The Legions of Rome

[ISA Gunner]

I don't know but i felt like putting up a list of numbered and named Roman legions which perhaps might be of use to the RS2 team and to your knowledge of the Roman legions. These are the legions from 30 BCE to 233 CE. This is just basic information by the way. You can research more on your favourite legion/s on the net.
NOTE: Legions marked with an asterisk (not the fat Gaul) were still in existence in 233 CE according to Cassius Dio (Roman historian).

Here goes...

The Augustan Legions (28 Civil War Legions):

1st Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 84 BCE. Believed to have been disbanded by Emperor Vespasian in 74 CE.

2nd Augusta Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 84 BCE. Granted "Augusta" title, meaning "Augustus's", by Emperor Augustus 25 BCE*

3rd Augusta Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Augusta" title by the Emperor Augustus 25 BCE*

4th Macedonica Legion: Later the 4th Scythica Legion. Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Took title "Macedonica" in 33 BCE when its recruiting grounds were transferred from Iberia to Macedonia. Believed to have been granted "Scythica" title by Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 179 CE for a victory over the Scythian tribe, the Cotini.*

5th Legion: Later 5th Macedonica Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in Iberia 65 BCE. Recruited in Moesia (Bulgaria) 60 CE. Believed to have been renamed "Macedonica" in 80 CE, when the legion's recruitment was transferred from Moesia to Macedonia.*

6th Victrix Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Victrix" title, meaning "Conqueror" 25 BCE by Emperor Augusus.*

7th Claudia Pia Fidelis Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Claudia Pia Fidelis" title, meaning "Claudius's Loyal and Patriotic," following the Scribonianus Revolt, by the Emperor Claudius in 42 CE. The "Pia Fidelis" soon fell into disuse.*

8th Augusta Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Augusta" title by Emperor Augustus 25 BCE.*

9th Hispana Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Hispana" title, meaning "Spain's", by the Emperor Augustus 25 BCE. Apparently wiped out by the Dacians in 86 CE and never re-formed.

10th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar himself in 61 BCE in Iberia. Was Caesar's finest legion and Caesar made them his own bodyguard. May have gained title "Fretensis" colloquially but not offically after their victory over Mark Antony's fleet in the Straits of Messina. "Fretum Sicilense" means "of the straits of Sicily" where Mark Antony and Octavian's fleets fought. It's symbol was a Bull.*

11th Claudia Pia Fidelis Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 58 BCE. Granted "Caludia Pia Fidelis" title along with the 7th by Emperor Claudius in 42 CE. The "Pia Fidelis" soon fell into disuse.*

12th Fulminata Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 58 BCE. Granted "Fulminata" title, meaning "Thunder", by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 174 CE for a victory against a Germanic tribe in a thunderstorm.*

13th Gemina Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 58 BCE. Granted "Gemina" title, meaning "Twin", by the Emperor Augustus in 31-30 BCE after combination with another legion - any one of the twenty civil war legions abolished at this time.*

14th Gemina Martia Victrix Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 58 BCE. Believed to have been granted "Gemina Martia" title after combination with the Martia Legion in 31-30 BCE and granted additonal "Victrix" title by Augustus 25 CE. By 233 CE the "Martia" and "Victrix" titles had fallen into disuse.

15th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 54 BCE.*

16th Flavia Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 54 BCE. Believed to have been granted "Flavia" title by Emperor Domitian in 89 CE along with the 4th Flavia as a reward following the Saturninus Revolt.*

17th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Believed disbanded by Emperor Domitian in 87 CE as part of his long-term demobilization program set in train by his father, Vespasian.

18th Legion: As for the 17th.

19th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Wiped out by Germans under Ariminius (Hermann) in Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE. Never re-formed.

20th Valeria Victrix Legion: (A.) 20th founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. (B.) Valeria (meanining "Powerful"), founded by Pompey the Great in 84 BCE. Was given vacant 20th number by Emperor Augustus in 31-30 BCE. Augustus granted the "Victrix" title in 25 BCE.*

21st Rapax Legion: (A.) 21st founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE (B.) Indications are that the Rapax (meaning "Rapacious") was founded for Pompey in the same year and originally called the Indigena, the "Native" or "Home-Grown" Legion. Given vacant 21st number by Emperor Augustus in 31-30 BCE. The 21st Rapax was apparently wiped out by Dacians in 86 CE and never re-formed.

