Legio I Italica

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The Legio I Italica was a legion of the Roman army that existed from 66/67 AD until the 5th century. The I Italica used a wild boar as an emblem and sometimes a bull or an ibex .

Signum of the Legio I Italica

Legion history

Julian-Claudian dynasty

According to an inscription, the Legion was officially set up on September 20, 66, or more likely 67, when Emperor Nero solemnly presented the standards to the command . In previous years, the legionnaires were recruited in Italy on imperial orders, who had to be at least 1.80 m tall and were to march in a campaign in Armenia and the Middle East . Nero once referred to the Legion as the " Phalanx of Alexander the Great ", which illustrates his plans for future Ostpolitik. Nero was forced to give up his plans. The Legion did not even get to the originally ordered base in Asia Minor , as Gaius Iulius Vindex , the governor of Gallia Lugdunensis , revolted during the transfer . The Legion returned immediately and arrived in Gaul in March or April 68 , but was probably no longer needed because Lucius Verginius Rufus had already put down the uprising.

Four emperor year

The generals Publius Petronius Turpilianus and Rubrius Gallus were sent against the rebellious Galba , an ally of the Vindex, in the year of the four emperors 69 . In June 69 the Senate elevated Galba to emperor. Petronius Turpilianus defected to Galba and Nero committed suicide. Galba, who distrusted the Rhine Legions, stationed the Legio I Italica in Lugdunum (now Lyon ). The legions that had put down the uprising suddenly found themselves pushed into the corner of the enemy of the state and revolted under Vitellius in January 69 . The soldiers of the Italica immediately joined the uprising under their legate Titus Manlius Valens , left their makeshift base in Lyon and joined the rebel march into Italy .

Galba was murdered before the first fighting; So the rebels faced the troops of the new emperor Otho on April 14, 69 at Bedriacum near Cremona and were victorious. However, Vitellius could hardly enjoy the imperial dignity achieved in this way, as only months later the high military Vespasian had himself proclaimed emperor. On October 24th, Vitellius's troops were defeated in a second battle near Bedriacum . Vitellius was killed, and Vespasian gained the rule (year of the four emperors ).

Flavian dynasty

After this defeat, Vespasian sent the I Italica to the Roman province of Moesia ( Moesia ). There she was stationed , presumably from the beginning, in the legionary camp Novae , today's Bulgarian Swishtow , on the Danube Limes. Here the Legion was to remain until its end.

Brick found in Novae with the stamp of the Legio I Italica

The first fighting broke out in the winter of 69/70 when the Sarmatians north of the Danube took advantage of the weakening of Rome by the civil war and attacked Moesia . The governor Gaius Fonteius Agrippa was killed and the troops stationed there suffered heavy losses. Only under the new governor Rubrius Gallus could order be restored in the course of the year 70. Around 85/86 the conflict with the Dacians escalated , in which the Legio I Italica was also deployed. Emperor Domitian (81–96) divided the province of Moesia into Moesia inferior (Lower Moesia ) and Moesia superior (Upper Moesia ). The Legio I Italica stayed in Novae in Moesia inferior . A number of legionaries did their job with police and administrative tasks at the governor's staff or at smaller outposts in the western part of Lower Moesia between Almus ( Lom) and Sexanta Prista . Vexillations were also used for construction work on the "front sections" of neighboring legions.

Domitian (81-96) settled veterans of the legions I Italica, III Augusta , IV Macedonica , V Macedonica , V Alaudae , IIII Flavia and VII Claudia in the newly founded city of Scupi ( Skopje ) at the beginning of his rule .

Remains of the principia (staff building) in Novae

Adoptive emperor

In 98 the old wood and earth warehouse in Novae was replaced by one made of stone. Trajan (98-117) founded veterans colonies in Colonia Ulpia Oescus and Celei (near Corabia ), in which veterans of the Legio I Italica were also settled. If the headquarters of the Legion remained in Novae, vexillations of the Legio I Italica were repeatedly sent to other military campaigns. So is z. B. known that troops of the Italica were sent to Barbaricum in Chersonesus Taurica ( Bosporan Empire , Crimea ) to protect some of the Greek cities there, but also to carry out construction projects. According to an unhistorical legend, Pope Clement was exiled to the Crimea in 102 and executed there by soldiers of the First Legion.

Italica units were repeatedly sent out to take part in Trajan's Dacer wars . During the Trajan campaign they secured the bridgehead over the Danube and fought partly on the front. Between 114 and 116 a vexillation took part in Trajan's Parthian campaign. The tangible evidence over the next fifty years is sparse and mostly ambiguous. Soldiers of the Legio I Italica in Delphi may have supervised various building projects under Hadrian and fought the Bar Kochba uprising from 132 to 135.

