Legio XIII Gemina

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The Legio XIII Gemina (13th Twin Legion ) was a legion of the Roman army, which was established by Julius Caesar in 57 BC. Until the 5th century was active with interruptions. The legion emblem was a lion.

To what extent Octavian's Legio XIII and the Caesarian Legion are to be regarded as the same unit is unclear, but at least a strong reference to the tradition of the “old legion” is assumed.

Bricks with the stamp of LEG (io) XIII G (emina) from Romania

Caesar's Legio XIII

Gallic War

The Legion was founded in 57 BC. First set up by Julius Caesar for the Gallic War .

In 57 BC The Legion was used against the tribes of the Belgians , Nervier . The winter of 54/53 BC BC spent the Legio XIII with its legate, the quaestor Lucius Roscius, in a camp in the pacified part of Gaul, the Esubian territory. A rebellion of the Aremorican tribes began there , but it soon collapsed. During the Gallic uprising, she fought in 52 BC. BC among others in Gergovia and Alesia against the troops of Vercingetorix .

Civil war under Caesar

Caesar exceeded in 49 BC BC with the Legio XIII the Rubicon and thus triggered the Roman Civil War . First the XIII was stationed in Ariminum ( Rimini ). Then, under Caesar's leadership, the Legion succeeded in driving the senatorial troops out of Auximum ( Osimo ).

After the conquest of Italy, the Legion was briefly relocated to Apulia. In January 48 BC The Legion took part in the Battle of Dyrrhachium and in August 48 BC. In the battle of Pharsalus . After that, the Legion was sent to Italy and retired. In 46 BC The Legion was reactivated and used in Caesar's campaign to Africa at the Battle of Thapsus . Possibly the Legion took 45 BC. Still participated in the battle of Munda .

Around 46/45 BC The Legion was dissolved. The veterans were settled at Hispellum ( Spello ) in the Italian province of Perugia .

Octavian's Legio XIII Gemina

There is no evidence for a possible “reactivation” of the Caesarian Legion; it can be the case with that of Octavian, the later Emperor Augustus , around 41/40 BC. Chr. (Re) established Legion also involve a coincidental number equality.

Civil War under Octavian

Under Octavian the Legion XIII fought from 40 to 31 BC. In the Roman Civil War .

She fought since 41/40 BC. In the war in Sicily against Sextus Pompeius , who threatened the grain deliveries to Rome. In 36 BC The Legion was used at Puteoli and possibly in 31 BC. At the battle of Actium . After the battle, the Legion was probably merged with other units and was given the nickname Gemina . 30 BC The Legion was moved to the Balkans.

Julian-Claudian dynasty

Gravestone of the veteran Certus from ancient Tenedo ( Zurzach )

From 30 to 16 BC The Legio was probably stationed in the Dalmatian Burnum ( Kistanje in Croatia) and then from 16 BC. BC to 9 AD in Emona ( Ljubljana in Slovenia).

Drusus occupied in 15 BC BC Raetia and deployed the Legions XXI Rapax and XIII Gemina as occupation troops. In the year 6 Tiberius armored against Marbod , the king of the Marcomanni . A total of twelve legions with auxiliary troops were set up. Shortly after the campaign began in the spring of 6, Tiberius broke it off again and concluded a friendship treaty with Marbod when he received news of the Pannonian uprising . From AD 6 to 9, Tiberius put down the rebellion in Pannonia and Illyria with great effort, using an army of 15 legions, which represented half of the total military potential of the Romans at the time, and the Legion also took part in the overthrow of this was.

