Legio XVII

The Legio XVII was a legion of the Roman army. It was probably made around 41/40 BC. BC under Octavian during the civil war and was probably not identical with the Legio XVII Classica of Mark Antony . A reference to the civil war legions of Caesar and Pompey , both of which had a 17th legion, is only hypothetical.

Perhaps the Legion was stationed in Aquitaine after the Battle of Actium (31 B.C.) , before being deployed around 15 B.C. BC to the Rhine front, possibly to Alsace . Another relocation to the Lower Rhine took place later. Since then, the Legion has probably had its winter camp in Vetera (Xanten), Oberaden and / or Haltern . In Germania magna , the Legio XVII took part in the Germanic campaigns of Drusus (13-9 BC) and Tiberius (8 BC-5 AD), which were successfully completed in 5 AD.

Tiberius led at least eight legions in 6 AD ( Legio 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 one unknown unit) from the south against Marbod , the Marcomann king , while the Legio I Germanica , Legio V Alaudae , Legio XVII , Legio XVIII and Legio XIX 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.

Together with the XVIII. and XIX. Legion she was destroyed in the Clades Variana ( Varus Battle ) 9 AD. The Legion's Aquila (legionary eagle) was regained by Germanicus from the Martians in AD 16 .

No written document has survived from the Legio XVII , with the possible exception of a nondescript military supporter from Helellum south of Argentoratum ( Strasbourg ).

literature

Emil Ritterling : Legio (XVII, XVIII, XIX). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 2, Stuttgart 1925, column 1767 f.

Web links

Jona Lendering: Legio XVII . In: Livius.org (English)
Legio XVII at imperiumromanum.com

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b ^c Matthew Bunson: Encyclopedia of the Roman empire , Sonlight Christian, 2002, ISBN 978-0816045624 , p. 313.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jona Lendering: Legio XVII . In: Livius.org (English)
↑ Klaus-Peter Johne : The Romans on the Elbe. The river basin of the Elbe in the geographical world view and in the political consciousness of Greco-Roman antiquity , Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-05-003445-4 , p. 171.

[matt313-1] A ^b ^c Matthew Bunson: Encyclopedia of the Roman empire , Sonlight Christian, 2002, ISBN 978-0816045624 , p. 313.

[jona-2] Jona Lendering: Legio XVII . In: Livius.org (English)

[klaus171-3] Klaus-Peter Johne : The Romans on the Elbe. The river basin of the Elbe in the geographical world view and in the political consciousness of Greco-Roman antiquity , Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-05-003445-4 , p. 171.