Roman Legion - Legio XVII

Багерман А.Я.

Legio XVII (Seventeenth Legion) was a Roman legion presumably formed by Octavian Augustus in 41 or 40 BCE to fight against Sextus Pompey, the son of Pompey the Great, who had seized the island of Sicily and threatened the grain supply routes to Rome, thereby challenging Octavian's authority.

Dates of existence: Approximately 41/40 BCE - 9 CE.

Legion Symbol: Unknown.

Titles: Unknown.

Battle Path

The exact date of the legion's creation is challenging to establish because there were legions with the number 17 in both Caesar’s and Pompey's armies before 41 BCE. However, it is believed that Caesar's 17th Legion perished in Africa, while Pompey's was disbanded after his defeat.

Most likely, Legio XVII was created by Caesar's successor, Octavian Augustus, in 41 or 40 BCE to fight against Sextus Pompey, who had seized Sicily and threatened the grain supply routes to Rome, thereby challenging Octavian's authority. The newly formed Legio XVII included veterans from the armies of Cassius and Brutus and new recruits from Northern Italy.

A hypothesis based on an inscription “IIVX” found in the city of Ehl, Alsace (modern-day France) suggests that the legion might have been stationed in Aquitaine for 15 years after the Battle of Actium (August 31 BCE). Later, it might have been transferred to the Middle Rhine, and shortly thereafter, along with Legio XVI Gallica and Legio XVIII, it was moved to the Lower Rhine. Aquitaine was a Roman province from 22 BCE until the early 5th century CE, named after the Aquitani tribe, ancestors of modern Basques. Today, it is a region in France.

Legio XVII may have participated in the campaigns of Drusus (conducted a series of expeditions into Germany in 13-10 BCE) and Tiberius (commanded in Germany from 12 to 7 BCE, conquering the new province of Pannonia) into Germany. During those years, it likely stationed in Castra Vetera (modern-day Xanten, Germany). Another possible base for Legio XVII could have been Oberaden or Haltern (modern-day Haltern am See, Germany).

The legion’s winter base is also thought to have been the Altar of the Ubii (now the city of Cologne, Germany). Pannonia was a Roman province in Central Europe from the early 1st century CE until 482 CE, located in what is now Hungary, eastern Austria, southwestern Slovakia, northern Slovenia, northern Croatia, northeastern Serbia, and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 6 CE, Legio XVII, as part of a large army of 13 legions, participated in Tiberius' military campaign against the Marcomannic king Maroboduus. However, the campaign was interrupted by the Great Illyrian Revolt. The Great Illyrian Revolt was an uprising of Illyrian and Pannonian tribes against Roman rule, lasting from 6 to 9 CE. Afterward, Emperor Augustus shifted from expanding new territories to defending them.

In 9 CE, Legio XVII, along with Legio XVIII and Legio XIX, took part in the ill-fated military expedition of the governor of Germania, Publius Quinctilius Varus, which ended with the destruction of all three legions and the governor himself at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. In memory of the legions' fate, their numbers were never reassigned to other legions of the Roman Empire. The lost eagle of Legio XVII was recovered by the Romans either during Germanicus' campaigns across the Rhine (15-16 CE) or during General Gabinius Secundus’ campaign against the Chauci in 42 CE.

Roman Legion - Legio XVII

Battle Path

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