Legio XIII Gemina

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Legio XIII Gemina

Sestertius minted in 248 by Philip the Arab to celebrate Dacia province and its legions, V Macedonica and XIII Gemina. Note the eagle and the lion, V's and XIII's symbols, in the reverse.
Active 57 BC to sometime in the 5th century
Country Roman Republic and Roman Empire
Type Roman legion (Marian)
Role Infantry assault (some cavalry support)
Size Varied over unit lifetime. Approx. 3,500 fighting men + support at the time of creation. Expanded and given the cognomen Gemina in 31 BC.
Garrison/HQ Burnum, Illyricum (1st century BC)
Emona, Pannonia (1st century)
Augusta Vindelica, Germania Superior
Poetovio, Pannonia (1st century)
Roman Dacia (106 - c. 270)
Dacia Aureliana (since 270)
Babylon in Egypt (400s)
Nickname Gemina, "The twin" (since 31 BC)
Pia Fidelis, "Faithful and loyal"[1]
Mascot Lion
Engagements Gallic Wars (58-51 BC)
Battle against the Nervians (57 BC)
Battle of Gergovia (52 BC)
Battle of Alesia (52 BC) - uncertain
Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC)
Battle of Pharsalus (48 BC)
Battle of Thapsus (46 BC)
Battle of Munda (45 BC)
Battle of Actium (31 BC)
1st and 2nd Battle of Bedriacum (69)
Dacian Wars (101-102,105-106)
Vexillationes of the 13th participated in many other campaigns.
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Julius Caesar,
Marcus Salvius Otho,
Marcus Antonius Primus

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Legio XIII, known as Legio XIII Gemina ("twin legion") after 31 BC, is one of the more historically noteworthy Roman legions, as it was one of Julius Caesar's armies used in Gaul, and also for his civil war. It was the legion with which he famously crossed the Rubicon on January 10, 49 BC. The legion was in Vienna in the 5th century. The symbol of the legion was the lion.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Under the late Republic

Legio XIII was levied by Julius Caesar in 57 BC, before marching against the Belgae, in one of his early interventions in intra-Gallic conflicts.

During the Gallic wars (58-51 BC), Legio XIII was present at the Battle against the Nervians, the siege of Gergovia, and while not specifically mentioned in the sources, it is not unreasonable to assume that Legio XIII was also present for the Battle of Alesia.

After the end of the Gallic wars, the Roman senate refused Caesar his second consulship, ordered him to give up his commands, and demanded he return to Rome to face prosecution. Forced to choose either the end of his political career, or civil war, Caesar brought Legio XIII across the Rubicon river and into Italy. The legion remained faithful to Caesar during the resulting civil war between Caesar and the conservative Optimates faction of the senate, whose legions were commanded by Pompey. Legio XIII was active throughout the entire war, fighting at Dyrrhachium (48 BC) and Pharsalus (48 BC). After the decisive victory over Pompey at Pharsalus, the legion was to be disbanded, and the legionaries "pensioned off" with the traditional land grants; however, the legion was recalled for the Battle of Thapsus (46 BC) and the final Battle of Munda (45 BC). After Munda, Caesar disbanded the legion, retired his veterans, and gave them farmlands in Italy.

[edit] Under the Empire

Augustus reconstituted the legion once again in 41 BC to deal with rebellion of Sextus Pompeius (son of Pompey) in Sicily.

Legio XIII acquired the cognomen Gemina ("twin", a common appellation for legions constituted from portions of others) after being reinforced with veteran legionaries from other legions following the war against Mark Antony and the Battle of Actium.[2] Augustus then sent the legion to Burnum (modern Knin), in Illyricum, a Roman province in the Adriatic Sea.

In 16 BC, the legion was transferred to Emona (now Ljubljana) in Pannonia, where they dealt with local rebellions.

After the disaster of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, the legion was sent as reinforcements to Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg), Raetia, to prevent further attacks from the Germanic tribes.

Emperor Claudius sent them back to Pannonia around 45; the legion camped at Poetovio (modern Ptuj, Slovenia).

In the year of the four emperors (69), XIII Gemina supported first Otho and then Vespasian against Vitellius, fighting in the two Battles of Bedriacum.

Stamped Brick
Stamped Brick
Position of Roman legions in 80. XIII Gemina was in Poetovio (mark 12).
Position of Roman legions in 80. XIII Gemina was in Poetovio (mark 12).

Under Trajan the Legion took part in both Dacian wars (101-102, 105-106), and it was transferred by Trajan in 106 to the newly conquered province of Dacia (in Apulum, modern Alba Iulia, Romania) to garrison it.

Vexillationes of the XIII Gemina fought under Emperor Gallienus in northern Italy. The emperor issued a legionary antoninianus celebrating the legion, and showing the legion's lion (259-260).[3] Another vexillatio was present in the army of the emperor of the Gallic Empire Victorinus: this emperor, in fact, issued a gold coin celebrating the legion and its emblem.[4]

In 271, the legion was relocated when the Dacia province was evacuated, and restationed in Dacia Aureliana.

In the 5th century, according to Notitia Dignitatum, a legio tertiadecima gemina was in Babylon in Egypt, a strategic fortress on the Nile at the traditional border between Lower Egypt and Middle Egypt, under the command of the Comes limitis Aegypti.[5]

[edit] Fictional accounts

  • A fictionalized account some of the actions of Legio XIII Gemina during the struggle between Julius Caesar and the Optimates faction under Pompey can be seen in the joint HBO/BBC/RAI television production Rome.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Steiner, Johann Wilhelm C. (1851). Codex inscriptionum romanarum Danubii et Rheni, p. 253. 
  2. ^ Birley, E.B.. "A Note on the Title 'Gemina'". Journal of Roman Studies (18): pp. 56-60. 
  3. ^ McBride, p. 17.
  4. ^ McBride, p. 26.
  5. ^ Notitia Dignitatum, In partibus Orientis, XXVIII

[edit] References

[edit] Primary sources

[edit] Secondary sources

[edit] External links