Legio VII Gemina

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Votive altar for the genius of the Legio VII Gemina (Museo de León).

The Legio VII Gemina was a legion of the Roman army that was set up in 68 by Emperor Galba . Its history can be traced back to late antiquity , especially through inscriptions from the Iberian Peninsula . Her name still exists today in the name of the city of León in the autonomous community of Castile-León in Spain , where the Legio VII Gemina had its most important camp for centuries .

Legion history

Consecration stone for the "eagle's birthday"

List, Four Emperor's Year and Flavian Period

The reason for the creation of a new legion was the proclamation of Galba, at that time governor of the province of Hispania citerior , on April 3, 68 in Carthago Nova as emperor. Already on June 10th of the year 68 she received her standard ( signa ) and the legionary eagle ( aquila ). The date as natalis aquilae (birth of the eagle) is documented in a series of inscriptions from Villalís near Astorga . These are dedicatory inscriptions that were placed on the occasion of the anniversary. At first it didn't have a nickname. Tacitus calls them Galbiana or Hispana , for reasons of distinction , after all , “7th Legion, which was recently raised by Galba”. Possibly she received the number VII from Galba following the Legio VI Victrix , which was in the province at the time of the elevation.

The Legion supported Galba in the civil war of the Four Emperor's Year and was sent from Spain to Rome for this purpose, in order to later replace the Legio X Gemina in the Pannonian city ​​of Carnuntum . After Galba's death, the Legion and the Illyrian armies joined his successor, Otho , but were no longer used in the decisive battle of Bedriacum . Vitellius sent them back to Pannonia. Under their legate, Marcus Antonius Primus , the legion took the side of Vespasian and soon marched back to Italy. Tacitus mentions that she lost six first class centurions in the Battle of Cremona . It is unclear whether the Legion was then immediately transferred to Germania, or whether it returned to Carnuntum or even to Spain for a short time. References to the legion come from the early reign of Vespasian primarily from the Upper Rhine, where, for example, the actions of Pinarius Clemens were carried out at that time. Some brick stamps show the legion in the area around Mainz.

In the year 70 the Legio VII was reformed by Vespasian with the recruitment of soldiers of the Legio I Germanica and was given the nickname Legio VII Gemina (Latin gemina "twin"). Around the year 74, the unit with the added epithet was Felix (the "Happy") back in Spain, where it until the 3rd century the garrison Legio is attested (León). The other "Spanish" legions ( I Adiutrix , VI Victrix and X Gemina ) had been moved to Germania at the beginning of the decade to end the Batavian Rebellion, so that the VII Gemina represented the garrison of the Iberian peninsula along with a few auxiliary troops. Parts of the legion were stationed on the passes to Asturia Transmontana and in Asturica Augusta (Astorga). In the year 79 AD, the Legio is first documented on an inscription that can be safely dated, which was dedicated to the emperor and his sons as an inscription by 10 Callaec communities.

High imperial era

The later Emperor Trajan was in the late 80s of the 1st century the commander of the Legio VII. During the uprising of Lucius Antonius Saturninus , it marched initially to Aquileia to protect Italy , but was no longer used. 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 .

The Legion remained permanently stationed in León during the middle imperial period, but detachments were also in numerous other locations, such as B. Empúries , Trêsminas and Asturica Augusta (Astorga) in Hispania citerior and Lago das Covas in Lusitania . Isolated inscriptions or brick stamp finds from North Africa and Dacia could prove a delegation of vexillations to foreign wars. In the otherwise quiet Hispania , the Legion was deployed in the years 171–172 / 173 under its legate Publius Cornelius Anullinus to fight a Moorish invasion of the south coast.

Brick stamp of L (egio) VII G (emina) GORD (iana) P (ia) F (elix)

Clodius Albinus was proclaimed anti-emperor in the west in 195/196. He found support with the British legions and initially also with the Legio VII Gemina . The VII Gemina then switched to the side of Septimius Severus or at least behaved passively. The civil war ended in February 197 with the victory of Septimius Severus at Lugdunum ( Lyon ). From 197 to 199 Tiberius Claudius Candidus legatus Augustorum pro praetore provinciae Hispaniae citerioris (governor of the province of Hispania Citerior ) and went with the Legio VII Gemina "on land and water" ( terra marique ) against Lucius Novius Rufus, who had been declared a public enemy, Governor of Tarraconensis , who was a follower of Clodius Albinus. For this, the Legio VII Gemina received the nickname pia or pia felix . From 202 until probably 205 Quintus Hedius Lollianus Plautius Avitus was legate of the legion. An inscription of the promoted to governor Quintus Hedius Lollianus Plautius Avitus from the years 208-211, the Legion calls for the first time P (ia) F (elix). The nicknames are also attested by brick stamps.

