ABSTRACT
Every client kingdom in Syria produced forces to assist the Roman army in suppressing the Jewish revolt in 66. Recruiting Syrians into a Roman auxiliary unit therefore would only take place on a systematic scale once the area came under direct Roman rule, though individuals could surely leave home and join the Roman army even under the kings. The armies of the kingdoms were not simply available for use in an emergency, but could be incorporated wholesale into the Roman army when the kingdom was annexed. The kingdom of Commagene was one of the earliest units to detach itself from the Syrian part of the Seleukid kingdom, dating its independence from 163 bc, though it was probably not really free of Seleukid domination for another half a century. The city of Cyrrhus is situated in the hills of northern Syria, in a position to interpose between the Euphrates crossing and Antioch and the Mediterranean coast.
