliVOU
'lou.AaVyo
KCi

... Kci Znrvo{o})c'pou

6n-rrriov(os)

8
CIL xiii, 6623 = Dessau 9119. The reading princip(ibus) advocated by E. Schwertheim, Die Denkrnaler der
ortenta/ischen Gotthetten im rorischen Deutschland (Leiden, 1974), 172, is contradicted by his plate I13; see
now also H. Castritius, Manfred Clauss and Leo Hefner, 'Die romischen Steininschriften des Odenwaldes' in
W. Wackerfuss (ed.), Beitrage zur Erforschung des Odenwaldes II (Breuberg-Neustadt, 1977), 237-308 (but discard the reading agent(es)).
9 Ann. Epigr. 1940, 220.
10 Ibid. 1954, 264.
"1ibid. 1937, 239.
12 CIL ii, 3588
= Dessau 5960 in the new reading by G. Alfoldy, 'Eine Inschrift auf dem Montg6 bei Dianium
an der spanischen Ostkiuste', Epigraphica xl (1978), 59-90, esp. 76.
13 Ann. Epigr. 1954, 265.

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10

MICHAEL P. SPEIDEL

8. Dura-Europos/Syrial4
A.D. 251-253
i EcSAoAIXiO
I-Tr-rrlKi
i)
All PEyio-rc KCX
cxriprlj p3
o-rpax(TICora)
FaAlcav(iJS)O0oua'ciaviS
'lou(Aiou) 'IouAxavo(O)KparTiaTroU bOUKiSg
T-rri
ACpr(iou)
AOUKiOUTrpi(V)Ko(Tros)
T-ro
aorr(ipflS) Trfis crm-ri;
0ou
Ba6 Kcti6ITrricov(os)
TrcOV
npif(v)Kl-rro() KYi Tr'XV'TCOV
pOUvEpcapico(v).
C. Legions or Auxilia
A.D. 238+(?)
9. Sadouri/Numidia15
Genio Ausum, ValeriusCresce[n]s,ordina[r(ius)p]rince[ps] v[e]csil[l]a[t]ionis [et] M[an]il[i]us
Felix [op(tio)] una cum com[mil]itionib[usd(e)d(icaverunt)].

Are the commanders listed here the regular principes of their units and as such entrusted
with a special command ?16 Hardly. They seem rather to be ordinary centurions carrying the
title princeps as the equivalent of praepositus to denote an ad hoc command over a vexillation.
This is suggested by the following:
I. Grammatically the phraseprinceps vexillationis(Nos. 3, 5, 9) can hardly refer to a princeps
who by coincidence received command over a detachment, for the title is directly connected
to the detachment.
2. Six legionary principes are known as commanders of detachments, but no primus pilus
or hastatus is known in this role.17 Since the princeps was essential for the day-to-day functioning of the legion, one will not assume that he could be spared for duty elsewhere more
easily than other centurions of the first cohort.
3. The example of the princepsperegrinorumdiscussed above shows that the word princeps
was indeed used as a title for ad hoc commanders.
If our observation is correct, and princeps in detachments is a title equivalent to sub cura
or praepositus,18then the reason for this use of the word is easy to find: detachments, too,
needed a princeps for their day-to-day operations, and this function would naturally fall to
the centurion who served as the temporary commander of the detachment, i.e. the functions

S4ibid. 1954, 266.


15ibid. 1926, 146.

16 Thus, e.g. Alf6ldy, op. cit. (note 12), 79; R. Saxer, Untersuchungen zu den Vexillationen des
rbmischen
Kaiserheeres von Augustus bis Diokletian (Kbln, 1967), 129, n. 665. J. F. Gilliam in M. I. Rostovtzeff, The
on
our
no.
at
Excavations
Dura-Europos IX/III (New Haven, 1952), 12, commenting
7, suggests that the
princeps as chief centurion of his cohort had a regular connection with the cult acts of the unit. J. Carcopino,
'Le limes de Numidie et sa garde syrienne', Syria vi (1925), 118-49, p. 42 f., wrongly suggests that the princeps
of our no. 9 called himself so out of vanity, but he is right to say that one would here expect the title praepositus
vexillationis.
17 The primipilus cited by Saxer, op. cit. (note 16), does not refer to a vexillation, see Saxer's note 450 (p. 8o)
and for the inscription, Dobson, op. cit. (note 6), no. 210.
18 The phrase (centurione) princ(ipe) pr(aeposito) ve[x(illationum)] of our no. 2 does not contradict this: the
word praepositus here reinforces the word princeps. A certain difficulty is presented by our no. 4, where the
princeps is preceded by another, presumably higher officer, whose title, however, is lost; J. F. Gilliam in Ann
Perkins (ed.), The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Final Report V/I (New Haven, 1959), 26, rightly points out that
this officer may not have been present at all at Dura; by contrast Picard-Le Bonniec, op. cit. (note I), 122,
for no good reasons see in him a princeps praetorii. Likewise, the title princeps cohortis (no. 8) does not imply
that the entire cohort (rather than a detachment) was present at Dura, for detachments are frequently given the
name of their parent units without indication that they are only detachments, cf. E. Ritterling, 'Legio', PaulyWissowa, Realencyclopadie xii (1924), 1221-829 (for the time of M. Aurelius) and RIB 1147, 1148 (A.D. 139).