Again under an emperor of the Severus imperial family, Severus Alexander (222–235), the legion could have been at least partially assigned to a foreign war. An altar of a centurion of the Legio VII Gemina Alexandriana found in Aquae Mattiacorum ( Wiesbaden ) can be seen in connection with the planned German war of Severus Alexander, for which units and vexillations from the entire empire were brought together. From Emperor Gordian III. (238–244) the Legion was nicknamed Gordiana . Military activities from the 3rd century AD only existed on the Iberian Peninsula during the Frankish invasion of 260 AD. The Legion only played a subordinate role politically, as the so-called soldier emperors were proclaimed by the large, connected associations of the Rhine, Danube and the Orient.

Late antiquity

The reforms of Diocletian (284–305) and Constantine the Great (306–337) led to the separation and independence of several vexilations. In the course of the 4th century the troop strength on the Iberian Peninsula decreased to around 2,000 to 3,000 legionnaires.

Part of the legion was relocated to the east of the empire as Septimani Gemina during the 4th century and served as Comitatenses under the Magister Militum per Orientem . In the early 5th century the Legio septima gemina was still stationed in Legio (León). The downsized legion belonged to the lowest class of the late Roman army, the so-called Limitanei (border army) and was under the magister peditum of the western empire. The Septimani served as pseudocomitatenses under the Magister Peditum Praesentalis , who also had the supreme command of the Septimani seniores and Septimani iuniores , who had risen to become comitatenses (field army) . The Septimani seniores were stationed in Hispania , whereas the Septimani iuniores were divided into locations in Italy, Gaul and Mauretania Tingitana . The Septimani seniores and Septimani iuniores were subordinate to the Magister Equitum Galliarum .

  • Shield painting of the Septimani Gemina in the early 5th century.

  • Shield painting of the Septimani in the early 5th century.

  • Exposed porta principalis sinistra of the legionary camp, preserved in the “Cripta arqueológica de Puerta Obispo”.

  • The tower of San Isidoro contains the masonry of a tower of the late antique legion camp.

Legion camp

Late antique city fortifications of León

The camp, which was located in today's old town of León, measured 570 × 350 m and thus had an inner area of ​​a little less than 20 hectares. In terms of size, it is in company with the large camp of Haltern (Augustan, 20th century) ha) or the legionary camp of Strasbourg . It occupies a slight hill above the confluence of the Río Torío and the Río Bernesga . With the exception of the southeast corner, the camp itself forms a uniform rectangle that is almost north-facing.

During the early imperial era, the camp was surrounded by a 1.80 m thick wall. In late antique times, when many cities renewed or rebuilt their city walls, León also received one of the most powerful fortifications on the Iberian Peninsula. In front of the old wall, which can still be proven in many places, a new, 7 m wide wall was placed. Its towers, 48 ​​of which are still detectable, protrude about 5.80 m from the wall. The lower part of the wall and the towers are made of reused cuboids, otherwise broken stones and opus caementitium . Its ancient height is difficult to add as the wall was rebuilt several times in the Middle Ages and the ancient wall end can no longer be determined today. It is one of the largest fortresses on the peninsula at that time.

Little is known of the interior development due to the continuous settlement of the area. In 1884, remains of walls and a mosaic depicting fish and algae were discovered under the Cathedral of León . In 1888, the remains of three hypocaust complexes were found under the stairs at the main portal of the cathedral , separated from each other by 1.20 m wide walls. The findings could speak in favor of a thermal bath, but this seems rather unusual within the storage area.

Epigraphic sources

Inscription at the Cova de l'Aigua cave near Denia

153 inscriptions by simple soldiers, including sites outside the Iberian Peninsula, are known, most of which can be identified by the explicit mention of the VII Legion. In addition there are 43 centurions, 22 tribunes of the knightly class, 8 tribuni laticlavii , and 15 legionaries. The large number of inscriptions which name soldiers who were assigned to the governor's staff, so-called principales , both in Tarraco and in Emerita Augusta, must also be added .

