Legio III Augusta
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Legio III Augusta was a Roman legion levied by Augustus in 43 BC. Activity of this legion in the African Roman provinces, its principal theatre of operations, is still mentioned in late 4th century, early 5th century. Among the emblems of the legion were the winged horse Pegasus and the Capricornus.
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[edit] Campaigns
[edit] Civil war
The III Augusta was probably present in the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, where Augustus and Mark Antony defeated the army of the senators that conspired to murder Julius Caesar. After this victory, the III Augusta stayed under the command of Augustus, probably in Sicily, where Sextus Pompeius, son of Pompey had started a rebellion.
[edit] African decimation
From 30 BC onwards, III Augusta was stationed in the province of Africa. The legion was involved mainly in construction activities. Although Africa was a traditionally peaceful part of the Empire, between 17 and 24, they were involved in the war against the mutinous Numidian and Mauritanian tribes. In 18, a subunit was destroyed in a guerrilla attack. This disaster was probably due to cowardly behaviour, because afterwards, the entire legion was punished by decimation, that is, the killing of every tenth legionary. This procedure was the most serious action a commander could impose on his soldiers and rarely used. After that, IX Hispana was sent to reinforce Africa and by 24 the rebellion was over.
[edit] Year of the four emperors
In the 1st century, Africa was the only province controlled by a senator, the proconsul governor. Thus, it was important for the Emperor that this man, also commander of III Augusta, would be loyal. Sulpicius Galba, emperor in the Year of the Four Emperors occupied the position between 45 and 46.
In the last years of the reign of Nero, Lucius Clodius Macer, proconsul of Africa, revolted and levied another legion, I Macriana liberatrix to join forces with III Augusta. In the confusing Year of the four emperors (69), both legions supported first Galba, then Vitellius and finally Vespasian, although took no part in the battles in Italy.
[edit] On station in Africa
In 75, Vespasian moved the camp of III Augusta from Ammaedara, near Theveste, to Lambaesis. In the reign of Hadrian (117–138), the legion was stationed at Lambaesis in Numidia. The legion was to stay there for the next two centuries, guarding the province from the Berber tribes. Men from the III Augusta were occasionally used in several campaigns against Parthia. It is know also the presence of legionaries from this African legion in the Marcomannic campaign of Marcus Aurelius against the Hungarians.
In 193, emperor Septimius Severus, an African man, awarded the legion with the cognomen Pia Vindex (Faithful Avenger), for their action in the civil war that followed emperor Pertinax murder.
The 3rd century was a time of crisis for the III Augusta. First, it suffered heavy losses in a war against a desert tribe, having to receive reinforcements from the recently disbanded III Gallica. In 238, the Year of the Six Emperors, the legion suppressed the revolt of Gordian I and Gordian II, but was disbanded by their successor Gordian III.
In 252, Valerian reconstituted the III Augusta with troops coming from Raetia and Noricum, and gave it cognomen Iterum Pia Iterum Vindex (Again faithful, again avenger). The purpose of this reconstitution was to wage a war against a federation of Berber tribes that threatened the empire. This war was over in 260, but between 289-297, the situation was once more out of hand and emperor Maximian went to Africa to command the Numidian legions personally.
III Augusta was in Africa until late 4th century, early 5th century. According to Notitia Dignitatum, the Tertio Augustani, a comitatensis unit, was under the command of the Comes Africae, possibly within the army of the Dux et praeses provinciae Mauritaniae et Caesariensis.
