Roman Legion - Legio XII Fulminata
Legio XII Fulminata The Twelfth Lightning Legion was a Roman legion formed by Julius Caesar during the Republic.
Date of creation: 58 BC Existed until the beginning of the fifth century.
Symbol: slash lightning sign. A lightning strike in ancient Rome was considered an auspicious sign from the gods. Such a legion cognomen most likely means one who is blessed by the gods.
Battle Path
- The Legion was created, along with the 11th Claudian Legion, by Caesar in 58 BC.
- Most likely in the beginning, when the legion was formed, its symbol was a bull, like all the legions formed under Caesar.
- The legion began its military career by participating in the Gallic War (58-50 BC) of Caesar.
- His first battle was the battle of the Sabis River (the modern Sambre River in France, part of this river flows through the territory of modern Belgium) in 57 BC.
- In 52 BC, the 12th Legion fought against the leader of the Gallic revolt, Vercingetorix, and took part in the sieges of Bourgas (present-day Burgos in Spain) and Alesia (present-day Alise-Saint-Rhin, France).
- Then, during the Civil War (49-45 BC) between Caesar and Pompey, the 12th Legion fought on Caesar's side and took part in the famous Battle of Pharsalus (modern Pharsalus, Greece) on August 9, 48 BC.
- For participating in this battle, the legion received the cognomen Victrix “Victorious."
- In 46 BC, Caesar disbanded the legion and settled its veterans in the city of Parma (now the city of the same name) in Italy.
- Once again, the legion was reconstituted by Marcus Lepidus, a member of the 2nd triumvirate that emerged after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC. Lepidus placed the reconstituted 12th Legion under the command of Mark Antony.
- In 43 BC, the 12th Legion participated in the Battle of Modena, Italy, on the side of Mark Antony.
- In the ensuing civil war (44-42 BC), after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, between his supporters and the assassins, the 12th Legion sided with Caesar's supporters. The Legion took part in the Battle of Philippi (now the ruins of an ancient Greek city on the Aegean coast, Greece) October 42 BC. After this battle, the 12th Legion was sent to suppress the rebellion in Perugia (a city in Italy) in 43 BC. After the end of the Civil War (44-42 BC) and the division of territories between Octavian Augustus and Mark Antony, together with the latter, the 12th Legion goes to the East, where it takes part in the unsuccessful for Rome, Parthian company (40-33 BC) of Mark Antony. At this time, the 12th Legion is referred to as the Antiqua ("old").
- In the civil war that soon began between Octavian Augustus and Mark Antony, the legion was on Antony's side and took part in the Battle of Cape Actium (modern Cape in the Ionian Sea, on the west coast of Greece) in 31 BC.Octavian, after winning the civil war with Antony, settled veterans of the 12th Legion in the city of Patras (now Patras, Greece). And the updated legion placed briefly, as a garrison, in Babylon of Egypt (now the city of Cairo, Egypt), and then transferred them to the Raphaenites (now the valley of Megiddo, Israel).
- At the time of the Emperor Augustus ' death in 14 AD, the 12th Legion was still stationed in Raphaenae and was already called Fulminata ("Armed with lightning"), for which the legion received such a nickname is unknown.
- From 1458 AD, the 12th Legion was garrisoned in Judea and was engaged in policing and suppressing Jewish uprisings in the province.
- In 58-59, the 12th Legion participated in the campaign of the general Corbulo to Armenia, during the Roman-Parthian war (58-63) over Armeni. In the beginning, the legion was “lucky” and together with the commander won, but then, when Corbulo was replaced by Kessenius Peta, the legion took part in the battle of Randea (today it is the village of the same name in Turkey) in 62.it surrendered to the Parthians. After that, the legion was again returned to Judea, where it took part in the First Jewish War (Revolt) that began in 66 (66-73).
- In 66 AD, the 12th Legion was sent to Jerusalem to help Hessius Florus, then procurator of Judea. Arriving at the scene and assessing the scale of the uprising and the superior numbers of the rebels over the legionaries, the legate Cestius Gallus, who was also the military ruler of Syria, decided to withdraw. The retreat ended with the terrible defeat of the 12th Legion. A rebel army under the command of Elizar ben Simon overtook the legion on the march - and defeated it, to top it all off, the legion lost its banners and eagle. But the new commander of the Roman forces in Judea, the future Emperor Vespasian, believed in the legionnaires of the defeated 12th Legion, who were not broken by the defeat, but forced to “shake up” and prove to everyone that they and their legion were still alive and combat-ready.
