Legio III Cyrenaica

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Denarius , on behalf of Antony to pay the wages of his legions. Obverse: ANT AVG III VIR RPC with galley, reverse: Aquila and two Legio III standards

The Legio III Cyrenaica was a legion of the Roman army that was founded around the year 36 BC. Was established. It is documented until the early 5th century. The legion symbol was the capricorn .

Legion history

origin

The Legion's origin is uncertain. It may already have been excavated by Lepidus , the governor in the province of Cyrenaica (43-36 BC) or his successor, Marcus Antonius . However, these explanations are based only on the name Cyrenaica , which the Legion may have received from Augustus because of its location, as is the case with the auxiliary troops. I Lusitanorum Cyrenaica and coh. II Hispanorum Scutata Cyrenaica was the case. The spelling of the name Cyrenaica has numerous variations; the most common abbreviation was CYR .

Egypt

Their first documented appearance is during Augustus' Egypt campaign in 30 BC. The III Cyrenaica stayed in Egypt and was possibly initially stationed in Thebes in Upper Egypt and parts of it in Berenike ( Benghazi ). In the years 26/25 BC BC she probably took part in the campaign of Aelius Gallus against Arabia Felix , today's Yemen . In the years 25 to 21 BC Publius Petronius , the prefect of Egypt, undertook two punitive expeditions against the Meroitic Empire , whose troops had invaded Upper Egypt.

From the years 7 to 9 AD, at the latest since the year 35, she shared her legionary camp in Nicopolis in Lower Egypt with the Legio XXII Deiotariana . Both legions were subject to the praefectus exercitus qui est in Aegypto . Numerous vexillations were also stationed across Egypt to erect public structures (roads, cisterns, etc.) and to monitor the work in quarries. A vexillation of both legions built a road from Koptos to the Red Sea in the Julio-Claudian period . In 38 anti-Semitic riots broke out in Alexandria, which required the use of the legions.

In 58 the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo attacked the Parthians in Armenia. Among his troops were also vexilla delectorum ex Illyrico et Aegypto ("selected units from Illyria and Egypt"), to which parts of the III Cyrenaica may have belonged.

In the Jewish War (66–70 AD) the III Cyrenaica and XXII Deiotariana were used against the Jewish population of Alexandria , where there was tension between the various ethnic and religious groups. The Delta district , in which the Jews lived, was conquered, looted and sacked despite fierce resistance. There are said to have been 50,000 deaths before the praefectus Alexandreae et Aegypti Tiberius Iulius Alexander recalled the troops.

In the four-emperor year 69 the legion supported Vespasian's claim to the throne and sent a vexillatio milliaria under their praefectus exercitus to his son Titus in Iudaea . There, this sub-unit excelled in the siege and conquest of Jerusalem .

[I] ovi Optimo Maximo Sarapidi / pro salute et victoria / Imp (eratoris) Nervae Traiani Caesaris / Optumi Aug (usti) Germanici Dacici / Parthici et populi Romani / vexill (atio) leg (ionis) III Cyr (enaicae) fecit
Dem Jupiter Sarapidus inscription of a vexillation of Legio III Cyrenaica for the victory of Emperor Trajan around 116.
Site: Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem)

Arabia Petraea

At least parts of the legion took part in the annexation of the Nabatean Empire in 106 and stayed in the newly founded province of Arabia Petraea . The main camp was in Bostra , but a vexillation was stationed in Gerasa . Between 111 and 114 the Legion built the border road Via Nova Traiana from Bostra to Aila on the Red Sea. The 360 ​​km long route was incorporated into the Limes Arabicus by means of forts and repaired Nabataean fortifications . Connecting roads of the Via Nova Traiana connected Philadelphia and Bostra with the cities of the Decapolis .

In 115 the diaspora revolt broke out in Egypt and the neighboring Cyrene , but the legio XXII Deiotariana and the parts of the Legio III Cyrenaica that remained in Egypt were too weak to put an end to the rebellion quickly. Quintus Marcius Turbo brought in reinforcements at the end of 116 and stifled the uprising in late summer 117 with his tough crackdown.

