Les auxiliaires militaires de l’armée d’Afrique héritiers de l’exercitus Africae ?

Abstract

The link between the French colonial army in North Africa and the Roman exercitus Africae has often been drawn. This article explores whether the same connection can be established between the Roman auxiliaries and the 19th-century auxiliaries from Northern Africa. The relationship has never been drawn for several reasons: the comparison is less easy as the French Legion bears technical and statutory similarities with the auxilia but not with the Roman legio. Most scholarly attention has focused on the legio, the outstanding Roman military unit in French eyes, ignoring the tactical and numerical significance of the Roman auxilia. Lastly the conditions of recruitment and employment for auxilia and auxiliaries were entirely different.

Keywords

• Roman army in Africa
• auxiliaries
• exercitus Africae
• indigenous people
• legionaries
• numeri