Military during the 5th and 6th century. Was the 5th and 6th changed by the time the 12th century came? DYR
The frontier troops were designed to deal with and discourage low intensity threats, such as raiding across the border, and to impede the progress of major incursions to allow sufficient time for the mobile field forces to respond and intercept invaders within Roman territory. Frontier and field forces included both infantry and cavalry contingents that were organized into units and characterized by specified ranks with defined command structures that culminated, at least in theory, in the emperor. Cavalry, which in the late Republic and early Empire had been supplied, for the most part, by foreign allies (auxiliaries), was now fully integrated into the Roman military; its importance and
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Rome’s armies were complemented by a standing navy, with fleets based in ports along the frontier’s rivers (most notably the Danube and Rhine) and in the port cities of Italy. But, as in earlier times, the imperial navy was a subordinate (and despised) element of the military without a strategic mission. Its duties were limited largely to protecting Roman grain-tax fleets against pirates and conveying important imperial dispatches. Engineers, medical services, intelligence services and a full commissariat supported the land combat troops.
All of this was paid for with taxes. Indeed, support of the military was the single greatest expenditure of the Roman state. The payment of taxes, however, was the extent to which most Roman citizens contributed or (if they were lucky) interacted with the military. The cultural and social divide between soldier and civilian that had begun even before Augustus’ professionalization of military service had grown wider over the centuries. In the fourth and early fifth centuries ordinary citizens of the great metropolitan centers of the Empire—Rome, Alexandria, Constantinople—and