The military inscriptions are most common in Tarraco, other important sites besides Mérida and León are Asturica , Villalís , Rosinos de Vidriales and Trêsminas . The latter places are likely to be related to ore mining in northwestern Spain and northern Portugal, the organization of which was an essential task of the Legion in peacetime. Another example of the extensive stationing comes from the civil war year 238 when a vexillation of the Legio VII Gemina Pia Felix Maximiniana under the princeps vexillationis Caius Iulius Urbanus had its camp near Dianium ( Dénia ) to secure this section of the Spanish east coast.

literature

  • Legio VII Gemina. International Colloquium 16. – 21. September 1968 (León 1970).
  • Yann Le Bohec: The Roman Army . Steiner, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-515-06300-5 .
  • Patrick Le Roux: L 'army romaine et l' organization des provinces iberiques d 'Auguste al' invasion de 409.De Boccard, Paris 1982 (Publications du Center Pierre Paris 8; Collection de la Maison des Pays Ibériques 9)
  • Emil Ritterling : Legio (VII Gemina). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 2, Stuttgart 1925, Sp. 1629-1642.
  • Juan José Palao Vicente: Legio VII Gemina (Pia) Felix. Estudio de una legión Romana , Universidad de Salamanca, 2006, ISBN 978-84-7800-546-8

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CIL 02, 05083 .
  2. ↑ CIL 02, 2552 .
  3. ↑ Le Roux 1982 pp. 242-244; CIL 02, 02552 , CIL 02, 2553 , CIL 02, 2556 .
  4. ↑ Tacitus histories II.86 ( septima Galbiana ).
  5. ↑ Tacitus histories I.6 ( INDUCTA Legione Hispana ).
  6. ^ Tacitus, Historien III, 22 ( septima legio, nuper a Galba conscripta ).
  7. ^ Tacitus, Historien III, 22.
  8. ↑ Ritterling, RE 1632
  9. ^ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate, Directorate for State Archeology: Research project on Roman building ceramics and brick stamps
  10. ↑ Ritterling, RE 1601.
  11. ↑ CIL 02, 02477 .
  12. ↑ Pliny , Panegyricus Plinii Secundi Traiano Augusto XIV, 2-3.
  13. ^ Sheppard Sunderland Frere: Britannia: a history of Roman Britain , 3rd ed., Extensively rev. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London / New York 1987, ISBN 0710212151 , p. 123.
  14. ↑ Le Roux 1982, pp. 159-160.
  15. ↑ a b CIL 2, 2667
  16. ^ Anthony R. Birley : Septimius Severus, the African Emperor , Routledge, 1999, ISBN 978-0-415-16591-4 , p. 125.
  17. ↑ CIL 2, 4114
  18. ↑ CIL 02, 04121
  19. ↑ CIL 02, 04121 .
  20. ↑ CIL 13, 07564 .
  21. ^ Karen Eva Carr: Vandals to Visigoths: rural settlement patterns in early Medieval Spain , University of Michigan Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-472-10891-6 , p. 165.
  22. ↑ a b ND Or. VII.
  23. ^ ND Occ. XLII ( in provincia Callaecia praefectus legionis septimae geminae, Legione )
  24. ↑ a b c Notitia Dignitatum Occ. V.
  25. ↑ The "Gallic" Septimani iuniores could also have emerged from the Legio VII Claudia . Luke Ueda-Sarson: Comes Hispenias
  26. ^ ND Occ. VII.
  27. ↑ On the legionary camp see: Walter Trillmich and Annette Nünnerich-Asmus (eds.): Hispania Antiqua - Monuments of the Roman Age. von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1547-3 , especially pp. 224-226 and 421; Antonio García y Bellido: Estudios sobre la legio VII Gemina y su campamento en León. In: Legio VII Gemina. Colloquium Volume León 1970; A. Morillo Cerdán / V. García Marcos: The Roman camps at Léon (Spain): state of the research and new approaches. In: Ángel Morillo / Norbert Hanel / Esperanza Martín (eds.): Limes XX. XX Congresso international de estudios sobre la frontera romana. Madrid 2009, ISBN 978-84-00-08854-5 , pp. 389-406.
  28. ↑ a b CIL 2, 3588 , HD004805
  29. ↑ Figures from Le Roux 1982
  30. ^ 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. 76 and 120-121.