Remnants of the hospital in Novae

Antonine dynasty

Probably under Antoninus a subunit in 139-142 Kingdom stationed to the construction of the Antonine to dig trenches. Perhaps Antoninus Pius sent some units of the Italica to North Africa to put down a revolt of the Moors .

Under Emperor Mark Aurel (161 to 180), the legion's historical traces become more precise again. In order to protect the borders of the province of Dacia and the Danube, the emperor had to go to several marcomannic wars . The first campaign began in AD 165. At that time, the Legio I Italica apparently fought bravely, as the two legions founded by Marcus Aurelius were called II Italica and III Italica . After almost ten years of uninterrupted fighting, when the expansion of the Roman Empire north of the Danube was within reach, Marcus Aurel handed over the supreme command of the Moesian legions to a young senator named Aulus Julius Pompilius Piso in order to better coordinate the occupation of the new areas.

The Legio I Italica was obviously heavily involved in its main task, the protection of the Danube Limes , despite its frontline deployment. After 167/168, at least parts of the Capidava Danube Fort in Lower Saxony, about 354 kilometers to the northeast, can be found. The fort guarded an important ford across the Danube and had previously been occupied by the Cohors I Germanorum civium Romanorum , an auxiliary group. Legion brick stamps were also found in the Dinogetia fort , a little further north , which also secured the river and temporarily housed the Danube fleet. Mud bricks made by the Legion from this period also show some depictions of ships, which confirms the assumption that the Legion had its own ships for patrols, combat missions and also transport tasks.

Denarius minted by Septimius Severus in 193 in honor of the I Italica , which supported him in his struggle for the imperial throne.

Severan dynasty

In the 2nd and 3rd centuries vexillations of the Legio I Italica and the Legio XI Claudia were stationed in the Municipium Montanensium to guard the mines of the region, but also to catch bears and bison for circus games. During the Severan period, the Legion in Novae developed a brisk building activity.

When the Pannonian governor Septimius Severus was proclaimed emperor in 193 , the Italica under its legate Lucius Marius Maximus immediately joined his cause, but could not take part in the battles for Rome because of its remote location . For this, Septimius used them in 193/194 in the fight against his rival in the east, Pescennius Niger . The participation of the I Italica in the siege of Byzantium , later Constantinople, is guaranteed. In 196/197 the Legion fought at Lugdunum (Lyon) against Clodius Albinus .

Perhaps she marched even further and fought in the campaign against the Parthians , which culminated in the conquest of the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon . In 205 AD, the Legion was named Legio I Italica Antoniniana . During the reign of Caracalla (211-217), the Dacian border was extended by around 50 kilometers to the east. To secure the new areas, the Romans drew a mighty wall (the Limes Transalutanus ) that began near Novae. It is not possible that the soldiers of Italica were not involved in such an important operation.

Under Alexander Severus (222-235) the Legio I Italica Severiana , or at least a strong vexillation, was stationed in the province of Dalmatia in Salonae (near Split ).

Coin of Emperor Gallienus in honor of LEG I ITAL VI P VI F

Soldier emperor

Between 238 and 244 the Legio I Italica Gordiana was named after the emperor Gordian III. Around 250 Novae was besieged by the Ostrogoths and parts of the fortifications were destroyed. Around this time, parts of the eastern settlement were fortified. When Emperor Gallienus (253–268) was threatened by rebellions and usurpations, the Legio I Italica was loyal to the emperor. Gallienus awarded the Legion the title of Pia Fidelis (dutiful and faithful) for the sixth time .

Shield painting of the Primani (Palatinae)
Shield painting of the Prima Italica (Pseudocomitatenses)

Late antiquity

In the late 3rd century the Legio Prima Italica , or Legio Moesiaca , as it was sometimes called, changed. Most new recruits were recruited in Thrace . The Thracians were considered fearless fighters. In late antiquity, at the time of Diocletian (284–305), the legion's good reputation helped a vexillation to join the Comitatenses (field army).

