Legio VI Ferrata
Legio VI Ferrata | |
---|---|
Active | 65 BC to at least 244 AD |
Country | Roman Republic and Roman Empire |
Type | Roman legion (Marian) |
Role | Infantry assault |
Mascot(s) | Bull |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Julius Caesar Mark Antony Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo |
Legio VI Ferrata ("Sixth Ironclad Legion") was a
The Legion was also known as Fidelis Constans, meaning "loyal and steadfast". It is unclear when this title was given, but several sources[who?] indicate that it may have been in the 1st century AD. The symbol for Legio VI Ferrata was the bull. It also carried the symbolic she-wolf with Romulus and Remus.[citation needed]
History
Under Caesar
Raised in
Later seeing action at the
Caesar took his "Veteran Sixth Legion" with him to Syria and Pontus.[3]
- "When Caesar reached Pontus he gathered all his forces together in one spot. They were modest in number and experience of war, with the exception of the veteran Sixth Legion, which he had brought with him from Alexandria; but this had gone through such toil and danger and been so reduced in size, in part by the difficulties of the marches and voyages, and in part by the frequency of campaigning, that it contained less than a thousand men..."[4]
The Legion served in Pontus under Caesar in 48 and 47 BC. This culminated in the
- "The origin of our victory lay in the bitter and intense hand-to-hand battle joined on the right wing, where the veteran Sixth Legion was stationed".[4]
- "Caesar was quite overjoyed at such a victory, although he had been victorious in many battles. He had brought a major war to an astonishingly rapid end... He ordered the Sixth Legion back to Italy to receive their rewards and honors..."[5]
During Caesar's African war against
Under Mark Antony
The legion was disbanded in 45 BC after the
Two legions under Mark Antony and Octavian
Another Sixth Legion, Legio VI Victrix, evidently saw action at Perusia in 41 BC, which presents us with a problem because the official Legio VI Ferrata was at that moment with Mark Antony in the East;
- "Octavian did not hesitate to duplicate legionary numerals already in use by Antony. The latter had serving with him Legio V Alaudae, Legio VI Ferrata and Legio X Equestris. Soon we find Octavian's army boasting of a Legio V (the later Macedonica), Legio VI (the later Victrix) and Legio X (soon to be Fretensis). Of these, Legio V and Legio X, and less certainly Legio VI, bore under the empire a bull-emblem which would normally indicate a foundation by Caesar; but the true Caesarian legions with these numerals (Alaudae, Ferrata and Equestris) were with Antony."[8]
It would seem, therefore, that Octavian had used the veterans of Caesar's Sixth Legion, this time from those left at Beneventum, to form the core of his own Sixth Legion used at Perusia.
Later Legio VI Ferrata fought in
During the
In Judea and Palaestina
From 54 AD to 68 AD the Sixth Legion Ferrata served under
In 106 AD a
Under
Attested members
Name | Rank | Time frame | Province | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lucius Artorius Castus | centurio | 2nd century | Syria Palaestina | CIL III, 1919 |
Quintus Glitius Atilius Agricola | legatus legionis
|
c. 80 | CIL V, 6974,CIL V, 6975 | |
Lucius Domitius Apollinaris | legatus legionis | 87–91 | Syria
|
IGR III.558 = TAM II.569 |
Gaius Julius Proculus | legatus legionis | 104/106 | Syria | CIL X, 6658 |
Gaius Bruttius Praesens | legatus legionis | 114/115 | ||
Marcus Flavius Postumus[14] | legatus legionis | between 145 and 161 | Syria Palaestina | CIL VIII, 7044 |
Quintus Antistius Adventus[14] | legatus legionis | ?159-?162 | Syria Palaestina | AE 1893, 88 = ILS 8977 |
Tiberius Claudius Subatianus Proculus[15] | legatus legionis | c. 206 | Syria Palaestina | AE 1911, 107 = ILS 9488 |
Lucius Junius L.f. Moderatus | tribunus angusticlavius | before 70 | CIL IX, 235 = ILS 2923 | |
Lucius Conetanius L.f. Proculus Carsulas | tribunus angusticlavius | before 117 | SEG-28, 1269 = AE 1950, 190 | |
Marcus Porcius M.f. Aprus | tribunus angusticlavius | CIL II, 4238 | ||
Lucius Vecilius C.f. Modestus | tribunus angusticlavius | between AD 1 and 100 | CIL III, 8261 = ILS 2733 | |
Pacuvius | tribunus laticlavius (?) | c. 19 | Syria | Annales , ii.79
|
Sergius Rusticus Apronianus | tribunus laticlavius | before 152 | CIL III, 292 = ILS 8976; CIL III, 6814 = ILS 8976a | |
Lucius Sergius L.f. Paullus | tribunus laticlavius | AE 2002, 1457 |
Legacy
The name 'Lajjun', associated with the location of the legionary camp, derived from 'Legion'.[16][17] In Ottoman times a Khan erected in that location was known as "Khan al-Lajun", and a Palestinian village of that name existed there until the Arab-Israeli war of 1947-49, when it was depopulated.
