Last Legion Standing

[Spurius Papirius Cursor]

...It depends upon how you understand 'the district of the Macedonians'...'the district defended by the unit descended from legio V Macedonica' does not necessarily seem to be the most obvious or logical definition.

I have to agree with Renatus and Macedon based on what is here in the thread (I haven't been able to obtain Ross Cowan's book yet). If there were additional evidence of, say, several legions being garrisoned in the town, one of which was the "Quintanis" (however that would come out in Greek!) or "Macedonians", then I'd see the inscription as fair evidence of which sector of the town was theirs. But, as Macedon points out, the region was "swarming" with Hellenic communities and interpretation should, I'd imagine, go with the greatest ptobability. The phrase "with God's help" may have been formulaic but - to the modern ear - it sounds as if the dedication acknowledges the ability to fund the construction and/or otherwise manage to bring together the means of construction - a community congratulating itself on a job well done. Mind you, this interpretation is not proof the V Macedonica was not or never in Baalbek. It's just not, on its own, proof that it was. Let the Hunt for the Fifth Macedonians go on! (Well, isn't it better than assuming they were 'Yarmouked'?)

Just harking back to Amelianus' reference to the "legions of Chalkis" (which is how they are described in the online vesions of the two sources). I'm imagining the Chalkis referred to is in Syria, not the one on Euboia. I'm wondering whether "legions" refers to actual units 'designatable' (my word) as "legiones" (presumably not of a mobile army) or whether the word's being used in a more general sense of "Roman army units"?

Does anyone have anything on this?

Cheers

Howard/SPC