Legio XX Valeria Victrix, in English the Twentieth Victorious Valeria Legion, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army.
The origin of the Legion's name is unclear and there are various theories, but the legion may have gained its title Valeria Victrix from a victory it achieved during the Great Illyrian revolt under the command of the general Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus. The legion had a boar as its emblem.
The legion was probably founded shortly after 31 BC by the emperor Augustus. [1]
XX Valeria victrix was probably part of the large Roman force that fought in the Cantabrian Wars in Hispania from 25 to 19 BC.
The legion then moved to Burnum in Illyricum at the beginning of the Pannonian uprising (Bellum Batonianum) in AD 6. [2] It is recorded operating against the Marcomanni in AD 6 in the army of Tiberius.
In Illyria they were led by the governor of Illyricum, Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus, who may have given his clan (gens) name Valeria to the legion. Although understrength, they managed to defeat the rebels led by Bato of the Daesitiates. [3] In one battle the legion cut through the enemy lines, was surrounded, and cut its way out again.
After the disaster of Varus in AD 9, XX Valeria Victrix moved to Germania Inferior and was based at Oppidum Ubiorum, then moved to Novaesium at the site of modern Neuss during Tiberius' reign.
The legion was one of the four with which Claudius invaded Britain in 43 AD. It was also one of the legions that defeated Caratacus at the Battle of Caer Caradoc, after which, from the AD 50s, it was encamped at Camulodunum, with a few units at Kingsholm in Gloucester.
Around AD 55 under The command of Manlius Valens it moved to Usk, in an unsuccessful attempt to pacify the Silures, a tribe very resistant to the imposition of Roman rule in Wales. But the legion suffered defeat, resulting in Valens’ replacement as legate [4] In AD 60 or 61 the Twentieth helped put down the revolt of queen Boudica, after outflanking the Ordovices it took part in the second Roman invasion of Anglesey which destroyed the Celtic Druids and their religious practices. [5] [6] In AD 66, the legion was transferred to the much more passive Viroconium (Wroxeter). [7] It may also have occupied Gloucester (Glevum) at this time. [8]
In the year of the four emperors, the legion sided with Vitellius. Some units went with him to Rome. In AD 78–84, the legion was part of Gnaeus Julius Agricola's campaigns in northern Britannia and Caledonia, and built the base at Inchtuthill. In AD 88 the legion returned south and occupied Castra Deva (Deva Victrix), where it remained based for at least two centuries.
The Twentieth was among the legions involved with the construction of Hadrian's Wall, and the discovery of stone altars commemorating their work in Caledonia suggests that they had some role in building the Antonine Wall. [12]
The legion probably went on campaign in 196 under Decimus Clodius Albinus into Gaul, and would have suffered heavy losses in Gaul before returning to Britain. [13]
During the Carausian Revolt, which established the Britannic Empire under Carausius and Allectus in the 280s and 290s, the XX Valeria Victrix was still active. No further information is known after this period and scholars believe Legio XX was still stationed in Britain when Constantine III pulled the bulk of the military forces from there in the year 407 for his doomed campaign on the continent.
This legion has been much studied; at least 250 members of the legion have been identified in surviving inscriptions.
| Name | Rank | Time frame | Province | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Roscius Coelius [14] | legatus legionis | 69-70 | Britannica | Tacitus, Histories, I.60 |
| Gnaeus Julius Agricola [15] | legatus legionis | 70-73 | Britannica | Tacitus, Agricola 7.3 |
| Lucius Pomponius Mamilianus [16] | legatus legionis | early 90s | Britannica | CIL VII, 164 |
| Julius Vitalis [17] | fabriciensis | between 71 and 100 | Britannica | CIL VII, 49 |
| Marcus Aemilius Papus [18] | legatus legionis | c. 128 | Britannica | CIL II, 1371 |
| Gaius Curtius Justus [19] | legatus legionis | between 140 and 145 | Britannica | CIL III, 1458 |
| Lucius Cestius Gallus [20] | legatus legionis | between 160 and 180 | Britannica | CIL X, 3722 |
| Tiberius Claudius Balbilus | military tribune | c. 43 | Britannica | |
| Marcus Accenna Helvius Agrippa [21] | tribunus laticlavius | 2nd century | Britannica | CIL II, 1262 |
| Lucius Aemilius Naso Fabullinus [21] | tribunus laticlavus | 2nd century | Britannica | CIL VI, 29683 CIL VI, 29684 |
| Marcus Caelius Flavius Proculus [22] | tribunus laticlavus | 2nd century | Britannica | CIL XI, 3883 |
Legio XX Valeria Victrix and their final days in Deva (Chester) in the early AD 400s form the backdrop to the Tom Stevens mythic fiction genre novel The Cauldron (special edition) [23] with the story's protagonist Valerian—the Praefectus and Chief Centurion—defending the city with the rump of the legion against the incursions of Hibernian pirates as the "Dark Ages" settle on Britannia. [24] The movie Victrix! The Valiant of Albion is in production and features an adaptation of Stevens' novel.
Legio XX Valeria Victrix was the legion featured in the novel Eagle in the Snow ; author Wallace Breem postulates that they were annihilated by the Germanic invasion of 406.
Several of the main characters in the early novels of Jack Whyte's A Dream of Eagles series were former members of Legio XX Valeria Victrix.
Gaius Petreius Ruso, protagonist of Medicus by Ruth Downie, is a military doctor in Britannia attached to Legio XX.
