Legio XIV Gemina Martia Victrix | |
---|---|
Active | 41 BC to early 5th century at least |
Country | Roman Republic (1st & 2nd raising under Caesar, 2nd Triumvirate) Roman Empire (3rd raising was a joining with another understrength legion under Octavian after the Battle of Actium) |
Type | Roman legion (Marian) (with Imperial modifications) later a comitatensis unit |
Role | Heavy Infantry (occasionally cavalry support when operating independently) |
Size | Varied over unit lifetime. Approx. 3,500 fighting men + support at the time of creation, ~ 5,000 to 6,000 men when operating independently during Imperial period. |
Garrison/HQ | Moguntiacum (9–43) Vindobona (92–106) Carnuntum (106–5th century) |
Nickname(s) | Gemina Martia Victrix, "Twinned Mars’ Victory" Martia Victrix, "Mars’ Victory" (added by Augustus) Pia VI Fidelis VI, "six times faithful, six times loyal" (added by Gallienus) |
Mascot(s) | Capricorn |
Engagements | Gallic Wars (58–51 BC) Caesar's Civil War (49–45 BC) Post-Caesarian civil war (44 BC) Liberators' civil war (44–42 BC) Sicilian revolt (44–36 BC) Perusine War (41–40 BC) Final War of the Roman Republic (32–30 BC) Roman conquest of Britain (43) Year of the Four Emperors (69) Revolt of the Batavi (69-70) revolt of Saturninus (89) Dacian Wars (101–106) Verus Parthian campaign (161–166) Marcus Aurelius Marcomannic campaign (168–180) Septimius Severus rise to power (193–194) Severus Parthian campaign (198) vexillationes of the 14th participated in many other campaigns. |
Legio XIV Gemina ("The Twinned Fourteenth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army, levied by Julius Caesar in 57 BC. [1] The cognomen Gemina (Twinned) was added when the legion was combined with another understrengthed legion after the Battle of Actium. The cognomen Martia Victrix (martial and victorious) was added following their service in the Pannonian War c. AD 9 and the defeat of Boudicca in AD 61. The emblem of the legion was the Capricorn, as with many of the legions levied by Caesar. [2]
Legio XIV was first raised by Caesar in Cisalpine Gaul during his raids into, and conquest of, Gaul. [3] Their enlistment term was for 16 years, as per the other Republican legions (though Augustus raised that to 20). In the first years, the legion frequently was left behind to guard the camp during battles and raids. Following its early destruction at Atuatuca (near today's Tongeren, Belgium) during Ambiorix's revolt it was immediately reconstituted. For years after the Massacre at Atuatuca carried out by the Eburones under Ambiorix together with Cativolcus [4] they were viewed as an unlucky legion, but its honor had been preserved due to the efforts of their Aquilifer, Lucius Petrosidius. [5]
This legion fought under General Germanicus Julius Caesar against the Germanic leader Arminius. A decade before this campaign, Arminius succeeded in wiping out three entire legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, one of the greatest disasters in Roman military history. The legion secured a victory for Germanicus, and earned him a triumph from his adopted father and biological uncle, Emperor Tiberius.
Stationed in Moguntiacum, Germania Superior from AD 9, Legio XIV Gemina Martia Victrix was one of four legions used by Aulus Plautius and Claudius in the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43. It built its legionary fortress at Mancetter on Watling Street and by AD 58 it had moved its base to Wroxeter. [6]
It took part in the defeat of Boudicca in 60 or 61. At the Battle of Watling Street the 14th defeated Boudicca's force of 230,000, according to Tacitus and Dio, with their meager force of 10,000 Legionaries and Auxiliaries. This act secured them as Nero's "most effective" legion, and he kept them garrisoned in Britain during the next few years to keep the uneasy tribes in check.
In 67 AD the legion was sent to the Balkans in preparation for a campaign against the Parthians that Nero planned but which never materialised. [7]
In AD 89 the governor of Germania Superior, Lucius Antonius Saturninus, rebelled against Domitian, with the support of the XIVth and of the XXI Rapax, but the revolt was suppressed.
When the XXIst legion was lost in AD 92, XIV Gemina was sent to Pannonia to replace it, setting up camp in Vindobona (Vienna). After a war with the Sarmatians and Trajan's Dacian Wars (101–106 AD), the legion was moved to Carnuntum, where it stayed for three centuries. Some vexillations or subunits of the Fourteenth fought in the wars against the Mauri, under Antoninus Pius, and the legion participated in the Parthian campaign of Emperor Lucius Verus. During his war against the Marcomanni, Emperor Marcus Aurelius based his headquarters in Carnuntum.
In AD 193, after the death of Pertinax, the commander of the Fourteenth, Septimius Severus, was acclaimed emperor by the Pannonian legions, and above all by his own. XIV Gemina fought for its emperor in his march to Rome to attack usurper Didius Julianus (193), contributed to the defeat of the usurper Pescennius Niger (194), and probably fought in the Parthian campaign that ended with the sack of the capital of the empire, Ctesiphon (198).
In the turmoil following the defeat of Valerian, the XIV Gemina supported usurper Regalianus against Emperor Gallienus (260), then Gallienus against Postumus of the Gallic Empire (earning the title VI Pia VI Fidelis—"six times faithful, six times loyal"), and, after Gallienus' death, Gallic Emperor Victorinus (269–271).