22nd Deiotariana Legion. Later the 22nd Primigeneia Legion. The 22nd Deitariana Legion was formed by Julius Caesar in 47 BCE from the remnants of two legions of King Deiotarus of Galatia. Renamed "Primigeneia" by Emperor Claudius in 41-54 CE, probably in relation to the goddess Fortune, a leading military diety.*

23rd Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Apparently abolished by the Emperor Titus in 80 CE as part of a long-term demobilization program established by his father, Vespasian.

24th Legion. As for the 23rd.

25th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Believed to be one of the three legions wiped out by Germans in Teutoberg Forest in 9 CE. Never re-formed.

26th Legion: As for the 25th.

27th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Apparently abolished by Emperor Titus in 80 CE as part of Vespasian's long term demobilization program.

28th Legion: As for the 27th Legion.

Thanks for reading.

May put up all Imperial Post-Augustan Legions if it is requested. In the mean time. If you have any questions or doubts. Please ask me and i'll be happy to answer to the best of my abilities.

[Straticus]

...
17th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Believed disbanded by Emperor Domitian in 87 CE as part of his long-term demobilization program set in train by his father, Vespasian.

18th Legion: As for the 17th.

19th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Wiped out by Germans under Ariminius (Hermann) in Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE. Never re-formed.
...

I always read Legio XVII, Legio XVIII and Legio XIX were all wiped out in Teutoburg Wald in 9AD and never reformed. The very reason that Augustus cried out in his rage : "Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!"


Maybe this is still a question mark in history.

[ISA Gunner]

I always read Legio XVII, Legio XVIII and Legio XIX were all wiped out in Teutoburg Wald in 9AD and never reformed. The very reason that Augustus cried out in his rage : "Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!"


Maybe this is still a question mark in history.

Yes i've heard that too. That is why i wrote it is 'believed' to be one of the legions wiped out in Teutoburg Forest. Nobody knows for sure. :hmmm:

[dvk901]

I don't know where you got your information, but it's a bit faulty. Absolutely nothing is known about the 17th, 18th and 19th because the Romans recorded nothing about them except that they were destroyed. They never spoke of them again, and never reused the numbers.

There are no records in existance mentioning 23,24,25,26,27 or 28...that I know of, and no '25th' Legion was ever wiped out in Germany.

"22nd Deiotariana Legion. Later the 22nd Primigeneia Legion"

XXII Deiotariana was NOT levied by Caesar...nor any Roman. It was formed by the King of Galatia and incorporated into the Roman military by Augustus. It was also NEVER known as XXII Primigenia, because that legion was a separate legion.

Also, quite a few of these legions were still in existance in some form when the Western Empire fell, and a number of them were incorporated into the Eastern Empire's military. So a few of these units had over 500 year long histories.

'Rapax' means 'Predator'.....not 'Rapacious'.....and Fulminata was called the 'Lightening' Legion, presumably because they struck like 'lightening'.

Legio IX Hispaniensis:
It was destroyed in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, either during the Bar Kokhba's revolt (130s) or in the Danube revolts (160s).

[ISA Gunner]

I bow down to your greater knowledge but i did get this information from many a history book that use sources from Plutarch, Livy, Polybius, Cassius Dio, Suetonius, Appian, Tacitus, Julius Caesar aswell as other modern historians. Note how i say 'it is belived' quite a lot. A lot of information is extremely basic as not much is known about them.

Didn't Caesar lend the XXII to the King of Galatia? Why would a legion have the title 'Predator'. Rapacious would make more sense since it is possible that the legion plundered many a settlment under a greedy General.

The 25th, 26th. 27th and 28th were under Brutus' control during Caesar's invasion of Greece and most were killed. The remnants fought for Caesar and then later Mark Antony.

The 23rd fought at the siege of Marseille along with the 9th and 22nd while Caesar himself went across the Pyrenees to finish off Pompeigan Iberia under Pompey the Great's two sons. The 24th was involved in an amphibious assault on Illyricum under Mark Antony's younger borther Gaius and half of the 28th legion to restore Caesar's control over the province. However Pompey's navy was superior though. Gaius' 40 transports were intercepted on the Adriatic by the Pompeian warships from the Achaea region commanded by Admiral Marcus Otcavius. Led by a Centurion Titus Puleio, the men of the 24th and the 28th voted to go over on to the other side rather than fight and were put into the Pompeian naval base on the Greek island of Corfu. It is unclear what happened to Gaius Antony. He was either given parole not to take part in the civil war any more and released by Octavius or more likely was kept a prisoner in Greece and released by Caesar the following year after Pompey's defeat.

