05-19-2006, 11:12 AM
To take Jasper's examples, the Capricorn and Pegasus both seem to have been associated with Legio II Augusta, the former because it was the birth sign of Augustus, after whom the legion was named, and the latter? Who knows. There has been some suggestion that it is associated with the legion's operations on the Rhine in the first couple of decades of the 1st century AD.
But they were not necessarily unique to that legion, though - the Capricorn turns up elsewhere; Legio XXX used it, as did Legio XIV, for example, and they (XIV) also used the Eagle as a symbol for the legion (as II Augusta used the Pegasus), not just as the Aquila standard. The Praetorian Guard seem to have adopted the Scorpion.
As with so many aspects of the Roman Army, however, the precise significance isn't clear.
But they were not necessarily unique to that legion, though - the Capricorn turns up elsewhere; Legio XXX used it, as did Legio XIV, for example, and they (XIV) also used the Eagle as a symbol for the legion (as II Augusta used the Pegasus), not just as the Aquila standard. The Praetorian Guard seem to have adopted the Scorpion.
As with so many aspects of the Roman Army, however, the precise significance isn't clear.
Carus Andiae - David Woodall
"The greatest military machine in the history of the universe..."
"What is - the Daleks?"
"No... the Romans!" - Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens
"The greatest military machine in the history of the universe..."
"What is - the Daleks?"
"No... the Romans!" - Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens
