01-03-2012, 07:39 PM
Nathan is, as usual, bang on the money. My only tweaks would be that the senate could order that more than four legions were to be raised in Italy, and that I'm not sure that legions raised in the provinces would be kept in service together for longer than units of Italian origin.
In answer to Felix's question: so far as I know all legions had a number, which they would keep until disbanding. This was almost always at the end of the campaign for which they were raised.
However, it's rare for legion numbers to be recorded for this period:
As a result, it's rare for units to be explicitly identified - and extremely rare for units of auxiliaries to get a mention of any kind unless they were cavalry.
As a side note, I suspect that the Fimbriani are only unusual in that they're pre-Caesarian/Pompeian legions with a separate nickname that has come down to us. I wouldn't be surprised if other legions, especially those who had been a long time together on campaign, developed their own identities and their own nicknames, especially other 'outcast' forces (Sertorius' units, for example), where one individual was in command for a long time (e.g. Marius' legions), or where a consular levy reinforced a previous consular levy (necessary to avoid confusion). Such informal legion nicknames would have been very unlikely to survive.
What interests me is not that legion nicknames began to spread once the 'permanent' legion came into being, but how these became official and widely known outside of the army, but that's another question
blue skies
In answer to Felix's question: so far as I know all legions had a number, which they would keep until disbanding. This was almost always at the end of the campaign for which they were raised.
However, it's rare for legion numbers to be recorded for this period:
- These legions belong to the period before the spread of the 'epigraphic habit' (e.g. having an engraved funeral tombstone or plaque) making us dependent on the writings of the elite.
- Many ancient authors either: a) didn't choose to identify which legion they were talking about; or b) that information didn't survive for the author to discuss.
- This was before the existence of permanent legions, so legions were unlikely to develop an identity in the popular imagination 'back home'.
- This was before there was a distinct Roman 'military' to be appealed to or flattered by mentioning specific units for praise (or occasionally for condemnation).
As a result, it's rare for units to be explicitly identified - and extremely rare for units of auxiliaries to get a mention of any kind unless they were cavalry.
As a side note, I suspect that the Fimbriani are only unusual in that they're pre-Caesarian/Pompeian legions with a separate nickname that has come down to us. I wouldn't be surprised if other legions, especially those who had been a long time together on campaign, developed their own identities and their own nicknames, especially other 'outcast' forces (Sertorius' units, for example), where one individual was in command for a long time (e.g. Marius' legions), or where a consular levy reinforced a previous consular levy (necessary to avoid confusion). Such informal legion nicknames would have been very unlikely to survive.
What interests me is not that legion nicknames began to spread once the 'permanent' legion came into being, but how these became official and widely known outside of the army, but that's another question
blue skies
Tom Wrobel
email = [email protected]
email = [email protected]