[rory o'kane]

I don't know but i felt like putting up a list of numbered and named Roman legions which perhaps might be of use to the RS2 team and to your knowledge of the Roman legions. These are the legions from 30 BCE to 233 CE. This is just basic information by the way. You can research more on your favourite legion/s on the net.
NOTE: Legions marked with an asterisk (not the fat Gaul) were still in existence in 233 CE according to Cassius Dio (Roman historian).

Here goes...

The Augustan Legions (28 Civil War Legions):

1st Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 84 BCE. Believed to have been disbanded by Emperor Vespasian in 74 CE.

2nd Augusta Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 84 BCE. Granted "Augusta" title, meaning "Augustus's", by Emperor Augustus 25 BCE*

3rd Augusta Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Augusta" title by the Emperor Augustus 25 BCE*

4th Macedonica Legion: Later the 4th Scythica Legion. Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Took title "Macedonica" in 33 BCE when its recruiting grounds were transferred from Iberia to Macedonia. Believed to have been granted "Scythica" title by Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 179 CE for a victory over the Scythian tribe, the Cotini.*

5th Legion: Later 5th Macedonica Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in Iberia 65 BCE. Recruited in Moesia (Bulgaria) 60 CE. Believed to have been renamed "Macedonica" in 80 CE, when the legion's recruitment was transferred from Moesia to Macedonia.*

6th Victrix Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Victrix" title, meaning "Conqueror" 25 BCE by Emperor Augusus.*

7th Claudia Pia Fidelis Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Claudia Pia Fidelis" title, meaning "Claudius's Loyal and Patriotic," following the Scribonianus Revolt, by the Emperor Claudius in 42 CE. The "Pia Fidelis" soon fell into disuse.*

8th Augusta Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Augusta" title by Emperor Augustus 25 BCE.*

9th Hispana Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Hispana" title, meaning "Spain's", by the Emperor Augustus 25 BCE. Apparently wiped out by the Dacians in 86 CE and never re-formed.

10th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar himself in 61 BCE in Iberia. Was Caesar's finest legion and Caesar made them his own bodyguard. May have gained title "Fretensis" colloquially but not offically after their victory over Mark Antony's fleet in the Straits of Messina. "Fretum Sicilense" means "of the straits of Sicily" where Mark Antony and Octavian's fleets fought. It's symbol was a Bull.*

11th Claudia Pia Fidelis Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 58 BCE. Granted "Caludia Pia Fidelis" title along with the 7th by Emperor Claudius in 42 CE. The "Pia Fidelis" soon fell into disuse.*

12th Fulminata Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 58 BCE. Granted "Fulminata" title, meaning "Thunder", by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 174 CE for a victory against a Germanic tribe in a thunderstorm.*

13th Gemina Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 58 BCE. Granted "Gemina" title, meaning "Twin", by the Emperor Augustus in 31-30 BCE after combination with another legion - any one of the twenty civil war legions abolished at this time.*

14th Gemina Martia Victrix Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 58 BCE. Believed to have been granted "Gemina Martia" title after combination with the Martia Legion in 31-30 BCE and granted additonal "Victrix" title by Augustus 25 CE. By 233 CE the "Martia" and "Victrix" titles had fallen into disuse.

15th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 54 BCE.*

16th Flavia Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 54 BCE. Believed to have been granted "Flavia" title by Emperor Domitian in 89 CE along with the 4th Flavia as a reward following the Saturninus Revolt.*

17th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Believed disbanded by Emperor Domitian in 87 CE as part of his long-term demobilization program set in train by his father, Vespasian.

18th Legion: As for the 17th.

19th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Wiped out by Germans under Ariminius (Hermann) in Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE. Never re-formed.

20th Valeria Victrix Legion: (A.) 20th founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. (B.) Valeria (meanining "Powerful"), founded by Pompey the Great in 84 BCE. Was given vacant 20th number by Emperor Augustus in 31-30 BCE. Augustus granted the "Victrix" title in 25 BCE.*

21st Rapax Legion: (A.) 21st founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE (B.) Indications are that the Rapax (meaning "Rapacious") was founded for Pompey in the same year and originally called the Indigena, the "Native" or "Home-Grown" Legion. Given vacant 21st number by Emperor Augustus in 31-30 BCE. The 21st Rapax was apparently wiped out by Dacians in 86 CE and never re-formed.

22nd Deiotariana Legion. Later the 22nd Primigeneia Legion. The 22nd Deitariana Legion was formed by Julius Caesar in 47 BCE from the remnants of two legions of King Deiotarus of Galatia. Renamed "Primigeneia" by Emperor Claudius in 41-54 CE, probably in relation to the goddess Fortune, a leading military diety.*

23rd Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Apparently abolished by the Emperor Titus in 80 CE as part of a long-term demobilization program established by his father, Vespasian.

