69 AD: The Year of Four Emperors
Page 43
Although Augustus intended his legions to act as mobile forces, many units were kept for years in the same provinces, sometimes in the same camps. But assignments were reshuffled on a large scale three times before 69, and once more after the fighting had ended. The first set of reassignments accompanied Claudius’ invasion of Britain. Four full legions took part in the expedition and were stationed in the island afterwards, and this required that other units be moved as well. A similar ripple effect resulted from the campaigns against the Parthians in Nero’s reign. A third reshuffling was in process at the time of Nero’s death, in part because he had laid plans for expeditions into Ethiopia and the Caucasus, in part because a major revolt broke out in Judaea in 66. And the fourth reshuffling was a mixture of ad hoc measures taken late in 69 and of a conscious attempt by Vespasian to tidy up the mess. Besides this, there were minor adjustments from time to time, and we cannot always fix the precise date at which any given legion was transferred from one base to another, or from one province to another. In a few cases we cannot even identify their bases.
I (GERMANICA): though formed earlier, this legion spent almost its entire existence in the imperial period on the Rhine frontier. Originally (from 16 B.C.), it was stationed with V Alaudae in a double-camp at Ara or Oppidum Ubiorum (later Colonia Agrippinensis = Cologne) in Lower Germany, and was involved in the mutinies of 14. When this camp was dissolved in the 30s, the unit was moved upstream to Bonna (Bonn). If Fabius Valens was the legionary legate in 68/69 (as is usually assumed), Herennius Gallus must have taken over when Valens left for Italy (Hist. 4.19.2). Only a detachment accompanied Valens on his march south. It fought at Bedriacum, was taken by Caecina to Hostilia, and was defeated at Cremona. The bulk of the legion, left behind in Germany, ended up making up common cause with the rebellious tribesmen led by Julius Civilis, and it was one of the four legions cashiered by Vespasian after the revolt’s suppression.
I ITALICA: raised by Nero in Italy for his planned expedition into the Caucasus (Suetonius, Nero 19.2; cf. Dio 55.24.2), almost certainly in 66. Still in Italy in early 68, it was sent north to counter the threat from Vindex and Galba. Though its role in what followed is unclear, it ended up at Lugdunum (Hist. 1.64.3). Added to Fabius Valens’ force, it remained loyal to Vitellius through the battle of Cremona in October 69. Its legionary legate in early 69 was Manlius Valens, but how long he kept his post is unclear (Hist. 1.64.4). After Cremona the legion was assigned to the province Moesia.
I ADIUTRIX: was formed by Nero early in 68 from marines in the Misene fleet, but was constituted a regular legion (iusta legio) by Galba, probably in October 68. It made common cause with the praetorians against Galba, fought for Otho at Ad Castores and Bedriacum, was sent by Vitellius to Spain to cool off (Hist. 2.67.2), and was mainly responsible for swinging Spain behind Vespasian (Hist. 3.44). One of the eight units assigned to Petillius Cerialis for the suppression of Civilis’ revolt in Lower Germany (Hist. 4.68.4), the legion was transferred to Annius Gallus in Upper Germany during the course of 70.
I MACRIANA LIBERATRIX: a unit raised, perhaps illegally, in Africa in 68 by Clodius Macer, the legionary legate of III Augusta. Galba disbanded it, but Vitellius tried to reactivate it in autumn 69 (Hist. 2.97.2). If it was reconstituted in fact, it must have been disbanded again by Vespasian.
II ADIUTRIX: this legion was formed from the marines of the Ravenna fleet by Vespasian after the civil wars were over (Dio 55.24.3). But it looks as if the unit was composed of marines incorporated by Antonius Primus into his own preexisting legions after the battle of Cremona (Hist. 3.50.3). One of the eight units assigned to Petillius Cerialis for the suppression of Civilis’ revolt in Lower Germany (Hist. 4.68.4), II Adiutrix was stationed in Britain from 71 onward.
II AUGUSTA: stationed in Upper Germany in 14, this was one of the four legions moved to Britain when Claudius invaded the island, and it was still there in 69. The detachment of (probably) 2,600 men it sent to fight for Vitellius joined him after Bedriacum, and fought against Antonius Primus’ forces at Cremona (Hist. 3.22.2). But Vespasian had commanded the unit as legionary legate during the conquest of Britain, and that supposedly induced the legion to join him, albeit only after Cremona (Hist. 3.44.1). Lucius Antistius Rusticus may have been acting legate at the time.
III AUGUSTA: stationed in Africa from Tiberius’ reign through 69, for most of the time at Ammaedara. A detachment may have been present in Alexandria in 66 as part of the forces gathered for Nero’s planned expeditions (Josephus, BJ 2.494), but it seems to have returned to Africa by 68. In that year the legionary legate was Clodius Macer. After his assassination, the legion was entrusted to Valerius Festus, a kinsman of Vitellius who declared for Vespasian (Hist. 2.98.1).
