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The limitanei or ripenses, meaning respectively "the soldiers in frontier districts" (from the Latin phrase limes, meaning a military district of a frontier province) or "the soldiers on the riverbank" (from the Rhine and Danube), were an important part of the late Roman and early Byzantine army after the reorganizations of the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. The limitanei, unlike the comitatenses, palatini, and scolae, garrisoned fortifications along the borders of the Roman Empire and were not normally expected to fight far from their fortifications. The limitanei were lower-status and lower-paid than the comitatenses and palatini,〔Treadgold 1995, pp. 149–157.〕 and the status distinction between scolae, palatini, comitatenses, and limitanei had largely replaced the older distinction between praetorians, legionaries, and auxiliaries.〔Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 19, 35–37, 57.〕 The limitanei and palatini both included legionary units alongside auxiliary units.〔Treadgold 1995, pp. 44–59.〕 The nature of the limitanei changed considerably between their introduction in the 3rd or 4th century and their disappearance in the 6th or 7th century. In the 4th century, the limitanei were professional soldiers,〔Treadgold 1995, p. 161.〕〔Strobel 2011, p. 268.〕〔Southern & Dixon, 1996, p. 57.〕 and included both infantry and cavalry as well as river flotillas,〔〔The ''Notitia Dignitatum''.〕 but after the 5th century they were part-time soldiers,〔 and after the 6th century they were unpaid militia.〔Treadgold 1995, p. 60, for the pay cancellation but not the role.〕〔Southern & Dixon, 1996, p. 36.〕 The role of the limitanei remains somewhat uncertain.〔Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 29 and 33.〕 Hugh Elton and Warren Treadgold suggest that, besides garrisoning fortifications along the frontier, they operated as border guards and customs police and to prevent small-scale raids.〔〔Elton 1996, pp. 204–206.〕 They may have driven off medium-scale attacks without the support of the field armies.〔Southern & Dixon, 1996, p. 65.〕 Edward Luttwak saw their role as a key part in a strategy of defence-in-depth in combination with the provincial field armies〔Luttwak 1976, pp. 130–145. (Can someone please clear this up? I don't have Luttwak's book, but the limitanei ''were'' the provincial border armies; who would be provincial field armies?)〕 ==Origins and History== In the early 3rd century, the Roman military was organized into several provincial armies under the command of the provincial governors, a smaller reserve under the command of the emperor, guard units such as the Praetorian Guard, and the urban cohorts.〔Le Bohec, Yann, ''The Imperial Roman Army'', pp. 19-35.〕〔The reserve would include the Legio II Parthica. Although Septimius Severus may not have used it as a reserve, his successors did. Southern & Dixon 1996, pp. 5-9 and 9-11.〕 Field armies were temporary formations, usually composed of the reserve and/or of detachments drawn from the provincial armies.〔Southern & Dixon 1996, pp. 9-11.〕〔Strobel 2011, p.p. 269-271.〕 In the later 3rd century, due to the frequent wars, field armies could remain together for several years, under the direct command of the emperor, and would require their own recruitment systems.〔〔Southern, Pat, and Dixon, Karen R., 1996, ''The Late Roman Army'', pp. 9-14.〕 By the mid 4th century, the Roman military was divided into frontier armies under the command of the provincial duces and permanent field armies under the command of the emperor, the magistri peditum, magistri equitum, or comites.〔Elton, 1996, pp. 208-210.〕〔Southern and Dixon, pp. 57-60〕 The frontier armies would patrol the borders and oppose small-scale raids.〔Treadgold1995, p. 93.〕〔 They may have driven off medium-scale attacks without the support of the field armies.〔Southern & Dix, 1996, p. 65.〕 The frontier armies would later be known as limitanei or ripenses.〔Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 35-37. The earliest reference, from 325, distinguishes ''comitatenses'', ''ripenses'', and ''alares et cohortales'', so certain lower-status frontier units were not counted as part of the ripenses though they would later be counted as part of the limitanei.〕 The field armies would respond to larger-scale attacks, would fight against rival emperors, and would conduct any large-scale attacks into neighboring countries. The field armies would later be known as comitatenses or palatini.〔Elton, 1996, p. 94.〕 The first known written reference to ''ripenses'' was in 325 and the first to ''limitanei'' was not until 363.〔Lee 2007, p. 11. Lee cites the Theodosian Code.〕〔Theodosian Code 7.20.4 and 12.1.56〕 Historians disagree on whether the emperor Diocletian, or one of his successors, such as Constantine I, split the Roman military into frontier armies and field armies.〔Southern & Dixon 1996, pp. 15-20.〕〔Lee 2007, pp. 10-12.〕 Theodor Mommsen, H.M.D. Parker, and more recently, Warren Treadgold and David S. Potter〔D.S.Potter, ''The Roman Empire at Bay AD 180-395'', pp. 451-453. Potter strongly doubts that the creation of ripenses could be attributed to a cooperation of Constantine with Licinius, therefore he dates it back to the reign of Diocletia. However he admits that there is no unequivocal evidence.〕 attribute the reorganization to Diocletian.〔Treadgold 1995, p. 10.〕〔Southern & Dixon 1996, p. 15.〕 E.C. Nischer, D. van Berchem, and more recently, M.C. Bishop and J.C.N. Coulston attribute mainly an expansion to Diocletian, and the reorganization to Constantine I and his successors.〔Bishop, M.C., and Coulston, J.C.N., 2006, ''Roman Military Equipment, From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome'', p. 199.〕〔Southern & Dixon, 1996, pp. 15 & 35.〕 Karl Strobel sees the reorganization as the culmination of trends going back well into the 3rd century, with Diocletian strengthening both the frontier and field armies.〔Strobel 2011, p.p. 268-269.〕 The division of the Roman Empire, the collapse of its western portion, and the formation of the successor states means that the limitanei may have developed differently in the east and the west, or even in different regions of the west. In the east, the emperor Justinian cancelled their pay.〔In 545. Treadgold 1995, pp. 60 and 97.〕 After this, the eastern limitanei were no longer professional soldiers, but continued to exist as militia through the Persian Wars and the Arab Conquest.〔Treadgold 1995, pp. 97-98.〕〔Southern & Dixon, 1996, p. 36〕 The Arabic ajnad of Palestine, Jordan, Damascus, and Homs, may represent continuations of the commands of Palaestina, Arabia, Phoeniciae, and Syria.〔 In the west, the collapse of the empire cut off regular pay. Peter Heather notes an incident in the Life of St. Severinus, in Noricum in the 460s, where raiders had intercepted and cut down limitanei who were bringing their pay to the rest of their unit.〔Heather, 2005, p. 412.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Limitanei」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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