Introduction

After Sardinia was conquered in 238 B.C. and became a province in 227 B.C., the Romanisation of the island began in a slow but continuous manner. One element, perhaps the most decisive in the Romanisation of the conquered territories, was the recruitment of men into the Roman army....

When a new territory came under the control of Rome, in addition to the fiscal aspect, the local populations had to fulfil the provision of young men for military service. These young men, not yet Roman citizens, were enrolled in auxiliary units, AUXILIA, consisting of 500 (quingenary cohorts) or 1000 men (miliary cohorts). Enlistment was based on agreements that were made with the rulers of the conquered countries or peoples. They were often compulsory enlistments, but voluntary enlistments also occurred (such as for legionaries already holding Roman citizenship). The enrolment of men in the auxiliary cohorts was tolerated because at the end of their military career, which lasted 25 years (18 for legionaries, 15 for praetorians and 28 for infantrymen enlisted in the fleet), there was the coveted goal of receiving Roman citizenship from the emperor.

Sardinia, after its conquest under the Roman republic by two legions, was garrisoned by three auxiliary cohorts from the first decade of the imperial period under Emperor Augustus. One of the first cohorts was the Cohors I Corsorum probably composed of 1,000 soldiers from Corsica or from the northernmost territories of the island, precisely from the Corsican population. Its camp was located in a central area of Sardinia, Forum Traiani, in present-day Fordongianus. The second cohort enlisted was the Cohors VII Lusitanorum from present-day Portugal. This unit founded the castrum of Augusti more or less near the present-day town of Austis, which retains practically the same name. While the third department of auxiliary soldiers, Cohors III Aquitanorum from Gaul, built the castrum of Luguido (later known as Castra Felicia in the 7th century A.D., during the occupation of the Eastern Romans, the Byzantines). Today, part of the ruins are located above the hill of San Simeone, a few hundred metres from the church Nostra Signora di Castro (the name is another confirmation of the existence of this fort), in the territory of Oschiri.

A total of some 1,500 to 2,000 men controlled Sardinia and especially the centre of the island, where some pockets of resistance by tribes that resented Rome's control created quite a few worries not only for the Romans but also for the Sardinian populations of the lowlands. In fact, a great and feared revolt (probably the last great revolt) took place in 6 A.D.; and it should be around this time that a remilitarisation of the island took place with the construction of new castra and garrisons in the most central part of the island. It is also supposed, given the seriousness of the revolt, that in this period two more cohorts, one of which was also composed of Sardinians, the Cohor I Sardorum et Corsorum and the Cohors II Ligurum et Corsorum, were added at a later date, for a combined total of 2000-3000 auxiliary soldiers to control Sardinia.

While the other cohorts were infantry units, the Cohors III Aquitanorum Equitata was also composed of 120 horsemen because it had the task of controlling a vast territory that stretched from present-day Oschiri to the territory of present-day Fonni. A very vast jurisdiction that required precisely the aid of soldiers on horseback for faster movements.

With the re-establishment of order, from the 2nd century A.D., the garrison of the island was reduced to the Cohor I Sardorum and at least a detachment of the Misenum fleet to control the coastline. This fleet was distributed between the port of Kalaris and Turris (today's Porto Torres). Sardinia supplied many Sardinian sailors as naval infantrymen in the Roman fleet. Currently, according to written records, the highest number were provided by Sardinia.

The recruitment of Sardinians

For the army, Sardinia provided two Cohorts of Sardinian soldiers only: the Cohors II Sardorum and the Cohors I Nurritanorum. Both were sent to present-day Algeria, where they built the castrum of Rapidum. These contingents were then merged into a single cohort, the Cohor II Sardorum. Its task was to guard the borders that separated the Roman territory of North Africa from the Sahara desert where the Berber (barbarian) populations were a threat to this southernmost part of the empire.

With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, after a parenthesis of about 70 years of Vandal domination, Sardinia was garrisoned by a Byzantine garrison (Eastern Romans) based in Fordongianus, which took the name Chrysopolis from Forum Traiani. Even today, the remains of small Byzantine military garrisons can still be found all over the island. Unfortunately, after this period we still have no record of what military forces were stationed in Sardinia.

Massimiliano Schirru is the co-founder, together with his wife Sabina, of the Castrum Romano Association of Sassari, which is responsible for the reconstruction of the Roman Castrum of La Crucca and which operates in the field of historical re-enactment and the historical, cultural, recreational and leisure activities that are organised annually in the park surrounding the Roman fort of La Crucca.

Visit the Park of the Roman Castrum of La Crucca, you too can spend a different day in the open air and perhaps meet the legionaries of the Cohors I Nurritanorum, a Sardinian unit made up of Sardinian soldiers...