III CYRENAICA: one of the legions that could trace its origins to the triumviral period, III Cyrenaica seems to have been stationed in Egypt from the start of the principate. From 23 onward it occupied with XXII Deiotariana the double-camp at Nicopolis, just outside Alexandria. Its primary function was to keep the city’s population under control (Josephus, BJ 2.385), but a detachment of unknown size served in Domitius Corbulo’s campaigns against the Parthians in 63, and a detachment of 1,000 men joined Titus for the storming of Jerusalem in 70.
III GALLICA: established by Julius Caesar, the legion served under Antony in his Parthian expedition of 36 B.C. (Hist. 3.24.2), and was stationed in Syria after the battle of Actium. In Nero’s reign it took part in Corbulo’s campaigns against the Parthians, and inscriptions show that it was active in Armenia in 64/65. By the end of 66 it had become part of the garrison of Syria, and shortly before Nero’s death it was relocated to Moesia, perhaps at Novae (Česava), to counter raids by the Rhoxolani. It destroyed the band that invaded the province in the winter of 68/69 (Hist.1.79.1–4). The legionary legate between 64 and 69 was Aurelius Fulvus (Hist. 1.79.5), but at some point in 69 he was replaced by Gaius Dillius Aponianus (Hist. 3.10.1). The legion retained its ties with the forces in Syria and some Syrian customs (Hist. 3.24.3). After the Flavians’ victory it was billeted for a time in Capua, south of Rome (Hist. 4.3.1), but it was returned to Syria as fast as possible, because Mucianus wanted to remove from Italy the troops especially loyal to Antonius Primus (Hist. 4.39.4).
IV MACEDONICA: raised by Julius Caesar, the legion was stationed in Spain in Augustus’ reign. It was transferred to Upper Germany in 43, in the reshuffle accompanying Claudius’ invasion of Britain, and was still there in 69, stationed with XXII Primigenia in the double-camp at Mogontiacum (Mainz). Caecina was probably its legionary legate, appointed by Galba in 68 (cf. Hist. 1.53). A detachment accompanied Caecina in his advance to Rome. The bulk of the legion, left behind in Germany, performed poorly during Civilis’ revolt and was disbanded by Vespasian, though some survivors were incorporated into the replacement unit he created, IV Flavia Felix.
IV SCYTHICA: formed probably by Marc Antony, the legion was stationed at first in Macedonia, but was repositioned in Moesia perhaps as early as 29 B.C. The unit was moved to Syria, apparently in 58, and was still there in 69. It was disgraced in fall 62 at Rhandeia, when Caesennius Paetus surrendered to the Parthians. A detachment of perhaps 2,600 men accompanied Mucianus to Rome (Hist. 2.83.1).
V ALAUDAE: originally one of Caesar’s legions, this unit was stationed in Lower Germany. Initially it shared with I Germanica the double-camp at Ara Ubiorum, and it was one of the prime movers in the mutinies of 14. When the camp was dissolved in the 30s, it was moved to Vetera (Xanten), which it shared with XV Primigenia in 69. Its legionary legate then may have been Cornelius Aquinus (cf. Hist. 1.7.1), but by the time of Cremona Fabius Fabullus held this post (Hist. 3.14). The bulk of the legion became the core of Fabius Valens’ expeditionary force (Hist. 1.61.2). It fought at Bedriacum, took the lead in thwarting Caecina’s attempt to change sides at Hostili (Hist. 3.14), and fought again at Cremona. After the battle the survivors were made part of the garrison of Moesia, while the segment of the legion left behind at Vetera was massacred dur
ing Julius Civilis’ revolt (Hist. 4.60).
V MACEDONICA: formed in the triumviral period, the legion was perhaps stationed in the East in Augustus’ reign, but in 33/34 it was in Moesia. One of the three legions assigned to Caesennius Paetus for his campaigns against the Parthians, it was not involved in his surrender at Rhandeia in 62. We do not know where the legion was stationed after the conclusion of peace in 63, but in winter 66—along with X Fretensis—it was assembled at Antioch in Syria for Vespasian’s campaign against the Jewish rebels (Josephus, BJ 3.29). A detachment accompanied Mucianus on his expedition to Italy. Between 67 and 69 the legionary legate was Sextus Vettulenus Cerealis (Josephus, BJ 3.310).
VI FERRATA: raised by Julius Caesar no later than 52 B.C., the legion seems to have been stationed in Syria from the very start of the principate. It participated in Corbulo’s campaigns against the Parthians during Nero’s reign. Though a detachment was involved in Cestius Gallus’ defeat by the Jewish rebels in 66 (Josephus, BJ 2.544), the legion formed the core of Mucianus’ expeditionary force to Italy in autumn 69 (Hist.2.83.1). In the event, Mucianus decided to leave it in Moesia, to counter an incursion by Sarmatian tribesmen (Hist. 3.46.2), and from there it was returned presently to Syria.
