Kastron Mefaa, the equites promoti indigenae and the creation of a late Roman frontier

In late antiquity Umm al Rasas was the basis of a limitanean military unit which was part of the army at disposition of the dux Arabiae. The name of the unit was equites promoti indigenae. The installation of this unit at Umm al Rasas was part of a more general project of military renovation of the Near East predisposed by Diocletian and Galerius. It is not easy to choose if the equites promoti indigenae were cavalry detachments of a legion or, as some pieces of evidence seem to suggest, locally recruited cavalry units. Recent surveys have shown that Umm al Rasas was connected with the military fort of Qasr el Thuraiya by a paved road. Similarly, a paved road stretched from Qasr el Thuraiya into the wadi Su'eida.