Auxiliary soldiers were recruited from non-Roman tribes. Their name means 'helpers', and they assisted the Roman legionary troops by providing extra manpower and specialised fighting techniques.

The Auxiliary soldiers provided the army's cavalry and light infantry; the soldiers received citizenship when they retired.

Auxiliary regiments (large groups of Auxiliay soldiers) were attached to a legion, and normally there would be the same number of auxiliaries as legionaries in the resulting group. The legion's commanding officer was in control of the whole group.

What was the job of the Roman Auxiliary?

The job of the auxiliaries in battle was to protect the legions by fighting in front of, or to the side of them. Auxiliaries often had special skills such as horse riding and archery.

There were different sorts of auxiliary troops. Light infantry soldiers had just a few weapons. Cavarly soldiers rode horses.

Mounted infantry

The mounted infantry were recruited from tribes which had a good tradition of horsemanship.

Uniform

Most auxiliaries wore a simple mail or scale shirt over their tunic. Some also wore leather or woolen trousers.

Auxiliaries wore similar helmets to those worn by legionaries. The shield was usually made from leather and wood and was oval shaped.

The auxiliaries included archers, recruited from Syria, Scythia (the Black Sea) and Crete.

Auxiliary Regiments

Each regiment was commanded by a prefect (praefectus) or tribune, who answered to the legionary commanders.

Auxiliary Regiment names

Like the legions, auxiliary units had numbers and names. The most common part of the name showed where the unit was originally raised.

We made up a regiment name for Year 4 in our school. We decided it would be called:

Woodlandia IV Edwardius (IV because Year 4)

Our regiments name includes the home of ourregiment (school name) and our leader (headteacher). We added "ius" or "ia" at the end of the names to make them sound more Roman like.