Hello, after spending some time on my 28s, I getting back to my 6's. I'm basing my Romans today and I'm adding small labels to the bases to identify the units. I can't find anywhere in my literature or on the web how to label the cohorts in Latin, which I'd like to do. I know that they were called, simply "the first cohort," "the second cohort," etc. I just don't know which declensions to use. My labels look like this:

LEG XI CLAUDIA - P - F

I cohortem

I found something like this, but due to space, I'd like to use numbers instead

• primo cohortem
• secundo cohortem
• cohortis tertii
• quarta cohors
• et quinta cohors
• cohors sexta
• cohors septima
• cohors octava
• nona cohortem
• decimam cohortem

Not sure what to go with (e.g. Cohors I or I Cohortem), any advice is much appreciated.

Richard in Saxony

A long time since Latin lessons at school, but I hope these help.

First cohort - primo cohortem

second cohort - cohors secunda

third cohort - cohortis tertii

fourth cohort - quarta cohors

fifth cohort - quinta cohors

sixth cohort - cohors sexta

seventh cohort - septimam decimam cohortem

eigth cohort - octo cohortis

ninth cohort - nona cohortem

tenth cohort - decimam cohortem

Auxiliaries - Auxilia

Legion cavalry - alarii equites

Personally I would use Roman numerals and just abbreviate names to COH; e.g. I COH etc. Hope it helps with naming the units.

Steve from Wales

Thanks a lot, that helps and the abbreviations are better in any case!

I'm no Latin expert, but Wiki tells me that "Cohors" is a feminine noun, and I THINK that the ordinal number would follow the noun, in the same way that you see inscriptions to LEG XI (as you mentioned), being the eleventh legion. You'd therefore have (in the nominative and vocative cases anyway):

Cohors prima, ... secunda, ... tertia, ... quarta, ... quinta, ... sexta, ... septima, ... octava, ... nona and ... decima

That said, the previous poster's idea of COH I, COH II, COH III, COH IV, COH V, COH VI, COH VII, COH VIII, COH IX and COH X makes a lot of sense, and would conform to what we can still see today on monuments. 

Clive

I'd third the idea of using the contractions the Romans thamselves used.

This dedication stone put up by the First Cohort of the Tungrians at Vindolanda, for example.

COH I TUNGRORUM