Fortissimi and Validissimi: The Batavian Auxiliaries of the Roman Army

The Batavians of the Lower Rhine became some of Rome’s most celebrated auxiliary soldiers, serving far from home while retaining a fiercely recognisable identity. Rada Varga’s Fortissimi and Validissimi traces their service through Roman accounts, inscriptions and archaeological evidence, from imperial bodyguards to cavalry units on the empire’s frontiers.

Their history was hardly one of straightforward loyalty. Batavian troops rebelled against Rome on the Rhine, fought in Britain and appeared in episodes as vivid as a fully armoured rider crossing the Danube before Hadrian. Even a request for more beer, preserved in a military text, brings the soldiers’ world unexpectedly close. The book follows these events to explore what military service meant for a community deeply entangled with Roman power.