The Legions of Magnus Maximus

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Ave everyone,
Can anyone tell me the names of the Legions whom Magnus Maximus took with him from Britain to Gaul in the fourth century? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Robert Vermaat]

Some say he took VI Victrix, but more likely he just took II Augusta with him.

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Thanks for that info, Robert. I too had heard that he might have taken two legions, but wasn't sure which ones. Perhaps the fact that he took the ll Augusta to Gaul might explain why the Secunda Britannica shows up in the Notitia Dignitatum in the Gallic army, some speculate that it was the old ll Augusta with a new name (or at least part of the ll Augusta.)

[Robert Vermaat]

The reason it's thought that the VI Victrix went with him is that it seems to be gone from about that time, even though there's still a Praefectus legionis sextae registered in the ND. Another thought is that it might have been removed by Stilicho, as we might read from the poems of Claudian.

Yes, you're correct in that assumption about II Augusta, it does turn up at other spots in the ND, and was therefore most likely part of Maximus' forces.

Or part of it. Because by this time, most likely all of the larger 'old style' legions had been split up into several parts. E.g. the old Leg. III Italia guarded the Danube in six different parts, and such part became independent units as the 4th century wore on.
Leg. II Augusta was ceratinly split up, because we see a Secundani iuniores still serving with the Comes Britanniarum, while another serves on the continent, while the Praefectus legionis secundae Augustae serves with the Comes litoris Saxonici per Britanniam.

Check my post on the Secunda forum :lol:
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