Legio VIII Augusta

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The Legio VIII Augusta was originally a Gallic legion of the Roman army that was set up by Caesar and was active for at least 400 years thereafter. As with almost all of Caesar's legions, the legion emblem was a bull.

Brick stamp of the Legion, exhibited in the Saalburg Museum Bad Homburg vdH

Legion history

republic

Gallic War

Map of Gaul at the time of Caesar (58 BC)

Caesar established the Legion no later than 59 BC. Chr. On. From 58 BC Until 49 BC She fought in the Gallic Wars .

In the battle of the Sabis ( Selle ) river in 57 BC. The Legio VIIII fought with the Legio X on the left wing against the Atrebates , the Legio VIII and Legio XI in the center against the Viromandu and the Legio VII and Legio XII on the right wing against the Nervier . The Legio XIII and Legio XIIII brought up the rear and covered the convoy. After initial successes Roman, the Legio VIIII the Atrebates was put to flight, he managed the Belgern to storm the Roman camp and encircle the right wing. Keepers and auxiliary troops fled, and the approaching Treveri allies gave up the battle and returned home without intervening in the battle. Only the rushing rear guard and the swinging left wing could decide the battle for Caesar.

Early 52 BC The Legion was involved in the conquest of Avaricum . During the unsuccessful siege of Gergovia in 52 BC. Legionaries of LEG VIII distinguished themselves by being the first to storm the wall with their centurion Lucius Fabius. However, they were cut down. An attack by Centurion Marcus Petronius on a city gate also failed.

In 51 BC The Legion was named again when Caesar with the VII. , VIII., VIIII. and XI. Legion opposed an uprising of the Bellovacians , Ambians , Aulercer , Caletes , Veliocasser and Atrebates under the leadership of Correus. Caesar set up a heavily fortified camp within sight of the enemy camp and summoned the allied Remer and Lingons and three other legions as reinforcements. After a decisive battle, the uprising was over.

Civil wars

49 BC BC she accompanied Caesar on the crossing of the Rubicon , the beginning of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey , and fought in the battles of Corfinium and Brindisi . Then she was stationed in Apulia for some time. In the spring of 48 BC BC she suffered losses in the Battle of Dyrrhachium . In the Battle of Pharsalus (48 BC) the Legion fought with the Legio VIIII Hispana , which was also weakened by high losses, under the joint leadership of Mark Antony . Then it was transferred to Italy and shortly thereafter disbanded. Caesar settled the veterans of this legion in Campania. Several veterans of the Legion followed Caesar to Egypt when he conquered the land for Cleopatra , and took 46 BC. In the battle of Thapsus . The following year these veterans received land at Casilinum ( Capua ).

After Caesar's death (44 BC), Octavian established the Legion a. a. from their veterans who subsequently supported him in the struggle for control of the Roman Empire . 43 BC BC she fought against Marc Anton in the battle of Mutina (Modena). For a short time the Legion was nicknamed Mutinensis . During the Second Triumvirate she was 42 BC. Used against the Caesar killers Brutus and Cassius in the battle of Philippi . Then Octavian moved the Legio VII back to Italy and continued it in the winter of 41/40 BC. In the Peruvian war against Marc Anton's brother Lucius Antonius at the siege of Perugia . The Legion probably also took part in the battles against Sextus Pompeius , who had occupied Sicily, and finally again against Mark Antony in the naval battle of Actium 31 BC. Part.

Julian-Claudian dynasty

Grave stele of the Cornicen (horn blower) Publius Farfinias Severus from Claudian times. Site: Novae (Swishtow)

At 31 BC The Legion, still known as LEG VIII Gallica , was initially relocated to Tunisia. A detachment was probably used in the Cantabrian War (29-19 BC). Later the Legion was in the Balkans, where it was nicknamed "Augusta". During this time, veterans of LEG VIII Augusta and LEG V Macedonica were settled in Forum Iulii ( Fréjus / France), which was nicknamed Colonia Octavanorum Pacensis . In early August, the Legion was probably stationed in Asia Minor . Veterans of Legions V Macedonica and VIII Augusta were born around 15 BC. BC in the Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus ( Beirut ) in the Roman province of Syria Phoenice , which triggered a clear Romanization of the region.