After the loss of three legions in the Varus Battle , the Legio XIII Gemina was sent to Germania superior (Upper Germany) as a replacement in 9 AD , where it was stationed in Mogontiacum (Mainz) until 17 AD . After Augustus' death in AD 14, the legions mutinied in Germania, but were soon calmed down again by concessions from Germanicus . Eight legions took part in the Germanicus campaigns in Germania on the right bank of the Rhine from 14 to 16 AD. The legions II Augusta , XIII Gemina, XIIII Gemina and XVI Gallica belonged to the army group of Germanicus, while the I Germanica , V Alaudae , XX Valeria Victrix and XXI Rapax belonged to the army group of Aulus Caecina Severus . In 17 AD the legion was moved to Vindonissa (Windisch). She expanded the base into a legionary camp made of wooden buildings . Around 45/46 AD the legion in Vindonissa was replaced by the Legio XXI Rapax and moved to the middle Danube to Poetovio (Ptuj) in Pannonia, where it replaced the Legio VIII Augusta .

Four imperial year and Flavian dynasty

In the civil war of the four emperors year 69 AD, the Legion initially sided with Otho . In the first battle of Bedriacum on April 14, 69 , Otho's legions were defeated by Vitellius . Vitellius used the Legion to build amphitheaters in Bedriacum ( Cremona ) and Bononia ( Bologna ) and then moved them to Pannonia. There the Vespasian Legion joined. In the second battle of Bedriacum on October 24, 69 Vespasian's troops were victorious. The Legio XIII Gemina was one of the nine legions that put down the Batavian Rebellion in 70.

Shortly after 1990, Emperor Domitian moved her to the Danube border in Vindobona (Vienna), where she played a key role in building the legionary camp. In 92 the Legion took part in Domitian's war against the Suebi and Sarmatians under their legate Lucius Caesennius Sospes .

Adoptive Emperor and Antonine Dynasty

The construction of the Pannonian legionary camp Brigetio , which according to older opinion was built during the reign of Emperor Trajan (98–117) or according to the building inscription found in the camp around 124/128 AD, arose from the in. 89 AD in Pannonia set up Legio I Adiutrix , which, according to the brick stamps found, was supported by vexillations (divisions) of the other three Pannonian legions on the Suebian front - the XIII Gemina , the XIIII Gemina and the XV Apollinaris . Should Brigetio be a Trajanian foundation, the Legio I Adiutrix left 100/101 AD Brigetio and came to a staging area for the first Dacian war (101-102). The construction team of the XIII Gemina could have been withdrawn from Brigetio, since this legion also took part in Trajan's first Dacian war . Then she trained with the Legio IIII Flavia Felix under the military governor Cn. Pinarius Aemilius Cicatricula Pompeius Longinus the occupation power of the conquered area. An uprising led to the second Dacian War in 105, which ended in 106 with a Roman victory and the establishment of the province of Dacia. After the Dacian Wars, the Legion was stationed in Apulum (Alba Iulia; German: Karlsburg). The Legio I Adiutrix was withdrawn in 115. In the years 116 to 119 Sarmatian attacks resulted in some exposed peripheral areas of Dacia being abandoned. In 119 the Legio IIII Flavia Felix was withdrawn and the Legio XIII Gemina stayed behind as an occupation force, along with several auxiliary units.

Vexillations were also stationed in "outposts" to protect the aurariae Dacicae ( Dacian gold mines) z. B. at Ampelum ( Zlatna ), Alburnus Maior ( Roșia Montană ), Pianu de Jos . Bricks stamped with the abbreviation LEG XIII GEM indicate construction activities in these places. The brick stamps found in Vețel ( Micia ) and Bulci , the consecration stones of the centurions Lucius Licinius Messalinus and Caius Iulius Iulianus also confirmed the identification of these sites as Roman military installations of the 2nd century AD, and these forts were probably also built by vexillations of this legion . Vetel / Micia was visited by members of the XIII Gemina again and again in the course of various tasks in the further course of the 2nd century, as the dates of the consecration stones suggest.

A vexillation took part in Trajan's campaign against the Parthians from 115 to 117. The Legion must have distinguished itself on unknown occasions, possibly during the Bar Kochba uprising , because around 136 AD it bore the title Pia Fidelis (dutiful and faithful) and was nicknamed by Antoninus Pius (138-161) Antoniana . Before 150 AD, a vexillation was relocated to Dalmatia .