VI VICTRIX: formed in the triumviral period, the legion was stationed in Spain in Tiberius’ reign and was still there in 68. Galba left it there, forming a new unit, VII Galbiana, to escort him on his march to Italy. In early 68 the legionary legate was Titus Vinius (Suetonius, Galba 14.2), but who replaced him when he traveled to Rome with Galba is unknown. One of the eight units summoned to help Petillius Cerialis suppress Julius Civilis’ revolt in Lower Germany (Hist. 4.68.4), it was stationed later at Novaesium (Neuss).
VII CLAUDIA PIA FIDELIS [or CLAUDIANA]: formed by Augustus and originally named Macedonica, the legion was stationed at Delminium in Dalmatia between 9 and 58. It won its name Claudia pia fidelis for assisting in the suppression of the revolt of Camillus Scribonianus in 42. Seemingly in 58/59 it was transferred to Moesia (as a result of IV Scythica’s being attached to Caesennius Paetus’ army), and it was still there in 69, stationed perhaps at Viminacium (Kostolač). The legionary legate in 69 was Tettius Julianus (Hist. 1.79.5), but when the governor, Aponius Saturninus, forced him out, Tettius fled to Vespasian (Hist. 2.85.2). The latter sent off a letter giving the command to Lucius Plotius Grypus (Hist. 3.52.3). In the interim, during the Cremona campaign, the unit was commanded by the military tribune Vipstanus Messalla (Hist. 3.9.3). It was transferred to Moesia at the start of 70, perhaps as a result of Fonteius Agrippa’s defeat (chapter 10).
VII GALBIANA [later GEMINA]: raised—allegedly from Roman citizens—in Spain by Galba from April 68 onward, it was constituted a regular legion on 10 June. The legion escorted Galba to Rome and “massacred” the marines at the Milvian Bridge in October. A month or so later Galba sent it off to Pannonia, probably to Carnuntum, a move that permitted the reassignment of X Gemina to Spain. At the same time Galba made Antonius Primus its legionary legate. The legion was returned to Pannonia in January 70 by Mucianus, because he wanted to move the units most devoted to Antonius Primus out of Italy (Hist. 4.39.4).
VIII AUGUSTA: set up originally by Caesar, the legion may have been stationed in Syria during Augustus’ day, but it was in Pannonia at the start of Tiberius’ reign, and took part in the mutinies of 14. Apart from a detachment that may have participated in the conquest of Britain, it remained there until some date between 46 and 57. Then it was shifted to Moesia. Originally, it may have been stationed at Novae (Česava), but in 69 it probably occupied the camp at Oescus (Gigen). Its legionary legate then was Numisius Lupus (Hist. 1.79.5; 3.10.1). One of the units that helped Petillius Cerialis suppress Civilis’ revolt in Lower Germany (Hist. 4.68.4), it was transferred to Annius Gallus in Upper Germany during 70, and became the garrison of a new camp at Argentorate (Strasbourg).
IX HISPANA: of uncertain origins, the legion was stationed in Pannonia at the start of Tiberius’ reign and took part in the mutinies of 14. It spent the years between 20 and 24 in Africa, contending with the rebel Tacfarinas, before being returned to Pannonia. One of the four legions used for Claudius’ invasion of Britain, it suffered heavy losses in Boudicca’s rebellion thanks to the rashness of its legate, Petillius Cerialis, but it was still in the island in 69. The detachment of (probably) 2,600 men it sent to fight for Vitellius joined the emperor after Bedriacum and fought at Cremona. The balance of the legion declared for Vespasian after Cremona (Hist. 3.44).
X FRETENSIS: raised perhaps by Octavian, the legion was stationed in Syria from the early principate through 66. It participated in Corbulo’s campaigns against the Parthians. We do not know where it was based after the conclusion of peace in 63, but in winter 66—along with V Macedonica—it was assembled at Antioch in Syria for Vespasian’s campaign against the Jewish rebels (Josephus, BJ 3.29). The bulk of the legion was kept in Judaea, but a detachment, perhaps of 2,600 men, accompanied Mucianus on his expedition to Italy. The legionary legate between 67 and 69 was M. Ulpius Traianus, father of the emperor Trajan (Josephus, BJ 3.289).
