Legio XI Claudia

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The Legio XI Claudia was a legion of the Roman army. The origin of the legion cannot be determined exactly, it was probably made by Gaius Iulius Caesar around 58 BC. BC and existed until the early 5th century. Her name under Octavian was Legio XI Actiaca. She received her honorary name Claudia Pia Fidelis ("dutiful and faithful") under Emperor Claudius . The Legion's name was then abbreviated as LEG XI CPF .

The emblem of the Caesarian Legion was probably originally a bull. The god Neptune has been the legion symbol since Augustus , but the Capitoline Wolf with twins Romulus and Remus also occurs occasionally . The continuity of Caesar's to Octavian's Legio XI is not assured.

Signum of the Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis (simplified representation)
Brick stamp of the Legio XI Claudia

Legion history

republic

Caesar's Legio XI

Caesar's campaigns during the Gallic War

It is believed that the Legion was founded in 58 BC. BC was excavated together with the Legio XII Fulminata . During the Gallic War of the general Gaius Iulius Caesar , the Legio XI was in 58 BC. Against the Helvetii and in 57 BC Used against the Nervier . It can be assumed that they were in 52 BC. Was also involved in the battles for Avaricum and Alesia .

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.

During the Roman Civil Wars it took in 49 BC. In the invasion of Italy by Caesar and was then stationed in Apulia . In 48 BC She took part in the battles of Dyrrhachium and was also present in the battle of Pharsalus . The Legio XI was founded in 46/45 BC. Dissolved and the veterans settled in central Italian Bovianum .

Octavian's Legio XI

Octavian , the adopted son of the murdered Emperor Gaius Iulius Caesar, who had formed the Second Triumvirate with Marcus Antonius and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , again raised a Legio XI or restored Caesar's Legion.

During the triumvirate she was 42 BC. Used against the Caesar killers Brutus and Cassius in the battle of Philippi . Then Octavian moved the Legio XI 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 . It may also have been used against Sextus Pompey under the command of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa . This had seized the island of Sicily and threatened the grain supply of the city of Rome . In 31 BC During the Battle of Actium , the Legio XI was in Octavian's army against his former ally, Mark Antony and the Egyptian ruler Cleopatra . The Legion was then given the nickname Actiaca . Anthony had been defeated in the sea battle and retired to Cleopatra in Egypt. Octavian took Egypt a year later, whereupon Mark Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide. Two years later, Octavian became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire under the emperor name "Augustus" (27 BC - 14 AD) .

Julian-Claudian dynasty

After the Battle of Actium, the Legio XI was initially stationed in Illyria , although the exact location is not known. After the legions XVII , XVIII and XIX under the command of Publius Quinctilius Varus were destroyed in the Varus battle against the Cherusci under Arminius in 9 AD , the Legio XI was moved to the Dalmatian Burnum (today Kistanje in Croatia ). Here the legionaries were called in for construction work, especially in road construction, which contributed to the economic development and economic boom of the Roman province . These activities can be proven above all in the provincial capital Salona (today Solin near Split in Croatia) and in Gardun (also in today's Croatia).

During the revolt of the Dalmatian governor Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus in 42, the legions VII and XI held to Emperor Claudius (41-54) and received the nickname Claudia and the honorary title Pia Fidelis ("dutiful and faithful"). Around the middle of the 1st century, veterans of Legio VII Claudia and Legio XI Claudia were settled in Aequum ( Čitluk ). In 58 AD the Legio VII CPF was transferred to the Danube, while the Legio XI remained stationed in Dalmatia. A department ( Vexillatio ) of the Legio XI supported the general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo in his campaign against the Parthians in 63 AD, when it came to control over Armenia.