Around 156/158, Marcus Statius Priscus , the governor of the province of Dacia Superior, waged a war against the Dacians and Iazygen in which the Legio XIII Gemina could excel. Between 162 and 166 the Legion was used in the Parthian War of Lucius Verus . In the east, Lucius Verus was in command of the Roman punitive expedition against the Parthians, who had invaded 161 Roman territories.

At the beginning of the Marcomannic Wars (166–180), vandals and Sarmatians attacked the gold mines in West Dakia in 166/167. Details of the role of Legio XIII Gemina in these battles are missing, but the Legion was certainly involved. Around 182-184 the legions XIII Gemina and V Macedonica fought against the Sarmatians under Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus .

Second year of the four emperors and Severer

In the Second Year of the Four Emperors in 193, the Legion sided with the Pannonian governor Septimius Severus , who gave it the nickname Severiana . A vexillation of legionnaires of the V Macedonica and the XIII Gemina won against Pescennius Niger , the opposing emperor in the east, at the Cilician Gate and in 194 in the battle of Issus . It is possible that she took part in Severus' Parthian campaign, which ended in 198 with the capture of the capital, Ctesiphon.

A consecration to Hercules and Silvanus , the god of shepherds and forests from 211 to 222, proves that a vexillation of Legio XIII Gemina was still stationed in Vețel fort in the 3rd century. From Caracalla (actually Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus) 217 ​​or Elagabal (actually Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) the legion received the nickname Antoniniana .

Soldier emperor

Æ of Philip Arab , struck 247/248.
IMP (erator) M (arcus) IVL (ius) PHILIPPVS AVG (ustus); PROVINCIA DACIA.
The personified Dacia holds the standards of the Legio V Macedonica and the Legio XIII Gemina. Next to it the symbols of the two legions, eagle and lion.

Around 240 the legion was handed down under the name Legio XIII Gemina Gordiana . Gravestones in Apamea on the Orontes document the participation of at least one vexillation of the legion in a Sassanid campaign in the middle of the 3rd century.

In 244 Valerius Valens, the signifer of the XIII Gemina , repaired the Mercury temple of Aquileia . When Decius (249-251) was proclaimed emperor by the Danube troops in 249, Philippus Arabs moved the Legio XIII Gemina to Aquileia to protect northern Italy.

The Legion probably took part in the wars of Emperor Gallienus (253-268), who had coins minted in honor of the Legion and gave it the nickname Gallieniana . A gradual withdrawal from Dacia began under Gallienus. Around 260 parts of the legion were again stationed in Poetovio and expanded the Mithraeum there.

In 271/272 Aurelian was able to defeat the Goths who had invaded Dacia , but the province could not be held in the long run. When Aurelian finally gave up Dacia in 275 AD, the legion was stationed in Ratiaria (Arcar in northern Bulgaria) in the newly formed province of Dacia ripensis . Some exclaves north of the Danube were still held: for example Desa , where one of the vexillation of the XIII Gemina between 275 and 305 was detected.

Late antiquity

Painted shields of the comitian Tertiodecimani in the early 5th century.

In 295/296 parts of the Legion fought under Diocletian in Egypt and in 296 they were stationed in the Egyptian province of Herculia (NE & Central Egypt).

Presumably Constantine the Great (306–337) already divided the Legion into several detachments, each with its own prefect.

In the early 5th century, the five Dacian detachments of the Legio Tertiadecima Gemina with their Praefecti in Aegeta (Serbia), Transdrobeta , Burgo Novo , Zernis (also Dierna, today Orșova ) and Ratiaria were subordinate to the Dux Daciae ripensis as Limitanei (border legion) . A Legio Tertiadecima Gemina stationed in Babylonia (Kasr-Ash-Shama, Egypt) was under the Comes limitis Aegypti . The Tertiodecimani mobilized to Comitatenses (field army) were subordinate to the Magister militum per Thracias .