At the beginning of the 5th century, XIV Gemina was still assigned at Carnuntum. It probably dissolved with the collapse of the Danube frontier in the 430s. The Notitia Dignitatum lists a Quartodecimani comitatensis unit under the Magister Militum per Thracias; it is possible that this unit is XIV Gemina.
Carnuntum was a Roman legionary fortress and headquarters of the Pannonian fleet from 50 AD. After the 1st century, it was capital of the Pannonia Superior province. It also became a large city of approximately 50,000 inhabitants.
Legio XII Fulminata, also known as Paterna, Victrix, Antiqua, Certa Constans, and Galliena, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was originally levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC, and the legion accompanied him during the Gallic Wars until 49 BC. The unit was still guarding the Euphrates River crossing near Melitene at the beginning of the 5th century.
Legio I Italica was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded by emperor Nero on September 22, 66. Originally named Legio Phalanx Alexandri Magni, it was stationed in Italy during the year of four emperors and gained the name Italica. It was later stationed at Novae, near modern-day Svishtov (Bulgaria). There are still records of the I Italica on the Danube border at the beginning of the 5th century. The emblem of the legion was a boar.
Legio I Minervia was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 82 by emperor Domitian, for his campaign against the Germanic tribe of the Chatti. Its cognomen refers to the goddess Minerva, the legion's protector. There are still records of the I Minervia in the Rhine border region in the middle of the 4th century. The legion's emblem is an image of goddess Minerva.
Legio I Adiutrix, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 68, possibly by Galba when he rebelled against emperor Nero. The last record mentioning the Adiutrix is in 344, when it was stationed at Brigetio, in the Roman province of Pannonia. The emblem of the legion was a capricorn, used along with the winged horse Pegasus, on the helmets the symbol used by I Adiutrix legionaries was a dolphin.
Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. Their emblems were the gods Neptune and Jupiter and the Capricorn. Ulpia is Trajan's own gens, while the cognomen "Victrix" means "victorious," and it was awarded after their valiant behaviour in the Dacian Wars. The legion was active until the disbandment of the Rhine frontier in the beginning of the 5th century.
Legio X Gemina, was a Roman legion, which was active during the late Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire as part of the Imperial Roman army. It was one of the four legions used by Julius Caesar in 58 BC, during the Roman invasion of Gaul. After being briefly disbanded, the legion was reconstituted by Augustus and fought on the side of the Second Triumvirate during the Liberators' Civil War and later on the side of Augustus during the War of Actium which ended the Crisis of the Roman Republic. The legion remained active for centuries, with surviving records of its continued existence in Vienna as late as the 5th century AD. The legion's symbol was a bull. Early on in its history, the legion was called X Equestris (mounted), because Caesar once used the legionaries as cavalry.
Legio XIII Gemina, in English the 13thTwin(s) Legion ; was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was one of Julius Caesar's key units in Gaul and in the civil war, and was the legion with which he crossed the Rubicon in January, perhaps on 10 January, in 49 BC. The legion appears to have still been in existence in the 5th century AD. Its symbol was the lion.
Legio XXII Primigenia was a legion of the Imperial Roman army dedicated to the goddess Fortuna Primigenia. Founded in AD 39 by the emperor Caligula for use in his campaigns in Germania, the XXII Primigenia spent much of their time in Mogontiacum up to the end of the 3rd century. The legion's symbols were a Capricorn and the demigod Hercules.
Legio IV Scythica, also written as Legio IIII Scythica, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in c. 42 BC by the Roman general Mark Antony, for his campaign against the Parthian Empire, hence its other cognomen, Parthica. The legion was still active in the Roman province of Syria in the early 5th century.
Legio V Macedonica was a Roman legion. It was probably originally levied in 43 BC by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. It was based in the Balkan provinces of Macedonia, Moesia and Dacia. In the Notitia Dignitatum records from beginning of the fifth century, the legion was still stationed in Dacia, with detachments stationed in the east and Egypt.
Legio IV Flavia Felix, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 70 by the emperor Vespasian from the cadre of the disbanded Legio IV Macedonica. The legion was active in Moesia Superior in the first half of the 5th century. The legion symbol was a lion.
Legio VI Ferrata was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. In 30 BC it became part of the emperor Augustus's standing army. It continued in existence into the 4th century. A Legio VI fought in the Roman Republican civil wars of the 40s and 30s BC. Sent to garrison the province of Judaea, it remained there for the next two centuries.
Legio VII Claudia was a legion of the Imperial Roman army.
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Legio XI Claudia was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The legion was levied by Julius Caesar for his campaign against the Nervii. XI Claudia dates back to the two legions recruited by Julius Caesar to invade Gallia in 58 BC, and it existed at least until the early 5th century, guarding lower Danube in Durostorum.
Legio XV Apollinaris was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was recruited by Octavian in 41/40 BC. The emblem of this legion was probably a picture of Apollo, or of one of his holy animals.
Vindobona was a Roman military camp in the province of Pannonia, located on the site of the modern city of Vienna in Austria. The settlement area took on a new name in the 13th century, being changed to Berghof, or now simply known as Alter Berghof.
Publius Septimius Geta was the second son to the elder Publius Septimius Geta and brother of the emperor Septimius Severus. His mother was Fulvia Pia. He was born and raised in Leptis Magna. He had Italian Roman ancestry on his mother's side, and was descended from Punic forebears on his father's side.
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