Auxilia Palatina

Auxilia palatina (sing. auxilium palatinum) were infantry units of the Late Roman army, first raised by Constantine I as part of the new field army he created in about 325.

Some of the senior and probably oldest of these units had special names such as Cornuti or Brachiati; others were named after the tribes from which they were recruited (many of these in eastern Gaul, or among the German barbarians). These units all became palatine units when a distinction was drawn between palatina and the remainder of the comitatenses around 365. There is no direct evidence for the strength of an auxilium, but A.H.M. Jones (History of the Later Roman Empire, Blackwell, Oxford, 1964 p 682) estimates that it may have been 600 or 700. Some auxilia are attested as limitanei, especially on the Danube. It is not clear whether these were regarded as a different category of unit.