Cultural references

The two main characters of the television series Rome are members of Legio XIII .

literature

Web links

Commons : Legio XIII Gemina  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Lesley Adkins: Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome , Sonlight Christian, 2004, ISBN 0-8160-5026-0 , p. 61.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Lawrence Keppie: The making of the Roman Army. From Republic to Empire, University of Oklahoma Press, Oklahoma 1998, ISBN 978-0-8061-3014-9 , p. 210.
  3. ^ Philip Sabin, Hans van Wees, Michael Whitby (eds.): The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare Volume 2: Rome from the Late Republic to the Late Empire , Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-78274 -6 , pp. 35-36.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Jona Lendering: Legio XIII Gemina . In: Livius.org (English)
  5. ^ Caesar , De bello Gallico 5:24 and 53
  6. ^ Caesar , De bello civili 1.7-8
  7. ^ Caesar , De bello civili 1.12
  8. ↑ CIL 13, 5239
  9. ↑ Peter Lichtenberger, " LEGIO XIII GEMINA ", IMPERIUM-ROMANUM.COM, December 15, 2008, accessed January 5, 2009
  10. ^ Yann Le Bohec: The Roman Army of Augustus to Constantine the Great , Steiner, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-515-06300-5 , p. 192.
  11. ↑ Tacitus : Annals 2.46.
  12. ↑ a b c Gerold Walser (Ed.): Römische Insschriftkunst , Steiner, 1993, ISBN 978-3-515-06065-3 , p. 186; see: Hildegard Temporini , Wolfgang Haase, (ed.): Rise and decline of the Roman world (ANRW). Part II Vol. 5/1, de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1976, ISBN 978-3-11-006690-6 , p. 532.
  13. ↑ Tacitus , Ann. I 37
  14. ^ Siegfried Schoppe : Varusschlacht Vol 2 , Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2009, ISBN 3-8391-1287-7 , p. 205.
  15. ^ András Mócsy : Pannonia and Upper Moesia: History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire , Routledge, 1974, ISBN 978-0-7100-7714-1 , p. 48.
  16. ^ Suetonius : Otho 10.
  17. ^ Edward Togo Salmon: A history of the Roman world from 30 BC to AD 138 , Routledge 1990, ISBN 978-0-415-04504-9 , p. 204.
  18. ^ Barbara Levick : Vespasian (Roman Imperial Biographies) . Routledge, London and New York 1999, ISBN 0-415-16618-7 , p. 59
  19. ^ Graham Webster: The Roman Imperial Army of the first and second centuries AD , University of Oklahoma Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-8061-3000-2 , pp. 49-50.
  20. ↑ a b Ioan Piso: On the northern border of the Roman Empire (Heidelberger Althistorische Contributions und Epigraphische Studien (HABES) Volume 41), Steiner, 2005, ISBN 978-3-515-08729-2 , p. 360.
  21. ^ Renate Seebauer: Window to Europe. Intensive program EURIDENT . Series: Interkulturelle Pädagogik Vol. 7, LIT Verlag, Berlin-Münster-Wien-Zurich-London 2009, ISBN 978-3-643-50004-5 , p. 160.
  22. ↑ Werner Eck : The State Organization of Italy , CH Beck, 1979, ISBN 978-3-406-04798-5 , p. 191.
  23. ↑ Emese Számadó, Lászlo Borhy: Brigetio castra legionis. In: Zsolt Visy (ed.): The Roman army in Pannonia. Teleki Lázló Foundation 2003, ISBN 963-86388-2-6 , pp. 75-77; here p. 76; Tilmann Bechert : Roman camp gates and their building inscriptions. A contribution to the development and dating of imperial camp floor plans from Claudius to Severus Alexander. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 171, 1971, pp. 201–287; here: p. 235; Zsolt Mráv: Hadrian's bridge building inscription from Poetovio. In: Communicationes archaeologicae Hungariae 2002, pp. 15–57; here: p. 34.
