Origins of Caesar\'s 10th legion

[Paullus Scipio]

Jona wrote:

I don't get the arithmic. Counting backward from the summer of 48, and assuming the official six years, I arrive at the summer of 54 for it being recruited

...which is clearly wrong, since the Legion was in existence from at least 59 B.C !! :wink:
Traditionally, individual soldiers were liable for service for 16 years, with a further 4 in reserve ( this probably went back to when the army was raised by Age-classes). But this could be exceeded, for example in 171 BC the famous centurion Spurius Ligustinus complained of being called up, having served a total of 22 years in many campaigns and being over 50 years old!
Since the Tenth were in Rome, and demanding discharge in the middle of a war (before the African war ended), it is possible that the legion's soldiers had completed their traditional length of service and could thus possibly have been raised as early as 64 BC or thereabouts, ....as I say, this is only a possibility, not a fact, but it does give us an approximate earliest date for it being raised, which is definitely 59 BC or before.