Legio XX Valeria Victrix
Legio XX Valeria Victrix, in English Twentieth Victorious Valeria Legion, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army.
The origin of the Legion's name is unclear and there are various theories, but the legion may have gained its title Valeria Victrix from a victory it achieved during the
History
The legion was probably founded shortly after 31 BC by the emperor Augustus.[1]
XX Valeria victrix was probably part of the large Roman force that fought in the Cantabrian Wars in Hispania from 25 to 19 BC.
The legion then moved to
In Illyria they were led by the governor of Illyricum,
After the disaster of
The legion was one of the four, with which
Around AD 55 under The command of Manlius Valens it moved to
In the
The Twentieth was among the legions involved with the construction of Hadrian's Wall, and the discovery of stone altars commemorating their work in Caledonia suggests that they had some role in building the Antonine Wall.[12]
The legion probably went on campaign in 196 under
During the
This legion has been much studied; at least 250 members of the legion have been identified in surviving inscriptions.
Attested members
Name | Rank | Time frame | Province | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
Marcus Roscius Coelius[14] | legatus legionis
|
69-70 | Britannica | Tacitus, Histories, I.60 |
Gnaeus Julius Agricola[15] | legatus legionis | 70-73 | Britannica | Tacitus, Agricola 7.3 |
Lucius Pomponius Mamilianus[16] | legatus legionis | early 90s | Britannica | CIL VII, 164 |
Julius Vitalis[17] | fabriciensis | between 71 and 100 | Britannica | CIL VII, 49 |
Marcus Aemilius Papus[18] | legatus legionis | c. 128 | Britannica | CIL II, 1371 |
Gaius Curtius Justus[19] | legatus legionis | between 140 and 145 | Britannica | CIL III, 1458 |
Lucius Cestius Gallus[20] | legatus legionis | between 160 and 180 | Britannica | CIL X, 3722 |
Tiberius Claudius Balbilus | military tribune | c. 43 | Britannica | |
Marcus Accenna Helvius Agrippa[21] | military tribune | 2nd century | Britannica | CIL II, 1262 |
Lucius Aemilius Naso Fabullinus[21] | tribunus laticlavus | 2nd century | Britannica | CIL VI, 29683CIL VI, 29684 |
Marcus Caelius Flavius Proculus[22] | tribunus laticlavus | 2nd century | Britannica | CIL XI, 3883 |
Fiction
Legio XX Valeria Victrix and their final days in Deva (Chester) in the early AD 400s form the backdrop to the Tom Stevens mythic fiction genre novel The Cauldron (special edition)[23] with the story's protagonist Valerian—the Praefectus and Chief Centurion—defending the city with the rump of the legion against the incursions of Hibernian pirates as the "Dark Ages" settle on Britannia.[24] The movie Victrix! The Valiant of Albion is in production and features an adaptation of Stevens' novel.
Legio XX Valeria Victrix was the legion featured in the novel Eagle in the Snow; author Wallace Breem postulates that they were annihilated by the Germanic invasion of 406.
Several of the main characters in the early novels of Jack Whyte's A Dream of Eagles series were former members of Legio XX Valeria Victrix.
Gaius Petreius Ruso, protagonist of Medicus by Ruth Downie, is a military doctor in Britannia attached to Legio XX.
Legio XX Valeria Victrix lends its name to the character Valeria Matuchek in Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos and its sequel Operation Luna; her mother is said to describe this legion as the last to leave Britain—"the last that stood against Chaos".
The first person narrator of Stephen Vincent Benét's short story "The Last of the Legions" is the senior centurion of the Valeria Victrix, who recounts the events and the impressions of soldiers and populace surrounding the departure of the legion from Britain.
Legion Company of the
is named after Legio XX. They chose this name for the paratroopers' ability to fight fiercely behind enemy lines.Legio XX Valeria Victrix features in the six-novel series Soldier of Rome: The Artorian Chronicles by James Mace.
Legio XX Valeria Victrix is mentioned in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story "Through the Veil".
See also
References
- ^ "Legio XX Valeria Victrix - Livius".
- ^ Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History, 2.112.1–2.
- ^ Velleius Paterculus, 2.112.1-2, Cassius Dio, 55.30.1-5.
- ^ "Roman fortress discovered underneath town centre".
- ISBN 978-0-500-05133-7.
- ^ Agricola
- ^ W. H. Manning (2000). "The fortresses of Legio XX". In RJ Brewer (ed.) Roman Fortresses and Their Legions.
- ^ "GADARG - Essay 1". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2013-06-09. The colonia of Glevum
- ^ "RIB 2199. Distance Slab of the Sixth Legion". Roman Inscriptions of Britain. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ^ Macdonald, Sir George (1934). The Roman wall in Scotland, by Sir George Macdonald (2d ed., rev., enl., and in great part rewritten ed.). Oxford: The Clarendon press. p. 387. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ^ "Distance slab of the 20th Legion, Cochno Estate, Duntocher". 30 March 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
- ^ "Distance slab of the Twentieth Legion, Castlehill". 28 May 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ Mason (2001), pp. 155–156.
- ^ Anthony Birley, The Fasti of Roman Britain (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), pp. 231f
- ^ Birley, Fasti, pp. 76f
- ^ Birley, Fasti, p. 235
- ^ Davenport, Roman Bath (Stroud: The History Press, 2021), pp. 149-151
- ^ Birley, Fasti, p. 243
- ^ Birley, Fasti, pp. 252f
- ^ Birley, Fasti, pp. 258f
- ^ a b Birley, Fasti, p. 279
- ^ Birley, Fasti, p. 280
- ISBN 978-0-9559656-1-6
- ISBN 978-0955965616.
External links
- livius.org account of XX Valeria Victrix
- LEGIO XX, Maryland (USA) re-enactment group