JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Mon, 13 Apr 2015 13:34:44 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsEFORE discussing the evidence for the origines of the men recruited into Roman army units in Britain, and the evidence for Britons being recruited into units in Britain or elsewhere, it will be convenient to summarize the evidence for recruitment-patterns for legions and auxilia for the empire as a whole.' It will then be possible to see if the evidence suggests a significantly different situation from that in other provinces, or alternatively if there are similarities which justify the equation of the situation in Britain with that obtaining elsewhere.
LEGIONARY RECRUITMENTIn relation to legionary recruitment three points must be noted:2 (i) A careful review of the evidence suggests that, right down to the time of Severus Alexander, new legions were normally raised in Italy: that is, until long after Italians had ceased to volunteer for service in existing legions-a curious anachronism. The reason for the practice is not altogether clear. Did the central government merely ignore the developments that had taken place, and pretend that the legions were still composed only of Italians? Or was this the only way in which new legions could be raised without disrupting the even flow of recruits to existing legions, if, as appears, normal recruitment was, in the second and third centuries, under the control of individual provincial governors? In this connection it may be noted that the normal annual intake for 28 legions on a 25-6 year term of service would be about 5,000 to 6,ooo (with no allowance for extra recruitment to offset deaths during service), so that the demand for about as many men again to form a completely new legion would be a heavy one for the normal recruiting areas to bear. In passing, we can now see why the name Italica arose for the two legions raised by Marcus Aurelius, and probably also for the legion raised by Severus Alexander: they were oddities in a period in which legions did not normally include Italians.4 * The authors wish to thank Professor S. S. Frere for a number of helpful suggestions.
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