Batavi (military unit)

The soldiers of the legion bowed to the Emperor begging him to forgive them and give them an opportunity to redeem themselves and, at his invitation, took up arms, left the camp and attacked the enemies, killing the great part of them.

[3] It happened too (it is unclear whether at this time or not) that the barbarians were able to subtract the banner of the Batavi and Heruli units, which were made the object of derision by the raiders.

[8] Tacitus (De origine et situ Germanorum XXIX) described the Batavi as the bravest of the tribes of the area, hardened in the Germanic wars, with cohorts under their own commanders transferred to Britannia.

Dio Cassius describes this surprise tactic employed by Aulus Plautius against the "barbarians"—the British Celts—at the battle of the River Medway, 43: It is uncertain how they were able to accomplish this feat.

The late 4th century writer on Roman military affairs Vegetius mentions soldiers using reed rafts, drawn by leather leads, to transport equipment across rivers.

This would only have been possible by the use of some kind of buoyancy device: Ammianus Marcellinus mentions that the Cornuti regiment swam across a river floating on their shields "as on a canoe" (357).

[10] Since the shields were wooden, they may have provided sufficient buoyancy The Batavi were used to form the bulk of the Emperor's personal Germanic bodyguard from Augustus to Galba.

A Batavian contingent was used in an amphibious assault on Ynys Mon (Anglesey), taking the assembled Druids by surprise, as they were only expecting Roman ships.

The exact size of the unit, which was at least partially mounted, is also unknown, but is described in ancient sources as a cohort, which in this period normally implied a strength of ca.

[18] The Bodyguard was disbanded briefly after the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, and was finally dissolved by Galba in 68, because of its loyalty to Nero (ruled 54-68), whom he had overthrown.

[20] Despite the alliance, one of the high-ranking Batavi, Julius Paullus, to give him his Roman name, was executed by Fonteius Capito on a false charge of rebellion.