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PRINCEPS

AS A TITLE

FOR AD HOC COMMANDERS

II

of commander and of princeps became one and the same, and so did their titles.19 It follows
that when a princepsoccurs with a detachment, one should not see in him the chief administrator
of the original unit.
4. PRINCEPS ON HADRIAN'S WALL

At Castlesteads fort on Hadrian's Wall several inscriptions mention cohors II Tungrorum


milliaria equitata as the third-century garrison unit. However, Castleheads, with its 3'75 acres,
was one of the small forts on the wall, far too small for a unit of one thousand men that
included a sizeable number of cavalry.20 For this reason Eric Birley suggested that part of the
unit was stationed elsewhere, perhaps at nearby Old Church.2' The dedicatory inscriptions of
the cohort support this when seen in the light of the role of the princeps.
The Roman inscriptions of Britain mention only six instances of auxiliary principes, and
four of these come from Castlesteads. It will be worthwhile to quote them in full:
RIB I981. I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) coh(ors) II Tungr(orum)m(illiaria) eq(uitata) c(oram?)
1(audata?)cui praeest Alb(ius) Severus praef(ectus) Tung(rorum)insta(nte) Vic(.. .) Severus,
principi.
RIB 1982. I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) [c]oh(ors) I[I] Tung(rorum) [m]il(liaria) eq(uitata)
c(oram?) l(audata?) cu[i pr]aees[t] Aure[lius] Optatus p[raef(ectus)] Tun(grorum)instan[te]
Mes(sio) Opse[quente]p[r]inc[ipe].
RIB 1983. [I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo)] et Numi[ni Aug(usti)] n(ostri) coh(ors)II Tu[n]gror(um)
Gor(diana) eq(uitata) c(oram?) l(audata?) cui praeest Ti(berius) Cl(audius) Claudi[anus]
praef(ectus), instante [P(ublio)] Ael(io) Mart[i]n[o], princ(ipe) K(alendis) lan(uariis)
I[mp(eratore) d(omino) n(ostro)] G(ordiano)Aug(usto) II [et Pompeiano co(n)s(ulibus)].
Since we have shown above that princeps can mean the commander of a detachment, it
seems likely that the principes at Castlesteads, too, commanded a part of cohors II Tungrorum,
while the parent unit was elsewhere, perhaps at Old Church. Such a split is not unheard of
for cohors II Tungrorum,since a vexillation of the cohort had garrisoned the fort at Eining in
Raetia for several decades during the preceding century.22
The fourth altar from Castlesteads is more problematic: as it is not for Iuppiter Optimus
Maximus, it may be a private dedication and thus need not reflect a command over part of
the cohort:
RIB i991. N(umini) Aug(usti) deo Vanaunti,Aurel(ius) Armiger, dec(urio)princ(eps).
On the other hand, commanders of forts frequently make private dedications, and it remains
remarkablethat four out of six auxiliaryprincipesin Britain should be recordedat Castlesteads;
hence Aurelius Armiger may indeed have been commander at the fort. If so, his title of decurio
would suggest that at Castlesteads the cavalry of the cohort predominated.
No doubt, regular auxiliary principes had merely administrative duties without command
over part of their unit. However, in the case of cohors II Tungrorumat Castlesteads, where only
19Actarii and librarii went along with detachments on expeditions, cf. Ann. Epigr. 1934, 279. During the
Later Roman Empire every camp had its princeps.
20 For comparison see the table 3 in D. J. Breeze and B. Dobson, Hadrian's Wall (Harmondsworth,
1978),
48. For a description of the fort, J. Collingwood Bruce, Handbook to the Roman Wall, 13th ed. by C. Daniels
(Newcastle, 1978), 228 ff.
21E. Birley, Research on Hadrian's Wall (Kendal, I96I), 138 f.
22 R. W. Davies, 'A Note on a Recently Discovered
Inscription from Carrawburgh', Epigraphische Studien
iv (Koln, 1967), lo8-II. E. Birley, 'A Note on the Second Cohort of Tungrians', Trans. Cumbd. Westmd.
Antiq. Arch. Soc. n.s. xxxv (1935), 56-60. Idem, 'Raetien, Britannien und das romische Meer,' Bayerische
Vorgeschichtsblatter 45 (i98o), 77-89 esp. p. 82.

