ABSTRACT
The late Roman military was different from that of the Principate, evolving through the conflicts and crises of the 3rd century. The most significant changes were the separation of civil and military offices in the imperial government and the permanent division finalized by Constantine I in the early 4th century that separated the field armies, comitatenses, from the static frontier forces, the limitanei, variously known as riparienses, ripenses, castellani, or burgarii. A number of general studies provide a fuller discussion of the late Roman military that is not necessary to repeat here, but there are some general points worth noting (see particularly Nicasie 1998; Elton 1997; also Southern and Dixon 1996; Whitby 2007; Jones 1964: 607–686, 1429–1450). The comitatenses were more privileged in terms of pay, length of service, and retirement benefits, with field army units only venturing into frontier zones for the purpose of campaigning or defensive support of the limitanei. The higher pay and conditions of the comitatenses may have been to entice recruits to serve in mobile field armies rather than static frontier units closer to their homes (Whitby 2007: 522), and higher pay may also have been a concession to potentially higher prices for supplies in cities where the comitatenses were billeted or due to less regularized supply lines.