  24. ^ László Barkóczi, András Mócsy: The Roman Inscriptions of Hungary (RIU). 2. Delivery. Salla, Mogentiana, Mursella, Brigetio . Adolf M. Hakkert, Amsterdam 1976, ISBN 963-05-0680-7 , p. 89.
  25. ^ Karl Strobel: Investigations into the Dacer Wars Trajan. Rudolf Habelt Verlag, Bonn 1984. ISBN 3-7749-2021-4 . P. 85.
  26. ↑ a b Yann Le Bohec: The Roman Army of Augustus to Constantine the Great , Steiner, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-515-06300-5 , p. 194.
  27. ^ Edward N. Luttwak: The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire. From the First Century AD to the Third, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1979, ISBN 978-0-8018-2158-5 , p. 101.
  28. ↑ AE 1911, 37 , AE 1988, 961
  29. ^ Alfred Michael Hirt: Imperial Mines and Quarries in the Roman World: Organizational Aspects 27 BC-AD 235 (Oxford Classical Monographs), Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-957287-8 , pp. 41, 76 , 130, 195.
  30. ^ AE 1888, 97
  31. ^ AE 1914, 115
  32. ↑ CIL 03, 1354
  33. ↑ CIL 03, 7858
  34. ↑ Julian Bennett : Trajan. Optimus Princeps , Routledge, 1997, ISBN 978-0-415-16524-2 , pp. 195-196.
  35. ↑ CIL 6, 1523
  36. ↑ a b c Otto Hirschfeld , Alfred von Domaszewski (Ed.): Inscriptionum Orientis et Illyrici Latinarum Supplementum , de Gruyter, Berlin 1967, ISBN 978-3-11-001418-1 , p. 2482
  37. ^ Lesley Adkins: Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome , Sonlight Christian, 2004, ISBN 0-8160-5026-0 , p. 63.
  38. ^ Gabriele Wesch-Klein : Provincia , LIT Verlag, Berlin-Münster-Wien-Zurich-London 2008, ISBN 978-3-8258-0866-2 , p. 65.
  39. ^ Franz Altheim : Decline of the old world: An investigation of the causes. Volume 2: Imperium Romanum , Klostermann, Frankfurt 1952, ISBN 3-465-00012-9 , p. 45
  40. ^ Anthony R. Birley : Marcus Aurelius series: Roman Imperial Biographies, Routledge, 1993, ISBN 978-0-415-17125-0 , p. 151.
  41. ^ Yann Le Bohec: The imperial Roman army , Routledge, 2000, ISBN 978-0-415-22295-2 , p. 191.
  42. ^ AE 1912, 305
  43. ↑ a b Christian Körner: Philippus Arabs. A soldier emperor in the tradition of the Antonine-Severan principate . (Studies on ancient literature and history 61). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 2002, ISBN 3-11-017205-4 . P. 198.
  44. ^ Karl Strobel : Das Imperium Romanum in the 3rd century (Historia - single writings volume 75), Steiner 1993, ISBN 978-3-515-05662-5 , p. 221; see: AE 1993, 1576
  45. ↑ CIL 5, 8237
  46. ^ Yann Le Bohec: The Roman Army of Augustus to Constantine the Great , Steiner, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-515-06300-5 , p. 197.
  47. ^ A b Alaric Watson: Aurelian and the third century, Routledge, London 2003, ISBN 978-0-415-30187-9 , p. 155.
  48. ^ András Mócsy: Pannonia and Upper Moesia: History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire , Routledge, 1974, ISBN 978-0-7100-7714-1 , p. 209.
  49. ^ András Mócsy: Pannonia and Upper Moesia: History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire , Routledge, 1974, ISBN 978-0-7100-7714-1 , pp. 211-212.
  50. ^ Paul Lachlan MacKendrick: The Dacian Stones Speak , University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill 2000, ISBN 978-0-8078-4939-2 , p. 133.
  51. ↑ a b Notitia Dignitatum Or. VIII
  52. ^ Edward N. Luttwak: The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire. From the First Century AD to the Third, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1979, ISBN 978-0-8018-2158-5 , p. 227.
  53. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Or. XLII
  54. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Or. XXVIII