InstitutionClaim Cited
Roman military
A surviving strength report from Vindolanda around 92–97 CE—probably an interim working document—counted 752 members of the First Cohort of Tungrians, but only 265 fit soldiers at the fort: most of the unit was detached elsewhere. Letters and records from the site show grain, hides, cash, wagons, officers' households, and uncertain suppliers holding the frontier post together, making Roman coordination visible as a changing local coalition rather than a timeless legionary design.
What did a frontier commander need to know—and whom did he depend on—when most of his nominal unit was somewhere else?