First year of the four emperors

Towards the end of Nero's reign (54–68), various revolts and alliances in the military hierarchies had developed against his mode of government and after Galba was proclaimed emperor on April 3, 68 AD, Nero committed suicide. However, Galba also turned the people and above all the Roman Rhine Army against them, so that on January 2, 69 AD, they proclaimed the governor Aulus Vitellius in Cologne to be emperor. This marked the beginning of the so-called year of the four emperors , because in return, on January 15, 69, in Rome the Galba supporter Otho, after bribing the Praetorian Guard, had himself proclaimed emperor. Marcus Salvius Otho had Galba murdered and initially asserted himself as emperor. But the legions on the Rhine insisted on Vitellius, crossed the Alps and defeated Otho's troops in the Battle of Bedriacum on April 14, 69 (near Cremona ). It is not clear whether the Dalmatian legions, including Legio XI Claudia , appeared on the battlefield too late or waited for the outcome of the battle. At the news of the defeat, Otho committed suicide. The new emperor Vitellius ordered the Legio XI Claudia back to Dalmatia . Now in the east the local general Titus Flavius ​​Vespasianus in Alexandria was proclaimed emperor on July 1st, 69 AD. The legions in the Danube region and in Dalmatia also supported Vespasian. His general Marcus Antonius Primus marched to Italy and defeated the forces of Emperor Vitellius in the second battle of Bedriacum on October 24, 69 . He was killed in a turmoil in Rome on December 20, 69. With this defeat the civil war ended. On December 21, 69 AD, Vespasian was recognized as emperor by the Senate. However, he did not arrive in Rome until October 70 AD.

Flavian dynasty

Vespasian became the new emperor of the Roman Empire and founder of the Flavian dynasty , which lasted until 96 AD. In the year 70 AD the Legio XI CPF was part of an expeditionary force under the command of the general Quintus Petilius Cerialis , who put down the Batavian revolt under Iulius Civilis .

Brick stamp of the 11th Legion from Vindonissa (In the Archaeological State Museum Baden-Württemberg in Konstanz)

Since there was resistance from the native Helvetic militia , tolerated by Rome, against the march of Vitellius' Rhine legions to the Alps in 69 AD , this was "broken by the 21st Legion and its auxiliary troops in a few days and a large number of civilian settlements (e.g. Baden / Aquae Helveticae ) destroyed. […] Vespasian did not leave the 21st Legion in Vindonissa, but replaced it with the 11th Legion. ”The Legio IIII Flavia Felix took over their position in Dalmatia .

The whereabouts of the Legio XI Claudia is established from 70-101 AD with headquarters in Vindonissa . There, the Legio XXI Rapax, which had previously been stationed, adopted the wood-to-stone “building concept”: “They renewed the defenses with a stone shell wall with towers and a pointed moat.” On an area of ​​21 hectares, numerous buildings surround a monumental thermal bath "The image of a camp built for a longer occupation." Numerous archaeological finds prove their presence in the Alpine region.

Stamped brick from Juliomagus

In addition, there was the expansion of the infrastructure along the transalpine routes and across the Rhine to the north in preparation for the 'Black Forest campaign' in AD 73/74 under Cn. Cornelius Pinarius Clemens to the Neckar Valley. In 74, the so-called Kinzig valley variant of the Donausüdstraße was expanded from Tuttlingen (Tuttlingen Fort ) to Strasbourg ( Argentoratum ) , which shortened the route between Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg) and Mogontiacum (Mainz) by 160 km or seven day's marches.

This new east-west route was connected to the south-north connection from Vindonissa over the Rhine at Tenedo (Bad Zurzach) via Juliomagus (Schleitheim-Stühlingen) to Brigobanne (Hüfingen), which was probably built around 45 AD. and which was then built in 74 AD with the continuation via the Tuttlingen Fort to Arae Flaviae (Rottweil) - and from there to Argentorate (Strasbourg). This route was probably expanded by the 11th Legion stationed in Vindonissa during this period. Today it is designated as a section of the Neckar-Alb-Aare Roman road .

Foundation walls of the thermal baths of the legion fort of Arae Flaviae (Rottweil)

North of the Rhine, the Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis is first recorded in Iuliomagus (Schleitheim) on stamped clay bricks. At least one vexillation of the legion was then in "Fort I" near Rottweil, as the stamps on the bricks used there show. According to some historians, the entire Legio XI was stationed here between 74 and 84. Presumably, veterans of the Legion were also among the first settlers in the newly founded Municipium Arae Flaviae (Rottweil).