Legio XX Valeria Victrix lends its name to the character Valeria Matuchek in Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos and its sequel Operation Luna ; her mother is said to describe this legion as the last to leave Britain—"the last that stood against Chaos".
The first person narrator of Stephen Vincent Benét's short story "The Last of the Legions" is the senior centurion of the Valeria Victrix, who recounts the events and the impressions of soldiers and populace surrounding the departure of the legion from Britain.
Legion Company of the U.S. Army's 1st battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade stationed in Vicenza, Italy is named after Legio XX. They chose this name for the paratroopers' ability to fight fiercely behind enemy lines.
Legio XX Valeria Victrix features in the six-novel series Soldier of Rome: The Artorian Chronicles by James Mace.
Legio XX Valeria Victrix is mentioned in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story "Through the Veil".
AD 69 (LXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the consulship of Galba and Vinius. The denomination AD 69 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
6 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lepidus and Lucius Arruntius. The denomination "AD 6" for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Aulus Plautius was a Roman politician and general of the mid-1st century. He began the Roman conquest of Britain in 43, and became the first governor of the new province, serving from 43 to 46.
Legio II Augusta was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that was founded during the late Roman republic. Its emblems were the Capricornus, Pegasus, and Mars. It may have taken the name "Augusta" from a victory or reorganization that occurred during the reign of Augustus.
Legio XIV Gemina was a legion of the Imperial Roman army, levied by Julius Caesar in 57 BC. The cognomen Gemina (Twinned) was added when the legion was combined with another understrength legion after the Battle of Actium. The cognomen Martia Victrix 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.
Legio VI Victrix was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in 41 BC by the general Octavian. It was the twin legion of VI Ferrata and perhaps held veterans of that legion, and some soldiers kept to the traditions of the Caesarian legion.
Quintus Petillius Cerialis Caesius Rufus, otherwise known as Quintus Petillius Cerialis, was a Roman general and administrator who served in Britain during Boudica's rebellion and went on to participate in the civil wars after the death of Nero. He later crushed the rebellion of Julius Civilis and returned to Britain as its governor.
Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus was a Roman senator who was elected consul for 3 BC.
Glevum was originally a Roman fort in Roman Britain that became a "colonia" of retired legionaries in AD 97. Today, it is known as Gloucester, in the English county of Gloucestershire. The name Glevum is taken by many present-day businesses in the area and also by the 26-mile Glevum Way, a long-distance footpath or recreational walk encircling modern Gloucester.
Marcus Roscius Coelius was a Roman military officer of the 1st century AD. He was appointed suffect consul for the nundinium March-April AD 81 with Gaius Julius Juvenalis as his colleague.
Bato the Daesitiate was a chieftain of the Daesitiates, an Illyrian tribe which fought against the Roman Empire between 6 and 9 AD in a conflict known as Bellum Batonianum.
The Bellum Batonianum was a military conflict fought in the Roman province of Illyricum in the 1st century CE, in which an alliance of native peoples of the two regions of Illyricum, Dalmatia and Pannonia, revolted against the Romans. The rebellion began among native peoples who had been recruited as auxiliary troops for the Roman army. They were led by Bato the Daesitiate, a chieftain of the Daesitiatae in the central part of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, and were later joined by the Breuci, a tribe in Pannonia led by Bato the Breucian. Many other tribes in Illyria also joined the revolt.
Marcus Plautius Silvanus was a Roman politician and general active during the Principate. He was consul in 2 BC as the colleague of the emperor Augustus.
Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of the modern city of Chester. The fortress was built by the Legio II Adiutrix in the 70s AD as the Roman army advanced north against the Brigantes, and rebuilt completely over the next few decades by the Legio XX Valeria Victrix. In the early 3rd century the fortress was again rebuilt. The legion probably remained at the fortress until the late 4th or early 5th century, upon which it fell into disuse.
The Vacomagi were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer Claudius Ptolemy. Their principal places are known from Ptolemy's map c.150 of Albion island of Britannia – from the First Map of Europe.
The gens Cestia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome during the later Republic, and in imperial times. The first member of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Cestius Gallus in AD 35. The family's name is commemorated on two monuments, the Pons Cestius and the Pyramid of Cestius which survive into modern times.
Gaius Manlius Valens was a Roman senator of the late first century AD. He was selected as consul ordinarius in his ninetieth year, serving with Gaius Antistius Vetus in AD 96.
Gaius Curtius Justus was a Roman senator who held several posts in the emperor's service during the Antonine dynasty. He was suffect consul in 150 with Gaius Julius Julianus as his colleague. Justus is known primarily through surviving inscriptions, although he could be identical with the Curtius Justus mentioned as a scriptor rei rusticae by Gargilius Martialis (2.1.4,7).
Pomponius Mamilianus was a Roman senator who held several offices in the service of the emperor. He was appointed suffect consul in the nundinium of May to June 100 as the colleague of Lucius Herennius Saturninus. He is known through surviving inscriptions, and was a correspondent of Pliny the Younger.
Aulus Licinius Nerva Silianus was a Roman senator who was active during the Principate. He was consul in AD 7 as the colleague of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus Silanus. Silianus was born the second of three sons of Publius Silius Nerva, consul in 20 BC, and was later adopted by Aulus Licinius Nerva. Velleius Paterculus salutes him for his simplicissimus.
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