Egyptian Units and the Reliability of the Notitia Dignitatum, pars Oriens

Abstract

This study argues for the reliability of the Egyptian military lists in the pars Oriens of the Notitia Dignitatum and opposes the views of some scholars, who see the Not.Dig. as a purely ideological composition unrelated to historical reality and without value as an historical source. Deniers of the Not.Dig.'s reliability generally ignore the documentary evidence. For Egypt, papyrological documentation verifies the Not.Dig.'s accuracy � a circumstance not so readily available for other parts of the Roman Empire � and, complemented by archaeological evidence, provides a strong argument for the completeness and reliability of at least the Egyptian sections. Thus the probability of the Not.Dig.'s accuracy for other sections of the pars Oriens is also corroborated.