In 83 AD, Emperor Domitian brought together 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 . 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. Domitian advanced far into the heartland of the Chatten, today's Hesse. 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

Depiction of Roman troops crossing the river in the Dacian Wars on the Trajan Column

After the Legio I Adiutrix had to leave the Brigetio legionary camp on the Pannonian Danube Limes in AD 100/101, which it had begun in AD 97 , to fight the first Dacian War (101-102) of Emperor Trajan (98-117) To be able to participate, the Legio XI Claudia - after around 31 years - was withdrawn from Vindonissa and barracked in Brigetio in the lower Danube region to drive the completion of the camp there. In addition, the troops sent sub-units to the orphaned camp of Aquincum . Other researcher opinions assume that only work teams of the XI Claudia came to Brigetio and organized the further construction together with the vexillations of the XIV Gemina and the XV Apollinaris . After the end of the Second Dacian War (105-106), only departments of XIV Gemina and the newly added XXX Ulpia Victrix were apparently busy with further expansion of the warehouse in Brigetio . Before that, the XI Claudia was relieved and initially relocated to Oescus . Then the Legion found its final camp in Durostorum ( Silistra , Bulgaria). Their presence there can be proven up to the 5th century AD. The closer Thracian environment served her as a recruiting base. Vexillations of the XI Claudia were repeatedly sent to the Barbaricum in Chersonesus Taurica ( Bosporan Empire , Crimea ) in order to protect the Greek cities there, but also to carry out construction projects and administrative tasks. Smaller departments also appeared in Drajna de Sus (in Prahova, Romania) and Tomoi (today Constanța in Romania ).

After the Parthian king Chosroes I chased the Roman-friendly client king out of Armenia in AD 113 , a vexillation of the LEG XI CPF was ordered as reinforcement to the east of the Roman Empire. A year later, Emperor Trajan appeared in person on the theater of war and annexed Armenia, whereupon the Parthian king declared war on Rome in 115 AD. This was ended a year later after the Romans had captured Mesopotamia and the capital of the Parthian Empire, Ctesiphon (near Baghdad in what is now Iraq ). Emperor Trajan set up the provinces of Mesopotamia and Assyria and received the honorary name Parthicus by the Senate.

heavily weathered inscription of a vexillation of the legions V Macedonica and XI Claudia from Betar
----- / SVM [---] / MARTI [---] V [---] / et Victor / centur [io] vexil [lat (ionis?)] / leg (ionum) V Mac (edonicae) et XI Cl (audiae) / -----

During the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117–138) in AD 132 in the province of Judaea (today Israel ), the Jews living there suffered the Bar Kochba revolt , caused by the establishment of the Colonia Aelia Capitolina in place of the holy city of Jerusalem. A division ( Vexillatio ) of Leg XI CPF was posted to the province of Judaea and participated in the fighting against the insurgents under the leadership of Simon bar Kochbas in the late phase of the war . After several defeats for the Romans, Emperor Hadrian himself took command. Presumably the Legio V Macedonica and XI Claudia took part in the siege of the Betar fortress , the capture of which in 135 AD ended the war.

The Legion was probably used in the Marcomann Wars (166-180). 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. The monitoring of the streets z. B. in the beneficiary fort Abrittus (Razgrad, Bulgaria), was one of the tasks of the Legion.

Second year of the Four Emperors and Severan Dynasty

In the second year of the four emperors, 193 AD, two coups took place within barely three months and the emperors Pertinax and Didius Julianus briefly held the imperial title. Didius Julianus lost his throne after the governor of the province of Pannonia superior ( Pannonia ), Lucius Septimius Severus (193-211), had been proclaimed emperor by the Danube regions in the provincial capital Carnuntum . Leg XI CPF also joined him. However, she did not take part in the express march of Emperor Septimius Severus to Rome because Durostorum was too far away from the province of Italia. After Septimius Severus had consolidated his position in Rome, he had to deal with Pescennius Niger (193-194), the governor of Syria. The legions of the East had proclaimed him to be the counter-emperor. Together with the Legio I Italica , the Leg XI CPF fought on the side of Emperor Septimius Severus at the siege of Byzantium (now Istanbul in Turkey ), at the Cilician Gate and at Issus , where Pescennius Niger had a final in 194 AD Suffered defeat.