Since 9 BC at the latest LEG VIII was stationed in Poetovio (Ptuj-Pettau / Slovenia) and monitored the important Amber Road leading to Rome . Vexillations are documented by inscriptions on Magdalensberg , in Virunum (Zollfeld near Klagenfurt / Austria) and Aquileia (Italy). Tiberius led at least eight legions in AD 6 (VIII Augusta and Legio XV Apollinaris from Pannonia , Legio XX Valeria Victrix from Illyricum , Legio XXI Rapax from Raetia , Legio XIII Gemina , Legio XIV Gemina and Legio XVI Gallica from Germania superior and an unknown Unity) from the south against Marbod , the Marcomann king , while the Legio I Germanica , Legio V Alaudae , Legio XVII , Legio XVIII and Legio XIX Augusta marched from the north. That represented half of the total military potential of the Romans at the time. Shortly after the campaign began in the spring of 6, Tiberius broke it off again when he received news of the Pannonian uprising . However, Tiberius concluded a friendship treaty with Marbod in order to concentrate fully on the difficult task in Pannonia in which the Legio VIII Augusta was probably also involved.

After Augustus' death, unrest broke out in the summer camp of the three Pannonian legions ( Legio VIIII Hispana , Legio XV Apollinaris and Legio VIII Augusta ) in the summer of 14 AD . Drusus the Younger was able to calm the situation quickly and without major complications, whereupon the legions moved to their separate winter camps. In the Roman province of Africa in 17 a war had broken out against the rebellious Numidian and Mauritanian tribes under Tacfarinas . In the year 20 the Legio VIIII Hispana was sent to Africa under its legate Publius Cornelius Lentulus Scipio and possibly a vexillation of the Legio VIII Augusta to reinforce the Legio III Augusta . The rebellion could only be ended in the year 24 by the proconsul (governor) Quintus Junius Blaesus .

As of Claudius in honor of the Legio V Alaudae and Legio VIII Augusta

Aulus Plautius , governor of the province of Pannonia , was entrusted with the invasion of Britain by Emperor Claudius in 42 . In 43 he landed with a force of four legions ( Legio II Augusta , VIIII Hispana, Legio XIV Gemina and Legio XX Valeria Victrix ) and conquered Britannia for the Roman Empire. In contrast to older research, it is now assumed that Aulus Plautius was also accompanied by detachments of the Pannonian Legion VIII Augusta . (see History of Britain )

Presumably, 44 n. Chr. LEG was VIII in Poetovio by the Legio XIII Gemina replaced and after Novae in Moesia (stalking at Svishtov postponed / Bulgaria). Between 45 and 49 AD, legionaries of LEG VIII Augusta were involved in the war against Mithridates II , the king of Regnum Bospori in the Crimea, and in 46 probably took part in the conquest of Thrace . After battles against Sarmatians and Dacians , the Legion received the nickname from Nero (54-68) to Augusta (who was twice exalted), which they dropped after his death.

Flavian dynasty

Medal of Caius Aquilus Proculus, Centurio of Legio VIII Augusta around 70 AD from Nijmegen
Grave stele of the legionnaire Caius Valerius Crispus from the late Flavian period. Site: Aquae Mattiacorum (Wiesbaden)

After the suicide of Nero, the legion supported in the Year of the Four Emperors 69 first Otho , but joined after his death Vespasian in on whose side it 24-25. October 69 Vitellius defeated in the Second Battle of Bedriacum . The Legion was moved to the Rhine in 70 and was involved in the suppression of the Batavian Uprising by Quintus Petillius Cerialis . After that, the Legion was initially stationed in Mirebeau-sur-Bèze near Dijon (France) before being relocated to Argentoratum (Strasbourg) for about three centuries for about three centuries in order to secure the imperial border from Raetia to the lower Neckar.

Vexillations of the Legion were used in Flavian times in the tuff quarries near Norroy in the province of Belgica (northeastern France) and near Reinhardsmunster (Alsace). It is uncertain whether the Legio VIII Augusta under the command of the governor Gnaeus Pinarius Cornelius Clemens built an extension of the southern Danube road from Tuttlingen through the Kinzig valley to Strasbourg around AD 74 . This so-called "Kinzigtalspange" shortened the route from Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg) to Argentoratum (Strasbourg) and on to Mogontiacum (Mainz) by 160 km compared to the previous route via Basel. To protect this new, until then shortest route between the two most important legionary camps north of the Alps, from Augsburg to Mainz, the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes was built a little later .

Vespasian settled veterans in the newly founded Colonia Flavia Pacis Deultemsium , near today's Burgas , in Thrace in the year 77 in order to romanize the troubled region. Lucius Antistius Rusticus was a legate of the Legion from 79 to 81 .

