Areani

The areani or Arcani were agents for the Roman Empire, based in Roman Britain during the later part of the Roman occupation of the island. They helped to instigate the Great Conspiracy. Due to their participation in the Conspiracy, Count Theodosius disbanded them.

The term is a hapax legomenon, known only from a passage in Ammianus, and it has been suggested that it is a misreading of "arcani", the secret ones. These may have been civilian inhabitants of the paramilitary zone between Hadrian's Wall and the Vallum to the south.

There is also a Vindolanda tablet 162 that seems to provide support for this theory. These tablets were excavated from the Roman fort at Vindolanda in northern England.

This Tablet 162 is a fragment of a leaf containing two words written in a good capital hand. It seems to read: MILES ARCANUS, so it might refer to an intelligence agent or explorator of some sort.

Ammianus text goes as follows.