This page created 14 November 2015, and last modified: 21 November 2015 (RIB 3185 photo added)

The sixth officer listed (154.22 in Ingo Maier's numbering scheme) under the command of the Dux Britanniarum following the subsection headed "along the line of the Wall" (item 154.16, per lineam valli), is the Praefectus alae secundae Asturum, said to be stationed at Cilurno.

Cilurno, the station of the Praefectus alae secundae Asturum (i.e. Cilurnum), is the fort at modern Walwick Chesters in Northumberland. It would appear to have been garrisoned by ala II Asturum by 184 at the latest (RIB 1463), and is mentioned in many other inscriptions from the same site. One tombstone from Chesters (RIB 1481) depicts the deceased on his horse, sword raised; alas, no shield is depicted. Like ala I Asturum (154.19), this unit would have originally been recruited in Spain.

The tombstone (RIB 1481) of Marcus Aurelius Victor. Public domain image taken from an 1880 book.	And the tombstone as displayed in Newcastle's Great North Museum. Photo by M.C. Bishop, and used under CCA 2.0 license.

As with all limitanei units in the Notitia, the shield pattern of the ala II Asturum is not illustrated.

1. Ingo Maier; "Appendix 4: Numeration of the new edition of the compilation 'notitia dignitatum' (Cnd)"; last accessed 26 October 2015. See also for here for numbering examples. Return
2. John Collingwood Bruce; "A Descriptive Catalogue of Antiquities, Chiefly British at Alnwick Castle"; Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1880). Return

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