Around the year 297, Diocletian's troops, which included vexillations of Legio XI Claudia , Legio VII Claudia , Legio IIII Flavia Felix, and Legio I Italica , gathered to crush a revolt in Egypt . The leaders of this rebellion were Lucius Domitius Domitianus and Achilles . Diocletian was able to end this revolt in the spring of 298. Then he went back to the Persian border. A vexillation of legionnaires of Legio XI Claudia , Legio VII Claudia , Legio IIII Flavia Felix , Legio I Italica and Legio I Illyricorum built a 550 km long road under Diocletian in Arabia Petraea (Syria, Jordan), which connects the castles Bostra , Basianis ( Qasr al-Azraq ), Amata and Dumata combined. Around 300, Valerius Maximianus led a unit of legionnaires from Legio I Italica and Legio II Herculia as Praepositus vexillationis and left an inscription in Chersonesus Taurica ( Cherson ) in honor of the emperors and Caesars .

Under Constantine (306–337), this sub-unit was incorporated into the Legiones palatinae ( Guard ) after 312 as Primani or Primanorum Legio . The camp in Novae was partially destroyed around 316/317 and the area was subsequently settled by civilians.

Around the year 400 a part of the Legio Prima Italica was under the command of the Dux Moesiae secundae . The Praefectus legionis and the Praefectus ripae were with their troops in the Novae garrison, while another Praefectus ripae with his troops was stationed about 100 km downstream in Sexagintaprista (today Russian in Bulgaria). There they guarded as legio ripariensis ("shore legion") on the Danube on the border with Barbaricum . The Magister militum per Orientem commanded another part of the original legion with the Prima Italica , which served as pseudocomitatenses , while the Primani as Legio palatinae were subordinate to the Magister Militum Praesentalis .

Of Justinian I (527-565) fastenings of the fort Novae were once repaired, but is unknown, was which unit there.

Locations of the vexillations

Legion vexillations are in numerous locations such as: B. Lugdunum ( Lyon ), Fort Dinogetia , Storgosia , Noviodunum ( Isaccea ), Fort Iatrus , Fort Capidava , Almus ( Lom (Bulgaria) ), Sexanta Prista, Municipium Montanensium ( Montana (Bulgaria) ) and Salonae ( Solin ).

literature

Web links

Commons : Legio I Italica  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Emil Ritterling: Legio (I Italica). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 2, Stuttgart 1925, Sp. 1407-1417.
  2. ↑ M. Mirkovic: Native population and Roman cities in the province of Upper Moesia , in: Hildegard Temporini (Ed.): Rise and decline of the Roman world (ANRW), Part II, Volume 6, Political History (Provinces and marginal peoples: Latin Danube- Balkan area) . Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin & New York 1977, ISBN 3-11-006735-8 , p. 831.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Marietta Horster :  Novae. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 21, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2002, ISBN 3-11-017272-0 , pp. 434–435 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  4. ↑ martyrology Roman Flori-Legium
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Jona Lendering: Legio I Italica . In: Livius.org (English).
  6. ↑ Julian Bennett : Trajan. Optimus Princeps , Routledge, 1997, ISBN 0-415-16524-5 , pp. 195-196.
  7. ↑ Gabriella Bordenache: Romans in Romania , Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne 1969, p. 48.
  8. ↑ Zaharia Covacef: Cohors I Germanorum a Capidava . In: Army and Urban Development in the Danubian Provinces of the Roman Empire . Alba Iulia, 2000, pp. 285-291.
  9. ^ Inscriptiones Scythiae Minoris Graecae et Latinae , Volume 5, 262.
  10. ↑ Gabriele Wesch-Klein : Social aspects of the Roman army in the imperial period , Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-515-07300-0 , p. 36 (= Habil. Heidelberg 1995).
  11. ^ Alfred Michael Hirt: Imperial Mines and Quarries in the Roman World: Organizational Aspects 27 BC-Ad 235 . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-957287-8 , pp. 70, 192-193 (Oxford Classical Monographs); see: AE 1987, 867 .
  12. ↑ CIL 3, 12394 .
  13. ↑ CIL 3, 7591 .
  14. ↑ Peter Herz , Peter Schmid, and Oliver Stoll (eds.): Between Region and Empire: The Upper Danube Area in the Roman Empire , Frank & Timme, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86596-313-0 , p. 15.
  15. ↑ CIL 6, 2785 .
  16. ↑ CIL 6, 2759 .
  17. ^ Samuel Thomas Parker: The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan. Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980-1989 . Harvard University Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-88402-298-5 , p. 544 (Dumbarton Oaks Studies 40).
  18. ↑ AE 1987, 964 ; Gary Keith Young: Rome's eastern trade: international commerce and imperial policy, 31 BC-AD 305 . Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-415-24219-3 , pp. 123-124.
  19. ↑ AE 1994, 1539 .
  20. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Or. VI
  21. ↑ Ammianus XVI 12:49 PM
  22. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Or. XL.
  23. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Or. VII.
  24. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Or. VI.