Legion near Judea at time of Jesus

[Flavivs Aetivs]

We get this question a lot in Legio VI Ferrata:

Legio VI was at that time actually based in Raphanaea, the fortress at Megiddo (Caparcotna/Legio) wasn't actually built until sometime after the First Jewish Revolt (66-73 AD). However, contingents of Legio VI were certainly operating in Judea: they were instrumental in Herod's rise to power in 37BC and they were present in Judea in 4BC (the evidence suggests Jesus was born between 6BC-3BC), where they had to suppress Messianic claimants (however this is not related to the slaughter of the innocents found in the bible).

I couldn't tell you exactly what Legion Jerusalem was garrisoned by: X Fretensis was there at one point, but not at the same time as Jesus. VI Ferrata was certainly operating in Judea, even if the main Legion was in Syria, throughout that time.