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12

MICHAEL P. SPEIDEL

part of the unit can have been stationed, and where the principes are mentioned so surprisingly
often, one may regard them, with due caution, as the commanders of the fort. Whether or not
they functioned at the same time as administrators of their unit remains unknown.
A different case is revealed by a fifth inscription from Hadrian's Wall, found at Burgh-bySands:23
RIB 2042. [I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximno) e]t Numinibus Augg(ustorum) G(enio) n(umeri)
Maurorum Aur(elianorum) Valeriani Gallieni q(uorum) c(uram) a(git) Fl(avius) Vibianus
trib(unus) coh(ortis) [p(rae)]p(ositus) n(umeri) s(upra)s(cripti) i(n)st[a]nte Iul(io) Rufino
principe.
The true commander (praepositus) of this unit of Moors was at the same time tribune of a
cohort, hence he may have given lulius Rufinus an ad hoc command over the Moors together
with the title princeps. Alternatively, Rufinus could have been the regular administrative
princeps of the Moors and might have functioned as ad hoc commander over his unit when the
tribune was away with the cohort. By contrast, if Rufinus was the princeps of the cohort it is
hard to see why he should join in a dedication to the Genius of the Moors.
Support for our interpretation of the Burgh-by-Sands altar comes from two inscriptions
found at the military road station of Thenadassa (Ain Wif) in the Eastern Djebel of Tripolitania. The ruins of that site show no perimeter fortification, hence it is out of the question
that a cohort should have had its camp there. Nevertheless, under Septimius Severus the
commander of an auxiliary cohort dedicated an altar at this site:24
[I(ovi)] O(ptimo) M(aximo) D(olicheno) [pr]o salute et victoria [dom]inor(um)nostror(um)
imp(eratorum) L(uci) Sep[t(imi)] Severi Pii Pert(inacis) Aug(usti) et M(arci) Aurel[i]
Antonin(i) Aug(usti), Aug(usti) n(ostri) f(ili) et P(ubli) Sneptimi Getae] Aug(usti), Aug(usti)
n(ostri) fil(i) Aug(usti) n(ostri) fratr(is) et luliae Aug(ustae) matr(is) castr(orum), M(arcus)
Caninius Adiutor Faustinianus praef(ectus) coh(ortis) II H(a)m(iorum), praep(ositus)
vex(illationis) le4g(ionis) III] Aug(ustae)p(iae) v(indicis)aram po[su]it et dedicavit.
Obviously, only a small vexillation of legio III Augusta was posted at the unfortified road station
of Thenadassa, and the prefect of the cohort, under whose supervision the detachment was
placed (praepositus), may have come on a visit to dedicate the altar.25 Who commanded the
detachment in the absence of the prefect? A building inscription from the same site gives the
answer:26
M(arcus) Coeli [us - - - -]ninus [- - -]balneum v[etustatecorrup]tumrestituendum[curavit],
eidem assam cellam a so[lo] fecit et cylisterium instituit curante Iunio Sucesso )(centurione)
principe.
M. Coelius Saturninus will have been prefect of the same cohort, while lunius Sucessus
belonged to the legion, and as princeps he commanded the detachment.27 The situation at
23 The reading q(uorum) c(uram) a(git) is due to Professor John Mann, as Professor E. Birley tells me. I do
not consider the O in the middle of Maurorumnto be missing: the drawing in RIB shows it there, only shrunk
to almost a point.
24 On Ain Wif see R. G. Goodchild and J. B. Ward-Perkins, 'The Limes Tripolitanus in the Light of Recent
Discoveries', JRS xxxix (1949), 81-95. The inscription ibid. and Inscr. Romn.Tripolitania 868.
25 R. Saxer, op. cit. (note I6), Iol, no. 300, wrongly understands Thenadassa to be a castellum. H. Devijver,
Prospographia Militarium Equestrium (Leuven, 1976), no. C 76, is right in assuming that Caninius held both
commands at the same time.
26
Goodchild - Ward Perkins, op. cit. (note 24); Inscr. Rom. Tripolitania 869.
- Ward
27 Devijver, op. cit. (note 25), no. C, 216. The princeps as commander of the vexillation: Goodchild
Perkins, op. cit. (note 24), 88; Saxer, op. cit. (note I6).

