Alpinorum auxiliary regiments This article concerns the Roman auxiliary regiments of the Principate period originally recruited in the western Alpine regions of the empire ( for the central / eastern Alps , see Raetorum auxiliary cohorts ) . The cohortes Alpinorum ( " cohorts of Alpini " ) came from " Tres Alpes " , the three small Roman provinces of the western Alps , Alpes Maritimae , Alpes Cottiae and Alpes Graiae . The cohortes Ligurum were originally raised from the Ligures people of Alpes Maritimae and Liguria " regio " of NW Italia . Introduction . Auxiliary unit nomenclature . Most regiments carried a number and a name ( normally a " peregrini " tribal name ) e . g . " I Raetorum " . A few regiments had no number . A confusing aspect of auxiliary unit nomenclature is that in some cases , more than one regiment can appear in the record with the same number and name e . g . there are two " I Raetorum " units attested in the 2nd century . In a few cases there is dispute as to whether it really is two distinct regiments , as opposed to the same regiment moving from one province to another or two detachments of the same regiment in different provinces at the same time . But in most cases , there is no doubt two separate regiments are involved . They can usually be distinguished by whether one is " equitata " or not , or has a c . R . title or not e . g . " I Raetorum " and " I Raetorum c . R . " The explanation for duplicated names is that where more than one series of cohorts was raised from the same original tribe , numbering would start from 1 again , especially if the second series was raised by a different emperor . The same factor affected the numbering of legions . Auxiliary unit types . There were three basic types of auxiliary regiment . ( 1 ) an " ala " ( literally " wing " ) was a purely cavalry regiment of 480 horse . ( 2 ) a " cohors " ( " cohort " ) was a purely infantry regiment of 480 foot . ( 3 ) a " cohors equitata " was a mixed infantry / cavalry regiment of 600 men ( 480 infantry , 120 cavalry ) . A minority of regiments were denoted " milliaria " which meant they were nominally double - strength : in practice 720 men for an " ala milliaria " , 800 for a " cohors milliaria " and 1 , 040 ( 800 inf / 240 cav ) for a " cohors equitata milliaria " . In addition , some regiments were denoted " sagittaria " ( from " sagitta " , " arrow " ) meaning they were composed of archers . The c . R . title . The honorific title " civium Romanorum " ( " c . R . " for short ) was normally awarded by the emperor for valour to an auxiliary regiment as a whole . The award would include the grant of Roman citizenship to all the regiment ' s men , but not to subsequent recruits to the regiment . The regiment , however , would retain the prestigious title in perpetuity . Until 212 , only a minority of the empire ' s inhabitants ( inc . all Italians ) held full Roman citizenship . The rest were denoted " peregrini " , a second - class status . Since the legion s admitted only citizens , " peregrini " could only enlist in the auxilia . Citizenship carried a number of tax and other privileges and was highly sought - after . It could also be earned by serving the minimum 25 - year term in the auxilia . In 212 , all the inhabitants of the empire were granted full Roman citizenship and so the title became redundant . Records . The literary evidence for auxiliary regiments is almost non - existent . Unlike for the legion s , ancient Roman historians only rarely mention the auxilia at all , and never denote a specific unit . Knowledge of the auxilia is therefore dependent on inscriptions found bearing the regiment ' s name . Many of these are not datable ( even roughly ) and so are of limited value . The epigraphic record includes : ( 1 ) inscriptions from Roman military diploma s , which were bronze certificates of Roman citizenship awarded to peregrini soldiers who completed the minimum 25 years ' service in the auxilia : these are very useful as , if complete , they contain a precise date and the province in which the regiment was serving at the time ( as well the name , origin and rank of the recipient ) . ( 2 ) tiles or bricks , used in building work on Roman forts , stamped with the regiment ' s name . These show the forts where a regiment may have been based , but are rarely datable . ( 3 ) votive stone altars or tablets , and tombstones . These can indicate the addressee ' s origin if they are found in provinces away from the regiment ' s base . A minority are datable . The datable epigraphic record is very incomplete . Most of the regiments attested in the 2nd century are believed by inference to have been established in the early Julio - Claudian period , i . e . before 37 AD , but very few have left records