The bucellarii required heavier mounts than contingents like the Huns and Heruls. They, like the Roman cavalry who would make up the bulk of the force, required fleet ponies and not only those they already possessed. Both types required enough spares to account for losses to illness, accidents at sea, breakdown by overuse and casualties in battle. These animals also required a massive quantity of feed and grooms to care for them, adding to the burden of transport. In numbers, if the expanded comitatus of Flavius was included – they now mustered seven numerus of three hundred men each – he was to lead an army of near seventeen thousand effectives, accompanied by all the necessary support arms to ensure against failure: armourers, carpenters, cooks, servants and sutlers. He took from the barracks at Galatea six hundred Huns led by a chieftain called Blasas, a noted warrior said to be utterly fearless in battle, as well as Pharas and the three hundred Heruls he commanded, men who had been so effective at Dara.