24th Legion. As for the 23rd.

25th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Believed to be one of the three legions wiped out by Germans in Teutoberg Forest in 9 CE. Never re-formed.

26th Legion: As for the 25th.

27th Legion: Founded by Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Apparently abolished by Emperor Titus in 80 CE as part of Vespasian's long term demobilization program.

28th Legion: As for the 27th Legion.

Thanks for reading.

May put up all Imperial Post-Augustan Legions if it is requested. In the mean time. If you have any questions or doubts. Please ask me and i'll be happy to answer to the best of my abilities.

reads exactly like the legion list from the back of any of Steven Dando-Collins' books on specific legions...and while those books are a good read, they're not quite historically accurate in every aspect...

[ISA Gunner]

reads exactly like the legion list from the back of any of Steven Dando-Collins' books on specific legions...and while those books are a good read, they're not quite historically accurate in every aspect...

Great books aye. I've read other books and sources by different historians but really none of them are completely sure as there are many gaps left out by Roman historians and modern historians fill in those gaps to the best of their ability.

[dvk901]

When I say there is no record of a Legion, I don't mean it never existed. BEFORE the use of names AND numbers to identify Legions, and BEFORE Augustus time, Rome had anywhere upwards of some 50 Legions in the field. These had only numbers...not names (as far as is known.)

Records and info on these Legions are very sketchy, and they often disagree with each other.
In putting Legions into RS1.5, (and RS2) I chose to use only the named and numbered Legions for which there was any reliable information or history, and their full last known names and titles.

I skipped a couple that were disbanded and shamed....I forget which ones....but they were reconstituted into new Legions anyway. (Macedonia IV comes to mind)

As for XXII Deiotariana:

The legion was levied by Deiotarus, king of the Celtic tribe of the Tolistobogii, who lived in Galatia, modern Turkey. Deiotarus become an ally of the Roman Republic general Pompey in 63 BC, who named him king of all the Celtic tribes of Turkey, which were collectively known as Galatians (hence the name Galatia for the region). Deiotarus levied an army and trained it with Roman help; the army, in 48 BC, was composed of 12,000 infantrymen and 2,000 horsemen. Cicero writes that the army was divided into to thirty cohortes, which were roughly equivalent to three Roman legions of the time. This army supported the Romans in their wars against king Mithridates VI of Pontus, and contributed to Roman victory in the Third Mithridatic War.\n\nAfter a heavy defeat against king Pharnaces II of Pontus near Nicopolis, the survivor soldiers of Deiotarius army formed a single legion, which marched besides Julius Caesar during his victorious campaign against Pontus, and fought with him in the battle of Zela (47 BC).\n\nWhen the Roman Empire integrated the Galatian kingdom, this legion, which had been trained by the Romans and had fought under Roman commanders, became part of the Roman army; since Caesar Augustus had already 21 legions, the legion received the number XXII. Augustus sent the Twenty-second to camp in Nicopolis (next Alexandria, in Aegyptus) together with III Cyrenaica. These two legions had the role of garrisoning the Egyptian province from threats both within and without, given the multi-ethnical nature of Alexandria.\n\nUnder Trajan, XXII was officially known as 'Deiotariana', even if this was its unofficial name since Claudian times. The last record of XXII Deiotariana is from 119. In 145, when a list of all existing legions was made, XXII Deiotariana was not listed. It is likely that XXII Deiotariana was destroyed during the Jewish rebellion of Simon bar Kochba (132-136).

So I understand the misconception that Caesar levied it, but actually, he did not.

[ISA Gunner]

Interesting...thanks!

As for the Legions in RS2, will you be including later Imperial Legions aswell like Legio I Italica, Legio II Parthicae and all that?

[dvk901]

I wish I could, but because of the limitations of RTW...unit-wise....only 28 Legions are in RS2.
Besides, the 7 that were removed were formed after the end date of the mod.

However, they will be the most beautiful and awesome 28 Legions you'll probably ever see in an RTW mod.

[ISA Gunner]

I wish I could, but because of the limitations of RTW...unit-wise....only 28 Legions are in RS2.
Besides, the 7 that were removed were formed after the end date of the mod.

However, they will be the most beautiful and awesome 28 Legions you'll probably ever see in an RTW mod.

