This page created 28 June 2015, and last modified: 28 June 2015

The following 31 units (or detachments of units) of Equites promoti are to be found in the Notitia (the numbers in front of the names refer to Ingo Maier's numbering scheme):

In the eastern half of the empire:

9.3 Equites promoti seniores, one of the vexillationes palatinae under the Magister Militum Praesentalis I
9.14 Equites promoti iuniores, one of the vexillationes comitatenses under the Magister Militum Praesentalis I
15.9 Equites promoti clibanarii, a vexillationes comitatenses under the Magister Militum per Orientem
56/7.9 Equites promoti indigenae legio tertia Diocletiana (? see notes), under the Dux Thebaidos
59.3 Equites promoti Illyriciani, at Menochiae, under the Dux Palaestinae
59.7 Equites promoti indigenae, at Sabiaea, also under the Dux Palaestinae
59.8 Equites promoti indigenae, at Zodocathae, also under the Dux Palaestinae
61.3 Equites promoti Illyriciani, at Tricoma, under the Dux Arabiae
61.6 Equites promoti indigenae, at Speluncis, also under the Dux Arabiae
61.7 Equites promoti indigenae, at Mefa, also under the Dux Arabiae
63.4 Equites promoti indigenae, at Saltatha, under the Dux Foenicis
63.6 Equites promoti indigenae, at Avatha, also under the Dux Foenicis
63.7 Equites promoti indigenae, at Nazala, also under the Dux Foenicis
65.3 Equites promoti Illyriciani, at Occariba, under the Dux Syriae et Eufratensis Syriae
65.5 Equites promoti indigenae, at Adada, also under the Dux Syriae et Eufratensis Syriae
65.13 Equites promoti indigenae, at Rosafa in Augusto Eufratensi, and also under the Dux Syriae et Eufratensis Syriae
67.3 Equites promoti Illyriciani, at Callinico, under the Dux Osrhoenae
67.5 Equites promoti indigenae, at Banasam, also under the Dux Osrhoenae
67.6 Equites promoti indigenae, at Sina Iudaeorum, also under the Dux Osrhoenae
69.3 Equites promoti Illyriciani, at Resain-Theodosiopoli, under the Dux Mesopotamiae.

And in the western half of the empire:

102/5.4 Equites promoti seniores, one of the vexillationes palatinae listed in the Magister Equitum's cavalry roster and assigned (102/5.211) to the Magister Peditum's Italian command
102/5.35 Equites promoti iuniores, one of the vexillationes comitatenses listed in the Magister Equitum's cavalry roster and assigned (102/5.245) to the Comes Africae
102/5.44 Cuneus equitum promotorum, one of the unassigned vexillationes comitatenses listed in the Magister Equitum's cavalry roster
141.10 Equites promoti, at Teutibarcio, under the Dux Provinciae Pannoniae secundae ripariensis et Saviae
141.18 Equites promoti, at Tauruno, also under the Dux Provinciae Pannoniae secundae ripariensis et Saviae
143.8 Equites promoti, at Crumero, under the Dux Provinciae Valeriae ripensis
143.14 Equites promoti, at Matrice, also under the Dux Provinciae Valeriae ripensis
145.4 Equites promoti, at Arrabonae, under the Dux Pannoniae primae et Norici ripensis
145.10 Equites promoti, at Flexo, also under the Dux Pannoniae primae et Norici ripensis
145.19 Equites promoti, at Mauros, also under the Dux Pannoniae primae et Norici ripensis
145.24 Equites promoti, at Comagenis, also under the Dux Pannoniae primae et Norici ripensis.

Only the shield patterns of the western seniores and iuniores units are shown:

Those under O come from the Bodleian manuscript in Oxford, those under P from the Paris manuscript, those under M from the first portion of the Munich manuscript, those under W from the second portion of the Munich manuscript, and those under B from the Froben edition.

It can be seen the while the western limitanei units are all listed as plain Equites promoti, the eastern ones are all differentiated between Equites promoti indigenae and Equites promoti Illyriciani. The name promoti means 'advanced, promoted', and seems to have originally been applied to individual soldiers, but as time went on, groups of such select legionaries appear to have been given training as horsemen. This seemingly gave rise, especially during the 3rd century, to the formation of legionary cavalry units, which then seem to have been increasingly detached for use as independent units (see e.g. M.F.Pavkovic's 1991 Ph.D. thesis, here), leading to the large numbers of Equites promoti units found in the Notitia - albeit mostly in limitanei roles rather than serving with field armies. The 31 units so-named in the Notitia represent a substantial portion of the empire's cavalry strength.

However, it may be that four of the units listed are actually two duplicated pairs: the eastern and western Equites promoti seniores and iuniores, respectively. While it is clear that in some case, eastern and western units with duplicated names really are different units (e.g. the two different infantry Cornuti seniores units), it is also entirely possible that some such duplicated names may belong to only a single unit, with the names being separated by time as well as by space. This more likely here given that both seniores unit[s] are ranked as palatine units, while both iuniores unit[s] are listed as comital - a random mixing of two palatine and two comital units sharing two names would have only a 25% chance of showing this arrangement (of course, it would never be truly random; a seniores unit would not be ranked as comital while its iuniores congener is ranked palatine; enforcing this rule raises the odds to 50%).

Note that the legio tertia Diocletiana portion of the Equites promoti indigenae legio tertia Diocletiana's name may in fact belong to a different unit - see under the Dux Thebaidos for details.

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