Roman Legion - Legio XVII

Багерман А.Я.

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Legio XVII The Seventeenth Legion was a Roman legion supposedly formed by Octavian Augustus in 41 or 40 BC to fight Pompey the Great's son, Sextus Pompey, who had taken over the island of Sicily and from there threatened the grain supply lines to Rome, and hence Octavian's power.

Dates of existence: presumably 41/40 BC - 9 AD.

Legion Symbol: unknown.

Legion of Honor nicknames: is unknown.

Battle Path

The exact date of creation of this legion is difficult to establish, since before 41 BC in the army of Caesar and Pompey 's legions were numbered 17. But it is believed that Caesar's 17th Legion died in Africa, and Pompey's was disbanded after his defeat.

Most likely Legio XVII was created by Caesar's successor, Octavian Augustus in 41 or 40 BC to fight Pompey the Great's son, Sextus Pompey, who had taken over the island of Sicily and from there threatened the grain supply lines to Rome, and hence Octavian's power. The newly created Legio XVII includes veterans of the troops of Cassius and Brutus and recruits from Northern Italy.

According to the inscription “IIVX " found in the city of Ele in Alsace (modern France), it is suggested that this legion could have stood 15 years after the Battle of Actium (August 31 BC) in Aquitaine, and later could have been transferred to the Middle Rhine, and from there after a short time it was together with the rest of the army. Legio XVI Gallica and Legio XVIII were transferred to the Lower Rhine. Aquitaine was a Roman province from 22 BC to the beginning of the 5th century AD. The name comes from the Aquitaine tribe — one of the ancestors of the modern Basques. Today it is the territory of France.

Legio XVII could take part in the campaigns of Drusus (he made a series of raids in Germany in 13-10 BC) and Tiberius (from 12 to 7 BC he commanded in Germany, conquering a new province under the rule of Rome-Pannonia) in Germany. In those years, he was probably stationed in Kastre Wetere (modern Xanten, Germany). Also, another Legio XVII base could serve as Oberaden or Haltern (modern city of Haltern am See, Germany).

Altare Ubiev (now Cologne, Germany) is also considered the winter base of Legio XVII. Pannonia was a Roman province in the early 1st century AD (99/10 AD to 482 AD), located in central Europe in what is now Hungary, eastern Austria, southwestern Slovakia, northern Slovenia, northern Croatia, northeastern Serbia, and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 6 AD, Legio XVII, as part of a large army of 13 legions, took part in the military campaign of Tiberius against the Marcomanni king Marobod, but the company was prevented by the great Illyrian uprising. The Great Illyrian Revolt is an uprising of Illyrian and Pannonian tribes against the rule of the Roman Empire. It lasted from 6 to 9 AD. After it, the Emperor Augustus moved from conquering new territories to defending them.

In 9 AD, Legio XVII, along with Legio XVIII and Legio XIX , took part in the unsuccessful military campaign of the German governor Publius Quintilius Varus, which ended with the death of all three legions and the governor in the Battle of Teutoburg. In memory of the legions ' fate, their numbers were no longer assigned to other legions The Roman Empire. Lost in the Battle of Teutoburg, the eagle Legio XVII was recovered by the Romans either during Germanicus ' campaign across the Rhine (15-16), or during the campaign against the Hawks of the general Gabinius Secundus in 42.

Roman Legion - Legio XVII

Battle Path

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