X GEMINA: created originally by Caesar, the legion was stationed in Spain from 30 B.C. onward. It was moved to Carnuntum in Pannonia for a brief period in Nero’s reign (when XV Apollinaris was transferred from Pannonia to Syria), but it was returned to Spain by Galba, when he shifted VII Galbiana out of Rome to Pannonia, probably in November 68. The unit was added to the forces Cerialis was using against Civilis in Lower Germany, when XIV Gemina Martia Victrix was transferred to Annius Gallus in Upper Germany (Hist. 5.19.1), and ended up as the garrison of a new camp at Noviomagus (Nijmegen).
XI CLAUDIA PIA FIDELIS [or CLAUDIANA]: of uncertain origins, the legion was stationed at Burnum in Dalmatia from 9 onward, and there it remained. A detachment may have fought for Otho at Bedriacum or have turned up after the battle. In either case it was sent back to its quarters by Vitellius (Hist. 2.67). It was slow to join Antonius Primus, mainly because of the obstructionism of the province’s governor, Marcus Pompeius Silvanus, but the legionary legate Annius Bassus got it moving after Cremona (Hist. 3.50, the only clear reference to the unit in the Flavian campaign). Assigned to the suppression of Civilis’ revolt (Hist. 4.68.4), it ended up stationed at Vindonissa in Germania Superior (Windisch in Switzerland), its place in Dalmatia being taken by the new IV Flavia Felix.
XII FULMINATA: probably raised by Julius Caesar, the legion was stationed in Syria by at least the middle of Augustus’ reign. Nothing is known of its history until the 60s, but in that decade it disgraced itself twice. It was involved along with IV Scythica in Caesennius Paetus’ surrender to the Parthians at Rhandeia in autumn 62. And Suetonius reports that it lost its eagle in the opening stages of the Jewish Revolt in 66 (Vespasian 4.5; cf. Josephus, BJ 2.500 and 7.18). A detachment perhaps of 2,600 men accompanied Mucianus’ expeditionary force to Italy.
XIII GEMINA: of uncertain origins, the legion was stationed at Vindonissa in Upper Germany (Windisch in Switzerland) between approximately 10 and 50. Then it was moved to Poetovio (Ptuj) in Pannonia because of disturbances there. After Otho summoned it to his aid in 69, the advance detachment fought at Ad Castores and was joined by the rest of the unit for Bedriacum. After that defeat it was kept in northern Italy for a time, building amphitheaters at Placentia and Cremona (Hist.3.32), and then was ordered back to Poetovio. There Antonius Primus mobilized it once more. The legionary legate in 69 was Vedius Aquila (Hist. 3.7.1), and Suetonius’ father was one of the tribunes (Otho 10.1). One of the eight units assigned to Petillius Cerialis for the suppression of Civilis’ revolt in Lower Germany (Hist. 4.68.4), it was returned to Pannonia afterwards, being stationed initially at Poetovio yet again.
XIV GEMINA MARTIA VICTRIX: of uncertain origins, the legion was stationed in Upper Germany from 9 onward. One of the four full legions used by Claudius for the invasion of Britain in 43, it won its titles Martia Victrix for the suppression of Boudicca’s revolt in a campaign commande
d by Suetonius Paulinus (cf. Hist. 2.11.1 and 5.16.3). It was summoned back to Italy by Nero, probably in 66 for his planned eastern expeditions. Still there in early 68, it remained loyal to Nero, but was held in check by the eight Batavian cohorts attached to it (Hist. 2.27.2). Galba moved it to Dalmatia, and a detachment fought for Otho at Bedriacum. It was returned to Britain by Vitellius (Hist. 2.66), in part no doubt to compensate for the absence of the 8,000 men he had drawn from the three other legions in the province (II Augusta, IX Hispana, and XX Valeria Victrix). One of the eight legions assigned originally to Petillius Cerialis for the suppression of Civilis’ revolt (Hist. 4.68.4), the unit was transferred to Annius Gallus’ command in Upper Germany in the course of 70 (Hist. 5.19.1) and took up residence in Mogontiacum (Mainz).
XV APOLLINARIS: formed originally by Octavian, the legion was stationed in Pannonia at the start of Tiberius’ reign and was involved in the mutinies of 14. It remained there, apparently, until shifted to Syria in 63 as a result of Caesennius Paetus’ surrender at Rhandeia (Tacitus, Ann.15.25.3, noting that the task was entrusted to Marius Celsus). In the winter of 66/67 it was one of the three units entrusted to Vespasian for the suppression of the Jewish revolt. Since he sent his son Titus, newly appointed the unit’s legionary legate (Suetonius, Vesp. 4.6), to fetch the men from Alexandria (Josephus, BJ 3.64–65), it must have been earmarked for one of Nero’s planned eastern expeditions. The bulk of the legion stayed in Judaea, but a detachment of perhaps 2,600 men was attached to Mucianus’ expeditionary force. Eventually it was recalled from the east and sent to Carnuntum in Pannonia, taking the place of XXII Primigenia.