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PRINCEPS

AS A TITLE

FOR AD HOC COMMANDERS

13

Thenadassa was the same as at Burgh-by-Sands: the equestrian commander of a cohort,


entrusted with an additional command, appointed a princeps as ad hoc commander for the
smaller unit.28
To sum up, the title princeps could designate ad hoc commanders of legionary or auxiliary
detachments, whether inside or outside their garrison province, whether brigaded or not.
Such a princeps might be a high-ranking primipilaris as commander of the peregrini in the
capital of the empire, or a low ranking auxiliary in charge of a numerusof Moors on Hadrian's
Wall.29 Centurions of varying rank, decurions, and conceivably even other principales, were
entrusted with such commands, and to judge from the careers of the principesperegrinorum,
the appointment in itself conveyed no rank or promotion. The princeps as ad hoc commander
is thus an equivalent of praepositus, curator, or curamragens and must be distinguished from
the princeps as head of day-to-day operations.30 The position was a means of expediency to
keep the command structure flexible but, typical for Roman institutions, it became a pattern
to be followed in its own turn.31As such it appears on monuments from the African and Syrian
desert, from Spain, Germany, and even from the North of Britain.
Universityof Hawaii.

28 The sixth British inscription mentioning an auxiliary princeps yields little for our study (RIB 792): I(ovi)
O(ptimo) M(aximo), Genio loci, Subr(ius) Apollinaris, princep(s) c(ohortis) I V[- -- -]. It is tempting to see a
p(rinceps) d(ecurio) v(exillationis) in RIB I42I : Matrib(its) templ(um) cuni ara vex(dlatio) coh(ortis) I Vard(ullorum)
instante PD /, v(otum) s(olvit) 1(ibens) m(erito): unfortunately, the mention of an officer's rank without his
name is just as odd as if PDV were his name without a rank.
29 See the examples discussed above. Another case is more difficult to assess: the Greek equivalent of princeps
prot(ector - -) primip(il- - -) of Inscr. Graec. Bulg. iii 2, 1570 has been expanded by Domaszewski (above,
note i), I88, as princeps prot(ectorum), primip(ilaris) with the explanation that the man was princeps of a
collegium of protectores like other alleged principes of their collegia. Yet the existence of principes as heads of
collegia is doubtful (see the following note). Hence Inscr. Graec. Bulg. Ill 2, 1570 may mean a princeps as an
ad hoc commander of the numerus prinmipilariumthat accompanied the emperor on campaigns ('Hyginus', 6) read princeps prot(ector) primip(ilarium), unless one takes the title princeps prot(ector) to denote a titulary
legionary princeps, for which see M. Christol, 'La carriere de Traianus Mucianus et I'origine des protectores',
Chiron vii (i977), 393-408.
30 Yet another military use of the word princeps occurs in the ranking of NCO's, where one finds a princeps
signifer, signifer secundus, etc. (CIL viii, 4333; Pap. Dura Europos 89, 1, 2 = Fink, op. cit. (note 3), 50, cf. ibid.
I84 ff.); for a possible p(rinceps) d(uplicarius) leg(ionis) I Ital(icae) see G. Kazarov, Die Denkmdler des thrakischen
Reitergottes in Bulgarien (Budapest, 1938), 12, no. 599, with photograph. A tubicen princ. has recently come
to light (Bull. Arch. Algirienne v (1976), Ii) and perhaps a bucinator principahls (Ann. Epigr. 1896, 21) also
belongs to this group. Such principes, however, are not the heads of collegia as surmised by Domaszewski
(preceding note): Ann. Epigr. 1907, 184 shows an optio in that position, above the pr(inceps) of the tubicines.
that might refer
An unpublished inscription from Kotiaion, Asia, mentions a princeps optio. rr[pivKEY]
TTriOV
to the senior optlo, cf. Th. Drew-Bear, Les voyages d'Aurelius Gaius, Soldat de Dioclitien,
forthcoming.
In such cases the word princeps apparently expresses seniority rather than rank.
31 Princeps may even have been the title of the commander of local constables at Smyrna, for in the Acta of
Pionius 15 the T-rrrrapXos
iETra
see H. Musurillo,
says, apparently of himself,
yaTIV i&&6X6yog,
TrpiVKI
8s1WyPITC-v
The Acts of the Christian Martyrs
(Oxford, 1972), 156 f., with the 'AXa,
unconvincing translation 'An imperial officer
is worthy of respect!' Perhaps princeps means here 'local commander'.

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