Never had any doubts

[ray243]

I wish I could, but because of the limitations of RTW...unit-wise....only 28 Legions are in RS2.
Besides, the 7 that were removed were formed after the end date of the mod.

However, they will be the most beautiful and awesome 28 Legions you'll probably ever see in an RTW mod.

Could you use the concept of a unnamed legion for us to recruit? So people can actually choose to expand the beyond the 28 legion.

Hence we can simulate the legions created in the late empire.

Also, using the Legion name generator we have in BI, what we can do is create first cohorts from those unnamed legion in the correct region, thus giving a name to the expanded legions.


Other than that, I wish some legions has several advantages that differ from each other, such as some having bonus fighting in desert and so on.

Make us consider the deployment of legions more carefully.

[Kátz]

but from what I see the BI name generator only provided legions of their times.

[dvk901]

Could you use the concept of a unnamed legion for us to recruit? So people can actually choose to expand the beyond the 28 legion.

Hence we can simulate the legions created in the late empire.

Also, using the Legion name generator we have in BI, what we can do is create first cohorts from those unnamed legion in the correct region, thus giving a name to the expanded legions.


Other than that, I wish some legions has several advantages that differ from each other, such as some having bonus fighting in desert and so on.

Make us consider the deployment of legions more carefully.

There is no room in RS2 for any more units......and the BI Legion name creating system is historical nonsense. All of the Legions in RS2 are the Legions that Rome employed up until the end of the mod time frame anyway, so anything beyond that would be fantasy. Part of the challenge we are trying to create is forming a 'Roman Empire' with the Legions they had and used. Adding 'generic' legionaries just regresses to Vanilla.

LT1956 is doing our unit stats, and has already indicated that the Legions will have 'subtle differences' depending on where they fought. It's fine to say 'a Legion fought in the desert'...however, there's no way to tell WHERE you will fight with that Legion. The Romans sent Legions all over the place, but we can't really 'dress' them appropriately for whatever climate you take them into.

[ray243]

There is no room in RS2 for any more units......and the BI Legion name creating system is historical nonsense. All of the Legions in RS2 are the Legions that Rome employed up until the end of the mod time frame anyway, so anything beyond that would be fantasy. Part of the challenge we are trying to create is forming a 'Roman Empire' with the Legions they had and used. Adding 'generic' legionaries just regresses to Vanilla.

LT1956 is doing our unit stats, and has already indicated that the Legions will have 'subtle differences' depending on where they fought. It's fine to say 'a Legion fought in the desert'...however, there's no way to tell WHERE you will fight with that Legion. The Romans sent Legions all over the place, but we can't really 'dress' them appropriately for whatever climate you take them into.

Oh well, I thought there is room for 2 units left, and thus allowing us to have a generic legion that will produced the right legion name.

I thought it is possible to modify the legion naming system.

[Gerald The Herald]

Ahh well, historical or not, I think that a bit of legion info and history (like the unit descriptions for imperial named legions in-game) add alot of color and life to what would otherwise be a dull and boring concept. I mean, you can actually FEEL the arduous struggles and triumphs that legion had gone through and imagine them posted on the fringes of the limes, constantly doing their duty to ensure the Pax romana.

[Kátz]

good idea Gerald, post battle pictures, I don't care whether it is on a film or here in RS.

[Elmetiacos]

9th Hispana Legion: Founded by Pompey the Great in 65 BCE. Granted "Hispana" title, meaning "Spain's", by the Emperor Augustus 25 BCE. Apparently wiped out by the Dacians in 86 CE and never re-formed.

The Dacians? It used to be believed that the IX had been wiped out in Britain, either by the Brigantes or the Caledonians (there was a historical novel about the supposed events called Eagle of the Ninth) but subsequently it was discovered they were simply transferred to Germania Inferior at some time between 108 and 114.

[jerjes]

The Dacians? It used to be believed that the IX had been wiped out in Britain, either by the Brigantes or the Caledonians (there was a historical novel about the supposed events called Eagle of the Ninth) but subsequently it was discovered they were simply transferred to Germania Inferior at some time between 108 and 114.

yeah, more precisely to Batavia (Noviomagus) and probably destroyed during the Marcomanni War

[rory o'kane]

The Dacians? It used to be believed that the IX had been wiped out in Britain, either by the Brigantes or the Caledonians (there was a historical novel about the supposed events called Eagle of the Ninth) but subsequently it was discovered they were simply transferred to Germania Inferior at some time between 108 and 114.

the theory that they marched off north and were enver seen again has fallen out of favour - destroyed by the Dacians is more likely.