Legions in Jerusalem under Pilate?

[MarcusNorwood]

Lately I have been studying first century Judea. I am interested to know if there is any credible evidence which places a specific Legion in Jeruselam around 33 AD. I have read that legion six was stationed there and I have also heard that legion two may have been there.

Thoughts?

[M. Demetrius]

Legion X Fretensis is reported to have been in Syria, and may have sent parts of its auxilia to Jerusalem around that time. The Bible mentions the "Italian Cohort", though whether that is an Official Cohort or not is not clear from context. Paul (Saul of Tarsus) is escorted out of town by a contingent of 200 soldiers with 70 cavalry and 200 spearmen (Acts 23:23). Those sound more like auxilia than typical legionaries (but of course, the 200 "soldiers" is not clear--could be legionary troops.

[Theodosius the Great]

Just to add to Demetrius' excellent answer, it should be made clear that no legions were stationed in Judea before the First Jewish War. After the fall of Masada (73 AD), Legion X Fretensis was stationed in or near the ruins of Jerusalem.

Before the revolt the Syrian governor occassionally sent legionary forces into the country to reinforce the local auxiliaries or just as a show of force.

As for legion "two" you'll have to be more specific since numbers were often shared with other legions. In the imperial period there are five legions using the numeric two concurrently. But to distinguish themselves they had unique titles. They are:

II Adiutrix
II Augusta
II Italica
II Parthica
II Traiana

I checked their histories and none set foot in first century Judea. Some weren't even created until the 2nd century AD.

As for legion "six" there were two legions with that number.

VI Ferrata (the "iron" or "ironclad" legion)
VI Victrix (the "victorious" legion)

Legion VI "Ferrata" was one of the four Syrian legions. It participated in the First Jewish War.
Legion VI "Victrix" was the only Spanish legion and at the time of the First Jewish War it was busy in proclaiming their own govenor emperor (Galba). Vespasian then stationed them in Germany.

Hope that helps.

~Theo

[Pointer]

Theo... where does one find that kind of information? I would like to research your resources.
Patrick

[Praefectusclassis]

Jona Lendering's Livius is probably the best online resource to research legionary histories. As for the troops in Pilate's garrison, Graham Sumner's article in Ancient Warfare I.1 is the most easily accessible resource.

[Theodosius the Great]

Hi Patrick,

The resources cited by Jasper are superb.

The source I used for my answer was an out-of-print book titled Soldiers of Rome, by Robert Evans. It's quite a gem for legionary histories and the Praetorion Guard (very rare for English written books, btw!) I like how the chapters are divided by provinces and regions. So, if you want to own a physical book on the subject I think it's a great buy. You can find it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Soldiers-Rome-Legi...rs+of+rome

~ Theo

[Nathan Ross]

Couple of older threads might be useful:

Which Legion was in Jerusalem?

(EDIT - why is it impossible to put more than one link into a message nowadays? The second one was called 'Auxilia stationed in Jerusalem'...)

[Epictetus]

Off topic: Nathan, it might be the anti-spam doohickey. That's what Jasper suggested happened to me.

[tn hillbilly]

Are y'all aware of any vendors selling 28mm, 54mm, or 1/35 scale sized focused on Roman and Jewish models
to portray Legions in Jerusalem under Pilate? Both for collecting and wargaming?

I forgot to add anyone located a vendor with minature "Ark of the Covenant" model?

[Flavivs Aetivs]

http://legvi.tripod.com/id10.html

Legion 6 was garrisoned in Palestine, but not necessarily in Jerusalem.

[Narukami]

Aloha Tennessee!

Have you checked the threads under Gaming & Modeling? There are several manufacturers listed that might have what you are looking for.

For 1:32 scale you might try Conte Collectibles. His Imperial Romans are excellent, but as far as I know he has not ventured into ancient Judea so figures of rebels may be harder to come by in that scale.

San Diego Toy Soldier Company is also doing some good work in 1;32 scale Romans.

For smaller scale figures (1:72) you might try this web site:

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Index.aspx

For 28mm war game scale figures Jasper probably has those sources at his fingertips.

:wink:

Narukami

[M. Demetrius]

Should we start another thread about miniature soldiers?

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Yes

[Narukami]

Yes -- My apologies for pulling us off topic.

:oops:

Narukami

[D B Campbell]

I am interested to know if there is any credible evidence which places a specific Legion in Jeruselam around 33 AD.

Your question has pretty much been answered. But it might be interesting for you to know why there was no legion in Judaea prior to the Jewish War.

The province was one of those minor territories governed by equestrian prefects or (after Claudius) procurators. If a legion were to enter such a territory, the legionary commander (being a senator) would automatically outrank the governor (who was an equestrian) -- it seems that the Romans always avoided such a situation. The proof comes from Egypt, which was governed by a high-ranking equestrian, but which (for one reason or another) required the presence of legionary troops: the solution was to place the legions (uniquely) under the command of equestrian officers who would not outrank the provincial governor. Consequently, if a legion were to be ordered into Judaea, (a) this would require the express instruction of the emperor, and (b) the commander would become de facto governor.

Of course, this never happened until AD 66, when the (senatorial) governor of Syria was ordered to intervene in Judaea. By entering Judaea, he naturally became the de facto governor.