Domitian , lacking in military fame, drew the legions I Adiutrix , XIIII Gemina , XXI Rapax , VIII Augusta , XI Claudia and vexillations of the three British II Augusta , VIIII Hispana and XX Valeria Victrix in Germania superior in AD 83 together. Domitian crossed the Rhine and started the so-called chat wars against the powerful but "restless" chats who lived in the foreland of Mogontiacum (Mainz) in the Taunus and in the Giessen basin. It was probably about a weakening of the chat as the last major trouble spot near the Rhine. He advanced far into the heart of the Chatten, today's Hessen. With further campaigns, the Romans succeeded in subjugating the Wetterau area in 85 , which was part of Domitian's German policy (reorganization of the border). As a result, the border fortifications of the Taunus and Wetterau limes were built . Domitian took on the victorious surname Germanicus and formed two regular provinces from the areas of the Upper and Lower Germanic armies with propaganda efforts . After the end of the campaign, eight vexillations from the legions of Britain and Upper Germany under Caius Velius Rufus, the Primus Pilus of Legio XII Fulminata , were busy with extensive construction work in the area of ​​the Lingons (northern France).

Adoptive Emperor and Antonine Dynasty

Under Hadrian (117-138) a 1,000-strong vexillation of Legio VII Gemina , Legio VIII Augusta and Legio XXII Primigenia was relocated to Britain for the construction of Hadrian's Wall . Under Marcus Aurelius (161–180) a vexillatio came to Dalmatia, but Argentoratum remained the main camp. The LEG VIII destroyed under their legacies Iuventus Caesianus to 186 n. Chr. In bellum desertorum (War of the deserters) the bonds of the predator Maternus , the number of deserters had joined. Emperor Commodus (177–192) then awarded the Legion the honorary title Pia Fidelis Constans Commoda (devoted, loyal, steadfast and useful). After the damnatio memoriae of Commodus, the epithet was shortened to Pia Fidelis Constans and also P (ia) F (idelis) or it was simply left out.

Severan dynasty

Aureus of Septimius Severus in honor of LEG VIII Augusta: IMP (erator) CAE (sar) L (ucius) SEP (timius) SE-V (erus) PERT (inax) AVG (ustus), LEG (io) VIII AVG (usta ), TR (i) P (ia) CO (n) S (tans)

In the second year of the four emperors in 193, the Legion Septimius Severus (193-211) joined. This used them in 195 in the Parthian War. A vexillation fought in 196/197 against the usurper Clodius Albinus , who had joined the Cohors XIII Urbana in Lugdunum ( Lyon ) . After 197 a vexillation of legionnaires of XXX Ulpia Victrix , I Minervia , VIII Augusta and XXII Primigenia remained stationed in Lugdunum , the capital of the three Gaulish provinces. In 197/198 Claudius Gallus, as Praepositus, led a vexillation of the four Germanic legions (I Minervia, VIII Augusta, XXII Primigenia and XXX Ulpia) in the Second Severan Parthian War . Caius Iulius Septimius Castinus, the legate of the Legio I Minervia and later governor in Pannonia inferior (208-211) and Dacia (214 / 215-217), led as Dux around 207/208 a vexillation of the four Germanic legions VIII Augusta, XXII Primigenia , I Minervia and XXX Ulpia Victrix against rioters and rebels in Gaul and Hispania . 213 undertook Caracalla (211-217) with the LEG VIII Augusta, Legio III Italica and Legio XXII Primigenia a campaign against the Alemanni . At first he won a victory on the Main, but the battles that followed were so unfavorable for him that he was forced to make payments to the Teutons in order to buy peace. At least he managed to stabilize the situation on the border. Caracalla gave the Legion the nickname Antoniniana . When Severus Alexander (222-235) used the LEG VIII Augusta Severiana in his campaign against the Sassanids in Mesopotamia in 233 , the border with free Germania was too weakly secured, so that the Alemanni continued to plunder until the end of the century undertook the empire. The Legion also had the nickname Alexandriana , which however was deleted from the inscriptions after Severus Alexander's damnatio memoriae .

Soldier Emperor, Imperial Crisis of the 3rd Century

The VIII Augusta was probably involved in the "pacification" of Germania by Maximinus Thrax (235–238). Philip Arabs (244-249) put the VIII Augusta in his campaign against the Sassanids . When the Dekumatland was evacuated by the Romans between 250 and 260, LEG VIII remained on the Rhine. In the civil war between Gallienus (253-268) and Postumus (260-269), the Legion seems to have supported Gallienus and received honorable epithets such as V, VI, VII Pia fidelis (five, six, seven times loyal and devoted).

Western Roman Empire

Painted shields for the Octavani in the early 5th century

Maximian (286–305) put parts of the legion in Mauretania (Morocco). In the course of the reorganization of the provinces by Diocletian (284–305), the legion was assigned to the Dux of Germania prima as Limitanei (border army) in 297 . At the latest under Constantine I (306–337), a detachment of probably 1,000 men as Comitatenses (field army) was removed from the legion.

