Legio XVIII

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Funerary inscription from Gaius Pompeius Proculus, third son of Gaius, Tribunus Militum of the 18th Legion, Praefectus Fabrum and Sevir of the cavalry. Augustinian, Museo Epigrafico, Terme di Diocleziano, Rome.
The cenotaph of Marcus Caelius

The Legio XVIII (also Legio XIIX ) was a legion of the Roman army. It was probably made around 41/40 BC. BC under Octavian , but is not mentioned in any source for the time of the civil wars . There was probably no connection with the Legio XVIII Libyca of Mark Antony . A reference to LEG XVIII of the Cilician governor Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther (56–53 BC) or the civil war legions of Caesar and Pompeius , both of which had an 18th legion, is only hypothetical.

In the year 30 or 14 BC BC veterans of the Legion were settled in the newly established Colonia Ateste (northern Italy). Subsequently, the Legion may have been stationed in Aquitaine before it moved around 15 BC. Was relocated to the Rhine front. Since then, the Legion has probably had its winter camp in Vetera (Xanten), Oberaden or Haltern . In Germania magna , the Legio XVIII 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.

In the year 9 AD the Legion was stationed in Vetera (near today's Xanten ) before it was destroyed in the Varus Battle . The Legion's Aquila (Legionary Eagle) was retaken in AD 41.

Three members of the Legion are known by name: the military tribune Caius Pompeius Proculus from Rome , who then rose further in his knightly career, the Centurion Marcus Caelius , who fell in the Battle of Varus, and the simple Miles Titus Atidius Porcio from Ateste.

literature

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b CIL 13, 8648
  2. ^ A b Matthew Bunson: Encyclopedia of the Roman empire , Sonlight Christian, 2002, ISBN 978-0-8160-4562-4 , p. 313.
  3. ↑ a b c Jona Lendering: Legio XVIII . In: Livius.org (English)
  4. ↑ Nico Roymans: From the Sword to the Plow. Three Studies on the Earliest Romanization of Northern Gaul , Amsterdam University Press, 1996, ISBN 978-90-5356-237-6 , p. 234.
  5. ↑ CIL 6,3530
  6. ↑ CIL 5, 2499