dating to before 75 . Provinces deployed . Auxiliary regiments were mostly stationed in one province long - term . The Flavian ( 69 - 96 ) saw a lot of changes in auxiliary deployment in what appears a deliberate policy of deploying regiments away from their original home province . After that , deployments generally became much more settled , with most units remaining in the same province throughout the 2nd and 3rd centuries . Regiments , or detachments of regiments , could be summoned to participate in a major campaign elsewhere , but this would usually be just a short - term deployment . Forts garrisoned . Auxiliary regiments were normally attached , for operational purposes , to a particular legion . The " praefectus " ( commander ) of the regiment would report to the " legatus legionis " ( legion commander ) . Auxiliary regiments were mostly housed in Roman forts in frontier provinces or even beyond the empire ' s settled borders , to keep watch on barbarian activity . A regiment would usually garrison a fort alone , but sometimes shared with another regiment if it was a larger fort . More rarely , regiments appear to have been housed in the " castra legionaria " ( legionary fortress ) of the legion they were attached to . Although inscriptions , especially the regiment ' s tile - and brick - stamps , can attest which forts the regiment occupied , most are not datable and so it is rarely possible to reconstruct a precise sequence or chronology of forts occupied . Personnel origins . Auxiliary personnel left traces in inverse proportion to their numbers , for the obvious reason that memorials such as votive altars or tombstones were expensive and could be better afforded the higher the rank . Thus the names of more " praefecti " ( commanders ) and " principales " ( officers ) are attested than of " caligati " ( common soldiers , literally " booted " from " caliga " , the Roman marching sandal ) , even though " caligati " constituted over 80 % of personnel . The origin of the dedicator / deceased person is often impossible to establish . Sometimes the origin is recorded in the inscription . More commonly , it can be inferred from the location of the inscription if it is away from the province in which the regiment was based . The Alpini people . Several Celtic - speaking tribes inhabited the western Alps , most notably the Salassi of the " Alpes Graiae " ( Val d ' Aosta ) . They were finally subdued by Rome and their territory annexed in 15 BC . The Ligures occupied the coastal western Alps and the eponymous region of Liguria in NW Italy . Their language may have been either Celtic , related to Gaulish , or a non Indo - European tongue related to the Iberian language s spoken in pre - Roman Spain . Alpinorum cohorts . As mountain people , the Alpini et al . supplied mainly infantry : all the regiments in this article are " cohortes " save for one " ala Noricorum " . According to Holder , a total of 7 " cohortes Alpinorum " were raised , in two series , in the early 1st century . Of the first series , " II Alpina " is attested only in the early 1st century ( in a single inscription ) and was therefore evidently disbanded or destroyed in action . The other 6 survived into the 2nd century . However , Holder ' s analysis requires 4 regiments called " I Alpinorum " : " I Alpinorum " , " I Alpinorum eq " ( 1 ) , " I Alpinorum eq ( 2 ) " and " I Alpinorum peditata " . Spaul disputes this , claiming there were just two : " I Alpinorum eq " and " I Alpinorum ped . " Spaul ' s view seems more likely . The " II Alpina " mentioned above was , according to Holder , in the first series . Therefore , it is reasonable to assume that the first of the series was named " I Alpina " ( unattested ) and not " I Alpinorum " . The reason for assuming 2 " I Alpinorum equitata " that a unit of that name is attested both in Dacia Sup and Pannonia Inf . But it could well be the same unit shuttling between the two provinces , which were in the same region . Two " cohortes Ligurum " were raised under Augustus , " Ligurum equitata " ( no number , attested ) and " II Ligurum " ( unattested but inferred ) . After 70 AD they were merged with a Spanish and Corsican unit respectively , to form " I Ligurum et Hispanorum c . R . " and " II gemina Ligurum et Corsorum " . Both survived into the 2nd century . In conclusion , a total of 7 " Alpinorum " , " Ligurum " , " Montanorum " and " Noricorum " regiments appear to have been raised in the Julio - Claudian era . Of these 6 survived in the 2nd century , although 2 of these amalgamated with other units . The following table displays the available evidence for each " cohors " . However , new information , in the form of diplomas or other inscriptions , continues to be discovered each year .