In the 4th century, parts of LEG VIII and Legio II Italica were stationed in Divitia on the right bank of the Rhine ( Deutz Castle near Cologne) in Germania secunda . The main camp of the Octavani (= Legio VIII Augusta Pia Fidelis Constans), reinforced by the Legio XII Victrix , was still in Argentoratum (Strasbourg) where a Comes tractus Argentoratensis had resided as the commander of the local border troops since the early 5th century . According to an inscription that was excavated during the construction of the railway in 1892, the "LEG OCTA AVGVST" built three watchtowers near Etzgen in 371 , of which, however, no traces have been preserved. Around 400 AD, the Stilicho Legion was withdrawn from the Rhine and placed under the Italian command of the Magister Peditum to protect Italy against the Visigoths . Around 420 the Octavani are documented under the Magister Peditum per Italiam; possibly the old legio comitatensis LEG VIII Augusta, which was upgraded to the Legio palatina.

literature

Web links

Commons : Legio VIII Augusta  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Caesar : De bello Gallico 2, 16-28 ( online ).
  2. ^ Caesar : De bello Gallico VII, 47-50
  3. ↑ Aulus Hirtius : De bello Gallico VIII, 6-10 ( online ).
  4. ^ Caesar: De bello civili 3, 89.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Jona Lendering: Legio VIII Augusta . In: Livius.org (English).
  6. ↑ AE 1919, 79
  7. ^ Lawrence Keppie: The making of the Roman Army. From Republic to Empire , University of Oklahoma Press, Oklahoma 1998, ISBN 978-080613014-9 , p. 157.
  8. ^ Nigel Pollard: Soldiers, cities, and civilians in Roman Syria , University of Michigan Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-472-11155-8 , p. 61.
  9. ↑ Hildegard Temporini , Wolfgang Haase, (Ed.): Rise and decline of the Roman world (ANRW). Part II Vol. 6, de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1977, ISBN 978-3-11-006735-4 , p. 549.
  10. ^ Tacitus , Annales 1: 16-30.
  11. ^ A b Lawrence JF Keppie: Legions and veterans: Roman army papers 1971-2000 (Mavors. Roman Army Researches Volume 12) , Steiner, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 978-3-515-07744-6 , p. 166.
  12. ^ A b c Emil Ritterling: Legio (VIIII Hispana). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 2, Stuttgart 1925, Sp. 1664-1668.
  13. ↑ CIL 13, 7574
  14. ↑ 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 978-019957287-8 , pp. 175-176
  15. ↑ Hildegard Temporini , Wolfgang Haase (Ed.): Rise and Decline of the Roman World (ANRW) Part 2: Vol. 7/1, de Gruyter, 1979, ISBN 978-3-11-006875-7 , p. 163.
  16. ^ Egon Schallmayer : The Limes: History of a Border , Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-406-48018-8 , pp. 49-52 and
    Reinhard Wolters : Die Römer in Germanien , CH Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3- 406-44736-8 , p. 66 ff.
  17. ^ Sheppard Sunderland Frere: Britannia: a history of Roman Britain , 3rd ed., Extensively rev. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London / New York 1987, ISBN 0710212151 , p. 123.
  18. ↑ Markus Handy: Die Severer und das Heer (Studies on Ancient History, Vol. 10) , Antike Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-938032-25-1 , pp. 47-48; see: CIL 12, 2587
  19. ↑ Gerold Walser : Römische Insschriftkunst, Steiner, 2nd verb. Edition 1993, ISBN 978-3-515-06065-3 , p. 208
  20. ^ AE 1957, 123
  21. ↑ CIL 3, 10471 , CIL 3, 10472 , CIL 3, 10473
  22. ^ Emil Ritterling: Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix . In: RE Volume XII, 2, Stuttgart 1925, Sp. 1821-1829.
  23. ↑ CIL 13, 6440
  24. ^ AE 1978, 550
  25. ↑ AE 1920, 130 , CIL 13, 6738
  26. ^ 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. 91.
  27. ↑ a b Notitia Dignitatum Occ. V.
  28. ^ Pat Southern: The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine , Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-415-23943-5 , p. 335.
  29. ↑ Ralf Scharf: The Dux Mogontiacensis and the Notitia Dignitatum. A study on border defense in late antiquity , series: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (supplementary volumes), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-11-018835-X , pp. 14-16.
  30. ↑ CIL 13, 11538 ; see: Martin Hartmann, Hans Weber: The Romans in Aargau . Verlag Sauerländer, Aarau 1985, ISBN 3-7941-2539-8 , p. 168 .