Cohors I Delmatarum milliaria equitata Cohors prima Delmatarum milliaria equitata ( " 1st part - mounted double - strength Cohort of Dalmatae " ) was a Roman auxiliary mixed infantry and cavalry regiment . It was named after , and originally recruited from , the Dalmatae ( or " Delmatae " ) , an Illyrian - speaking people that inhabited the Adriatic coastal mountain range of the eponymous Dalmatia . Ethnic origin . The ancient geographer Strabo describes these mountains as extremely rugged , and the Dalmatae as backward and warlike . He claims that they did not use money long after their neighbours adopted it and that they " made war on the Romans for a long time " . He also criticises the Dalmatae , a nation of pastoralists , for turning fertile plains into sheep pasture . Indeed , the name of the tribe itself is believed to mean " shepherds " , derived from the Illyrian word " delme " ( " sheep " ) . The final time this people fought against Rome was in the Illyrian revolt of AD 6 - 9 . The revolt was started by Dalmatae auxiliary forces and soon spread all over Dalmatia and Pannonia . The resulting war was described by the Roman writer Suetonius as the most difficult faced by Rome since the Punic Wars two centuries earlier . But after the war , the Dalmatae became a loyal and important source of recruits for the Roman army . Service record . According to Holder , a total of 12 " cohortes Delmatarum " appear to have been raised after the suppression of the Illyrian revolt , in two series , of 7 and 5 respectively . All these units were in existence by the time of emperor Claudius ( r . 41 - 54 ) Of these , 9 appear to have survived into the 2nd century . The regiment was probably founded by the end of the rule of the first Roman emperor , Augustus ( AD 14 ) and was certainly in existence by the end of the rule of Claudius ( r . 41 - 54 ) . It was probably upgraded to double - strength in or after the 80 ' s , which is when milliary units first appeared . The regiment is attested in 170 from a building inscription found in Salona , Dalmatia , where the unit was constructing a tower . An inscription dated c . 200 attests that the regiment participated in emperor Septimius Severus ' s Parthian campaign of 197 - 8 . However , virtually all the unit ' s extant inscriptions have been found in Dalmatia , so it is likely that its long - term station was in this province . This was unusual , as the vast majority of auxiliary units were stationed on or near the empire ' s borders , whilst Dalmatia was an internal province . Attested personnel . As their ethnic names imply , auxiliary regiments were originally recruited from specific native peoples of the empire . They remained largely homogenous ethnically during the early Julio - Claudian era ( to AD 37 ) , but became more mixed later due to increased recruitment of local inhabitants of the provinces in which a unit was deployed . After AD 70 , local recruitment became predominant and most regiments thus lost their original ethnic identity . However , " cohors I Delmatarum " was one of a minority of units that appear to have been stationed long - term in their original home province and thus probably retained its Dalmatian identity . The names of 4 " tribuni " ( regimental commanders ) are attested . One dedicated a stone at Aime in Alpine Gaul and so probably originated there ( c . 200 ) . 3 " centurion es " ( infantry officers ) and 1 " decurio " ( cavalry officer ) are attested , of which one was buried in Salona and was therefore probably Illyrian . 1 " caligatus " ( ranker ) is attested .