In 198 AD the Leg XI CPF probably also took part in the campaign of the Emperor Septimius Severus against the Parthian Empire , which came to an end in the same year with the occupation of the capital Ctesiphon . Gaius Suetrius Sabinus accompanied Emperor Caracalla (211-217) as comes and commander of the Vexillations ( dux vexillationis V Macedonicae et XI Claudiae ) in the Alemanni War (late summer / autumn 213). From Caracalla the Legion received the surname Antoniniana and from Severus Alexander (222-235) the surnames Severiana and Alexandriana .

Antoninian des Gallienus
GALLIENVS AVGustus
LEGio XI CLaudia VI Pia VI Fidelis

Soldier emperor

Under Emperor Gordian III. (238–244) Durostorum was contested when the Goths , Carps and Sarmatians invaded the provinces on the lower Danube. Even under Emperor Decius (249-251), new incursions led to further battles with Goths and Carps, who had crossed the Danube and overran the provinces of Moesia ( Moesia ) and Thracia (Thrace). In the course of these battles Decius fell in 251 at the Battle of Abrittus . In the conflict between the rightful emperor Gallienus (253-268) and his rival Postumus (260-269 AD), the ruler of the Imperium Galliarum (Gallic Sonderreich), Leg XI CPF remained loyal to the rightful emperor. As a result, she earned the title Pia Fidelis for the 5th and 6th time . Even under Emperor Aurelian (270–275) there were battles with the Carps in the region around Durostorum . In 272, Aurelian defeated the Goths under their King Cannabaudes, but decided to evacuate the province of Dacia , which was adjacent to the north of the Danube . Dorostorum became a border town again.

Painted shields for the Undecimani , a Legio palatinae of the Eastern Empire in the early 5th century.
Painted shields for the Undecimani , a Legio comitatenses of the western empire in the early 5th century.

Late antiquity

Around the year 297, Emperor Diocletian (284–305) gathered troops, including vexillations of Legio XI Claudia , Legio VII Claudia , Legio IIII Flavia Felix and Legio I Italica , 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 the 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 (Jawf) combined.

From the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire by Diocletian and Galerius (306-312), members of the Legio XI Claudia were affected by the martyrs Julius of Durostorum and Hesychius .

Under the successors of the Emperor Diocletian, the new army system was further expanded or changed. In the course of the 4th century, the Undecimani ("the Eleventh") were detached from the Legion and placed under the command of the magister militum per Gallias as Comitatenses (mobile field troops) . The Undecimani were deployed in Hispania under the command of the Magister equitum per Gallias . Another sub -unit called Undecimani was subordinate to one of the two magistri militum praesentalis of the East as Legio palatinae (Guard) and was stationed near Constantinople.

Even in the early 5th century, at the time the Notitia dignitatum was drawn up , a praefectus legionis undecimae Claudiae under the supreme command of the Dux Moesiae secundae in Durostorum as commander of limitanei (border troops) can be proven. Two praefecti ripae legionis undecimae Claudiae (border prefects) for the upper and lower areas were stationed in Transmarisca ( Tutrakan ). At least then, the Legion must have still existed.