- During the remainder of the First Jewish War (Revolt) (66-73), the 12th Legion washed away the shame of defeat under the walls of Jerusalem in 66 and was forgiven.
- In 68, the Emperor Nero died, and the struggle for the imperial throne of Rome began. Vespasian also joined this struggle in 69. The 12th Legion supported him.
- In 70 AD, the 12th Legion took part in the siege and storming of Jerusalem, which ended in its fall and ruin.
- After that, the 12th Legion was transferred to the East, to protect the border along the Euphrates, to Cappadocia, to Melitene (modern Malatya, Turkey).
- In 75, the 12th Legion was sent to help the allied kingdoms of Iberia (an ancient state that existed on the territory of eastern Georgia) and Albania (an ancient state that existed in Eastern Transcaucasia and occupied the territories of modern Aizerbajan, Georgia and Dagestan) in the Caucasus.
- In the 1930s of the 20th century, an inscription on a rock was found in the mountains of Gobustan (Aizerbajan), indicating the presence of the 12th Legion and its soldiers in these places.
- Thus, it turns out that the 12th Legion is considered the farthest legion to go east of Rome.
- During the reign of Emperor Trajan (98-117), the 12th Legion took part in his Armenian campaign (114).
- During the reign of the Emperor Hadrian (117-138) in 134, the 12th Legion, as a deterrent measure to protect the security of the province
- Cappadocia, from the tribes of Alans that appeared on its borders, the 12th Legion marched along the borders of the province to scare off the Alans and show them the power of Roman weapons.
- During the reign of Emperor Lucius Verus (161-169), the 12th Legion took part in his campaign against the Parthians in 162-166.
- During the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180), the 12th Legion took part in his war against the Germanic Quadi tribe.
- The famous Roman historian Dion Cassius mentions one of the moments of the battle of the 12th Legion with the Quadi in his work “Roman History“: "in the hot summer of 172 or 174, the 12th Legion participated in the war of Marcus Aurelius against the Quadi, was surrounded in some place where there was no water and had no way to escape. However, either the prayers of Christians or the actions of the Egyptian magician Harnuf caused the rains, and the legion was saved”"
- In 175, the 12th Legion participated in the suppression of the rebellion of Gaius Avidius Cassius, for which it received the title Certa Constans ("unbreakably loyal") from the emperor.
- In the second century, in the year 193 ("year of the five Roman emperors"), the 12th Legion sided with the pretender to the Roman purple, Pescennius Niger, but was defeated in the battles of Cilicia at Cuzik (modern city of Cuzik, Turkey) and the Battle of Issa (modern city of Issa, Turkey) by the troops of another pretender to power, Septimius Severus.
- In the third century, the 12th Legion took part in the military campaigns of Emperor Caracalla (211-217) and Emperor Alexander Severus (22-235) against the Sassanids (the Sasanian state that emerged on the site of the Parthian Empire).
- In 261, the legion became part of the army of King Odenathus of Palmyra (260-267). Palmyra was a state dependent on Rome, which existed in 260-273 and included the territories of the Roman provinces of Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and most of Southern Armenia. The capital of the state was the city of Palmyra. Today, the ruins of the city are located on the territory of Syria.
- In 274, the Roman emperor Aurelian (270-275) conquered Palmyra and the 12th Legion was left in Melitene (an area in the northern part of historical Lesser Armenia, between the Antitaurus and Euphrates, in ancient times was known for its soil fertility and local olives and grapes).
- During the reign of the Emperor Diocletian (284-305), the 12th Legion participated in his campaign in Mesopotamia.
- The last records of the legion date back to the fifth century. The 12th Legion may have existed until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476.
The ring of an officer of the 12th Legion. Private collection. 1st century AD
The ring of an officer of the 12th Legion. Private collection. 1st century AD
Records of the presence of the 12th Lightning Legion in Gobustan (Ayserbajan Nature Reserve). 1st century ADRelated topics
Literature
- Dandelot Collins " The Roman Legions. The Complete History of the Roman Legions”"
- R. Kanya " Legion”
- A brief description of the history of various legions on the XLegio portal.
- Roman Glory Ancient military art.