Around the year 116, under Trajan, another vexillation was successfully used in Iudaea (see picture) and also took part in the Parthian War. In 120 the Legion was involved in battles against Arab tribes. Under Emperor Hadrian , the Legion was replaced by the Legio II Traiana fortis in Egypt between 120 and 127 and finally relocated to Bostra in the province of Arabia Petraea. During the Bar Kochba uprising (132-136), the Legion was used to retaliate. Under Antoninus Pius , a vexillation was sent to Mauritania to fight the Moors. Under Avidius Cassius , the Legion took part in the Parthian War (163-166) of Lucius Verus . In what way the Legion was involved in the usurpation of Avidius Cassius against Marcus Aurelius in 175 is unclear.

In the second year of the four emperors (193) the III Cyrenaica supported the defeated Pescennius Niger against Septimius Severus . From 215 to 217 at least parts of the Legion were deployed against the Parthians under the command of Caracalla in Mesopotamia. In Dura Europos , legionaries of the III Cyrenaica and the Legio IIII Scythica built the amphitheater around 216 . The participation in the costly Sassanid campaign of Severus Alexander in the years 231-233 is considered to be certain. Probably in connection with this campaign, she was nicknamed Legio III Cyrenaica Severiana Alexandriana . The Legio III Kurenaica Valeriana Galliana under Valerian (253-260) and Gallienus (253-268) in Bostra is documented by inscriptions .

Around 270, Bostra came under the influence of Zenobia of Palmyra , who also used Roman troops, which probably also included the III Cyrenaica , against the Sassanids. Eventually the Legion turned away from Zenobia and in 272 plundered the "Temple of the Sun" (templum Solis) Palmyra. After the usurpation of Zenobias was suppressed by Aurelian , the Legio IV Martia was stationed to reinforce the III Cyrenaica in Arabia .

The last record of the Tertia Cyrenaica comes from the early 5th century, when the Legion was stationed in Bostra under the command of the Dux Arabiae .

literature

Web links

Commons : Legio III Cyrenaica  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Theodor Kissel : A very animal matter , 2008  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.chronologs.de  
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Emil Ritterling : Legio (III Cyrenaica). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 2, Stuttgart 1925, Sp. 1506-1517.
  3. ↑ a b c Jona Lendering: Legio III Cyrenaica . In: Livius.org (English)
  4. ↑ Stephen Mitchell: Anatolia: Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor . Vol. I, Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-815029-6 , p. 136.
  5. ↑ Ronald Syme : Anatolica. Studies in Strabo . Edited by Anthony Birley. Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-814943-3 , p. 244.
  6. ^ Tacitus , Annalen 15, 26.
  7. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus : Jüdischer Krieg 2, 18, 8 Text at Wikisource (German) .
  8. ↑ CIL 3, 13587 .
  9. ↑ a b Johannes Kramer: The Vienna list of soldiers of the III. and XXII. Legion (P. VINDOB. L 2) . In: Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy . 97, 1993, pp. 147–158 ( PDF )
  10. ↑ Axel Gebhardt: Imperial politics and provincial development . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-05-003680-X , p. 91.
  11. ^ Hans-Peter Kuhnen : Palestine in Greco-Roman times . Beck, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-406-32876-8 , p. 120.
  12. ↑ David Goodblatt (ed.): The Cambridge History of Judaism. Volume 4: Steven T. Katz (Ed.): The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period. Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-521-77248-6 , pp. 95-98.
  13. ↑ Oliver Stoll : Roman Army and Society . Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07817-7 , p. 115.
  14. ↑ CIL 3,94 .
  15. ↑ CIL 3, 89 .
  16. ↑ The report on the temple looting in the Historia Augusta is judged by historians partly as historical, partly as uncertain or fictitious. see. Udo Hartmann : The Palmyrene Partial Kingdom . Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07800-2 , p. 400.
  17. ^ Emil Ritterling: Legio (IIII Martia). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 2, Stuttgart 1925, Sp. 1556.
  18. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Or. XXXVII.