literature

Web links

Commons : Legio XI Claudia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The standing army of the early imperial era (Chapter III, List of Legions) in: Marcus Junkelmann: Die Legionen des Augustus. (= Cultural history of the ancient world. Volume 33). Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein, 1986, p. 98. Possibly after the battle of Actium she excelled in the pursuit of the army of Crassus to Macedonia.
  2. ↑ Yann Le Bohec: The Roman Army, From Augustus to Constantine the Great. Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-515-06300-5 , p. 287.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Jona Lendering: Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis . In: Livius.org (English).
  4. ^ Lawrence Keppie: The making of the Roman Army. From Republic to Empire. University of Oklahoma Press, Oklahoma 1998, ISBN 0-8061-3014-8 , pp. 199-200.
  5. ↑ Aulus Hirtius : De bello Gallico VIII, 6-10 (online)
  6. ^ A b Lesley Adkins: Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Sonlight Christian, 2004, ISBN 0-8160-5026-0 , p. 60.
  7. ↑ Lawrence JF Keppie: Legions and veterans: Roman army papers 1971-2000. (= Mavors. Roman Army Researches. Volume 12). Steiner, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-515-07744-8 , p. 304.
  8. ↑ Martin Hartmann: The Roman legion camp of Vindonissa. (= Archaeological Guide of Switzerland. Volume 18). Ed .: Gesellschaft Pro Vindonissa, 1983. Update René Hänggi / Thomas Pauli-Gabi, 2003, p. 10.
  9. ^ John J. Wilkes : Army and Society in Roman Dalmatia. In: Géza Alföldy , Brian Dobson, Werner Eck (eds.): Emperor, Army and Society in the Roman Empire. Steiner, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-515-07654-9 , p. 327.
  10. ↑ M. Hartmann: Vindonissa. P. 6.
  11. ↑ M. Hartmann: Vindonissa. P. 10.
  12. ^ Philipp Filtzinger : Arae Flaviae / Rottweil. Traffic junction on the upper Neckar. In: Marlis Weinmann-Walser (ed.): Historical interpretations: Gerold Walser on his 75th birthday, offered by friends, colleagues and students. (= Historia - individual fonts. Volume 100). Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-515-06739-6 , pp. 27-28 and 34-35.
  13. ↑ Egon Schallmayer : The Limes: History of a Border. Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-48018-7 , pp. 49-52 and
    Reinhard Wolters : Die Römer in Germanien. CH Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-44736-8 , p. 66 ff.
  14. ^ Emil Ritterling : Legio (VIIII Hispana). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 2, Stuttgart 1925, Sp. 1664-1668.
  15. ^ Karl Strobel: Investigations into the Dacer Wars Trajan. Rudolf Habelt Verlag, Bonn 1984, ISBN 3-7749-2021-4 , p. 85.
  16. ^ Karl Strobel: Investigations into the Dacer Wars Trajan. Rudolf Habelt Verlag, Bonn 1984, ISBN 3-7749-2021-4 , p. 93.
  17. ↑ Thomas Franke: Legio XV Apollinaris under Traian in Egypt? In: Wolfgang Spickermann (Ed.): Rome, Germania and the Empire. Festschrift for Rainer Wiegels on the occasion of his 65th birthday. St. Katharinen 2005, ISBN 3-89590-159-8 , p. 322.
  18. ^ Graham Webster: The Roman Imperial Army of the first and second centuries AD University of Oklahoma Press, 1998, ISBN 0-8061-3000-8 , p. 59.
  19. ↑ Julian Bennett : Trajan. optimus princeps , Routledge, 1997, ISBN 0-415-16524-5 , pp. 195ff.
  20. ↑ CIL 3, 13586
  21. ^ E. Mary Smallwood: The Jews under Roman rule. From Pompey to Diocletian. A study in political relations 2nd edition. Brill, Leiden 2001, ISBN 0-391-04155-X , p. 447.
  22. ↑ Peter Schäfer: The Bar Kokhba Uprising. Studies on the Second Jewish War against Rome. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1981, ISBN 3-16-144122-2 , p. 130.
  23. ^ 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. 71, 192-193; see: AE 1987, 867
  24. ^ R. Ivanov: Two inscriptions of the Beneficiari Consularis from the Abritus fort in Moesia inferior. In: Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy . 100, Habelt, Bonn 1994, pp. 484-486. (PDF)
  25. ↑ CIL 6, 1577
  26. ^ AE 1978, 712 , AE 1993, 1370
  27. ^ AE 2000, 1274
  28. ↑ AE 1972, 504
  29. ↑ a b Notitia Dignitatum Or. VI.
  30. ↑ a b Notitia Dignitatum Occ. V.
  31. ^ Samuel Thomas Parker: The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan. Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980-1989. In: Dumbarton Oaks Studies. 40, 2006, p. 544.
  32. ↑ 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.
  33. ^ L. Arik Greenberg: My Share of God's Reward. Exploring the Roles and Formulations of the Afterlife in Early Christian Martyrdom. (= Studies in Biblical Literature. Volume 121). Lang, New York / Bern / Berlin / Bruxelles / Frankfurt am Main / Oxford / Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-1-4331-0487-9 , pp. 195–198.
  34. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Occ. VII.
  35. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Or. XL.