Cult of the eagles

[Jona Lendering]

We all know the romantic stories about legionary eagles, and how units were disbanded once the standards had been lost. But what is the evidence?

There is of course the eagle of the Tenth during Caesar's British Invasion. But there is no evidence there that the loss of the eagle would have been more than a disgrace. There is no implication that the unit would be disbanded, or that the protective genius of the legion would vanish.

I get the impression that the cult of the standards was created in a 20 BCE context; only when Augustus needed to present his not completely successful negotiations with the Parthians as a triumph, the eagles were made important. Cf. the creation of the "age old" cult of Janus.

Are there indications, like maps of forts, that prove the existence of the cult of the eagles?

[Epictetus]

Interesting question. What do you make of this?

They couldn’t touch the heaven’s gliding Standards,
Only their own, and it was a great crime to lose them.
Theirs were of straw: But the straw won a reverence
As great as you see the eagles share today.
A long pole carried the hanging bundles (maniplos),
From which the private soldier takes his name (maniplaris).

Ovid, Fasti, Introduction to Book III (March)

I confess that I'm unsure how to interpret this. It could be interpreted to mean that in former times the eagles did not have the same reverence as they did in his times. However, I'm not even sure if he is speaking of the legionary eagles, but it rather looks that way to me.

Maybe you or someone else can interpret this a bit better.

[D B Campbell]

We all know the romantic stories about legionary eagles, and how units were disbanded once the standards had been lost. But what is the evidence?

None, as far as I can see. Legions were "disbanded" when they were destroyed in battle, but there are so few known instances that it's difficult to figure out why this should be so. (No ancient author explains this, as far as I recall.) Rather than reconstitute a legion, a completely new one was often raised. I can't help wondering if there was a ritual element in this.

... But there is no evidence there that the loss of the eagle would have been more than a disgrace. There is no implication that the unit would be disbanded, or that the protective genius of the legion would vanish.

Quite so. Josephus records that XII Fulminata (iirc) lost its eagle, but clearly wasn't disbanded. On the other hand, I could well believe that losing the eagle was sacrilege -- I wonder if the law codes have anything on this.

I get the impression that the cult of the standards was created in a 20 BCE context; only when Augustus needed to present his not completely successful negotiations with the Parthians as a triumph, the eagles were made important.

The superstitious Romans truly seem to have invested the eagle with the spirit of the legion. (Of course, every superstition must have a starting point, and you might be right about Augustus -- he "invented" so much Roman tradition!)

The scraps of evidence certainly indicate that -- for whatever reason -- the divinity of the eagle was taken very seriously. Even if the seniority of the aquilifer did not already alert us to this importance, we see it in the general treatment of the eagle (as with the other standards), stored in their own temple, guarded by personnel who often (always?) included priests, fêted with their own "birthday", perfumed and garlanded on special feast days, ... And the Romans always made a big deal out of forcing their "enemies" to worship the standards. I see no reason to doubt that their belief was sincere.

[Sean Manning]

It may be relevant that standards have religious associations in the Mesopotamian and Iranian worlds. They were involved in religious ceremonies in Hellenistic Persia and Neo-Assyrian Assyria. Unfortunately, all the evidence I know of is artistic, and we don't know much about the Hellenistic attitude to standards. But the idea of a sacred standard wasn't new in Augustus' day.

[Paullus Scipio]

Interesting question. What do you make of this?

They couldn’t touch the heaven’s gliding Standards,
Only their own, and it was a great crime to lose them.
Theirs were of straw: But the straw won a reverence
As great as you see the eagles share today.
A long pole carried the hanging bundles (maniplos),
From which the private soldier takes his name (maniplaris).

Ovid, Fasti, Introduction to Book III (March)

I confess that I'm unsure how to interpret this. It could be interpreted to mean that in former times the eagles did not have the same reverence as they did in his times. However, I'm not even sure if he is speaking of the legionary eagles, but it rather looks that way to me.

Maybe you or someone else can interpret this a bit better.

Partly based on this piece of evidence, it is believed the original Manipular standard was a bundle of straw tied to a lance ( hence the term 'maniple' for the unit.) As can be seen, Ovid thought that the 'cult of the standard' went back to 'antiquity'.Ovid is saying that the Romans of old revered their 'rustic' straw standards as much as the 'modern' Romans revered their golden eagles....

In Polybius' times, each maniple had two standards, but he does not describe them. At some point manipular standards came to be topped by a hand ( manus). Later, according to Pliny the Elder (Nat. Hist. X.5), the Legions of the Republic had five standards - an eagle, a wolf, a minotaur, a horse and a boar. Marius ( c.107 BC)is given the credit for making the eagle supreme, but it is apparent that was simply recognising a growing practice , since the other standards were probably left in camp. By Caesar's day, the Eagle was silver, perched on a golden thunderbolt ( Appian Bell.Civ. IV.101 ). Later, the eagle appears to have been solid gold.

As to the antiquity of the reverence of Italians generally for their standards, there are a number of examples e.g. Plutarch "Aemilius Paullus" (20) describing an incident at the battle of Pydna against the Macedonians (168 BC):
"The Romans, when they attacked the Macedonian phalanx, were unable to force a passage, and Salvius, the commander of the Pelignians, snatched the standard of his company and hurled it in among the enemy. 2 Then the Pelignians, since among the Italians it is an unnatural and flagrant thing to abandon a standard, rushed on towards the place where it was, and dreadful losses were inflicted and suffered on both sides"

...so clearly this reverence goes back well before Augustus. Their importance is shown by the fact that in camp they had their own shrine, on special occasions, and ceremonial occasions and religious festivals they were annointed with precious oils and garlanded, as stated above, and battle honours and wreaths were added, and many superstitions surrounded them e.g if the standards 'stuck' in the ground, the troops would refuse to move, believing the Gods had sent a sign that they were to stay there!

[Jona Lendering]

Thanks for the input, which helps me.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Also, the XIIIIth was wiped out at Atuatucam but Caesar reformed it too. I do not recall the fate of the first groups eagle though.

[PhilusEstilius]

The Roman eagle was indeed regarded with reverence as is any modern Flag or regiment insignia, the reasons for the idea of disbandonment strikes me as being more to do with the incompetence of Legion Commanders who got themselves defeated by their stupidity.
The units were simply sent to other situations where some of the junior officers might never rise to anything ever again but have to serve out their time, however in modern times of course there is always resignation.

[Epictetus]

Thanks, Paul. Excellent summary,

I also found this that dates to somewhere around 212 – 211 B.C.

That on one side stood the legionary troops, on the other the marines, ready to swear by all the gods what they wished, rather than what they knew, to be true, and to involve in the guilt of perjury not only themselves and their own persons, but the military standards, the eagles, and their solemn oath of allegiance.

Livy, XXVI, 48

Livy has often been accused of taking the way things were in his own day and transporting them into the past. Probably the most common issue cited is the Conflict of the Orders placed back to the Secession of the Plebs.

The earliest instance to legionary eagles I found in Dion was an invented speech by Lucius Siccius Dentatus in the early 5th century. (10,36,5)

Could these early eagle standards actually have been straw?