Roman Military Diploma - Research Significance

Research Significance

Over 800 diplomas from the Principate have been found and over 650 published (although the majority have survived in only fragmentary form). This constitutes a rare corpus of Roman documentary material, whose survival is due to their being made of metal, rather than bio-degradable material such as papyrus, wood or wax. A particular advantage of diplomas for historians is that they are dated. The date of the constitution was entered as the year of the emperor's tribunicia potestas; while the date of issue of the notarised copy (diploma) was given as the day of the month and the names of the Consuls currently in office (resulting in diplomas being an important source for the names of suffect-Consuls). As these documents also list the name of the provincial governor, they provide valuable data on senators' career-paths. In addition, diplomas usually record the names of several auxiliary units which served in the same province at the same time, as they were normally issued in batches. Thus a single diploma may yield the names of as many as 25 units included in the same constitution, critical data on the deployment of auxiliary units in the various provinces of the empire at different times. Constitutions are also known just for individual units, even individual veterans.

The following information on the beneficiary was usually recorded in the diploma: beneficiary's regiment, regimental commander's name, beneficiary's military rank, name of beneficiary, name of beneficiary's father and origin (nation, tribe or city); name of beneficiary's wife and name of her father and origin; and names of children granted citizenship.