The popular Russian song Eagle of Sixth Legion dedicated to the Legion.
Archaeology
Until the 20th century, the exact location of the castra (“camp” in the sense of a permanent military base) of the Sixth Legion had not been confirmed, but textual evidence placed it in the Jezreel Valley along the road from Caesarea Maritima to Beth Shean, in the vicinity of Meggido. Surveys conducted by Israeli archaeologist Yotam Tepper identified Roman remains in the region, including coins and roof tiles stamped with the name of the Sixth Legion. In 2010 and 2011, Tepper teamed up with the Jezreel Valley Regional Project and the Center for Research and Archaeology of the Southern Levant. Together, Jessie A. Pincus and Timothy DeSmet conducted a ground-penetrating radar and Electromagnetic survey of this area and published their results with the accompanying archaeogeophysical interpretation.[18] With the results of those two surveys the collective team decided upon the best areas for excavation during the 2013 field season. Thus in 2013, the team excavated the Legio VI Ferrata camp, uncovering defensive earthworks, a circumvallation rampart, barracks areas and artifacts including roof tiles stamped with the name of the Sixth Legion, coins and fragments of scale armor.[16]
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ a b c Lendering, Jona. "Legio VI Ferrata - Livius". www.livius.org. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ The Alexandrian War, attributed to Caesar
- ^ The Alexandrian War, attributed to Caesar, 33
- ^ a b The Alexandrian War, attributed to Caesar, 76
- ^ The Alexandrian War, attributed to Caesar, 77
- ^ The African War, attributed to Caesar, 35 and 52
- ^ a b c Adkins & Adkins, Life in Ancient Rome
- ^ Lawrence Keppie, The Making of the Roman Army: From Republic to Empire, p.134
- ^ H.M.D. Parker, The Roman Legions (1957), pp. 134-138
- ^ Tacitus, Histories III, p.46
- S2CID 163139472.
- ^ Graham Webster, The Roman Imperial Army, (London: Adam & Charles Black, 1969), p. 90
- ISBN 9781405181440.
- ^ a b Géza Alföldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antoninen (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt Verlag, 1977), p. 299
- ^ Paul M. M. Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander (Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben, 1989), p. 340
- ^ a b Matthew J. Adams, Jonathan David and Yotam Tepper, "Legio: Excavations at the Camp of the Roman Sixth Ferrata Legion in Israel", Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeology Society, 2013.
- ISBN 0-472-06739-7.
- S2CID 140595322.
- Bibliography
Pincus, J. A., de Smet, T. S., Tepper, Y. and Adams, M. J. (2013), Ground-penetrating Radar and Electromagnetic Archaeogeophysical Investigations at the Roman Legionary Camp at Legio, Israel. Archaeol. Prospect., 20: 175–188. doi: 10.1002/arp.1455