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Legio VII Gemina (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "The Twins' Seventh Legion") was a
legion
Legion may refer to:
Military
* Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army
* Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army
* Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...
of the
Imperial Roman army
The Imperial Roman army was the military land force of the Roman Empire from about 30 BC to 476 AD, and the final incarnation in the long history of the Roman army. This period is sometimes split into the Principate (30 BC – 284 AD) and the Do ...
. It was raised in AD 68 in
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...
by the general
Galba
Galba (; born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January AD 69) was the sixth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 68 to 69. After his adoption by his stepmother, and before becoming emperor, he was known as Livius Ocella Sulpicius Ga ...
to take part in his rebellion against the emperor
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
. "Gemina" means the legion was dedicated to the legendary twin founders of Rome,
Romulus
Romulus () was the legendary foundation of Rome, founder and King of Rome, first king of Ancient Rome, Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus ...
and
Remus, who were suckled by a
she-wolf. The legion was deployed in the city called ''Legio'' (modern-day
León, Spain
León (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the province of León, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León, in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. It has a population of 124,303 (2019), ...
) in AD 74 and remained in Hispania to the end of the 4th century.
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his t ...
calls the legion "Galbiana", to distinguish it from the senior
Legio VII ''Claudia'', but this appellation is not found on any inscriptions. It appears to have received the appellation of "Gemina" on account of its amalgamation by
Vespasian
Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...
with one of the German legions, not improbably the
Legio I ''Germanica''.
Between 86 and 89 the Legion was commanded by the future emperor and native of the region
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
.
After serving in
Pannonia
Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...
and in the civil wars, it was settled by Vespasian in Hispania Tarraconensis, to supply the place of the
Legio VI ''Victrix'' and
Legio X ''Gemina'', two of the three legions ordinarily stationed in the province, but which had been withdrawn to
Germania
Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...
. The
Antonine Itinerary,
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
, the
Notitia Imperii, as well as a few inscriptions all state that its regular winter quarters, under later emperors, were at Leon, but there are numerous inscriptions to prove that a strong detachment of it was stationed at Tarraco (modern
Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...
), the chief city of the province. The following are a selection, in order of time:
:In the inscriptions the legion has the surnames of "
P. F. ANTONINIANA", "
P. F. ALEXANDRIANA", and "
P. F. SEVERIANA ALEXANDRIANA"; and its name occurs in a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
inscription as , while another mentions a . There is an inscription in which is found a "Tribunus Militum
LEG. VII. GEMINAE FELICIS IN GERMANIA", from a comparison of which with two inscriptions found in Germany, it has been inferred that the legion was employed on an expedition into Germany under
Alexander Severus
Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...
, and that this circumstance gave rise to the erroneous designation of in the text of Ptolemy.
[Booking, ''N. D.'' pt. ii. pp. 1026, ''seq.''; Marquardt's ''Becker, Röm. Alterthum'', vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 354; ]Grotefend
Georg Friedrich Grotefend (9 June 1775 – 15 December 1853) was a German epigraphist and philologist. He is known mostly for his contributions toward the decipherment of cuneiform.
Georg Friedrich Grotefend had a son, named Carl Ludwig Gro ...
, in Pauly's Realencyklopädie, ''s. v.'' Legio.
The legion had units stationed at their extended fortified camps:
*
Tarraco
Tarraco is the ancient name of the current city of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). It was the oldest Roman settlement on the Iberian Peninsula. It became the capital of the Roman province of Hispania Citerior during the period of the Roman Republi ...
, modern day
Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...
, under the direct command of the governor of the
Tarraconensis
Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia was the ...
province.
*
Emerita Augusta
Emerita may refer to:
* ''Emerita'' (crustacean), a genus of crustaceans
* Emerita Augusta, an ancient city of Spain
* Saint Emerita, 3rd-century martyr; see Digna and Emerita
* Emerita, the feminine form of the adjective "emeritus
''Emeritus' ...
, today
Mérida, under the direct orders of the governor of the Lusitanian province.
*
Asturica Augusta
Astorga () is a municipality and city of Spain located in the central area of the province of León, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León, southwest of the provincial capital. It is located in the transit between the Páramo Leoné ...
, today
Astorga, near the gold mines to supervise and escort its imperial trains.
*Somewhere unknown in the north of Portugal near their gold mines.
*''Tritium Magallum'' (Tricio in
Rioja).
*''Lucus Augusti'' (
Lugo
Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...
).
*''Segisama'' (Sasamon
Burgos
Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos.
Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...
) to control the main Roman
''Via'' of access to
Aquitania.
Also under the legion were five auxiliary units, a cavalry wing, two cohorts of ''equitatae'' and two of ''peditatae:''
*II Wing, Flavia Hispanorum civium romanorum, cantoned in ''Petavonium'' (near
Zamora).
*Cohors I ''Celtiberorum'' Equitata civium romanorum, cantoned within ''Municipium Flaviae Brigantia'' (near
A Coruña
A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...
).
*Cohors I ''Galica'' Equitata civium romanorum, cantoned at ''Pisoraca'', (Herrera de Pisuerga,
Palencia
Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia.
Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...
).
*Cohors II ''Galica'', cantoned in the unknown locality of "ad cohortem Galicam" (suspected to be in Portugal).
*Cohors III Lucensium, cantoned near ''Lucus Augustium'' (
Lugo
Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...
).
During the majority of its existence, the number of effectives under the military commander of the VII were usually around the 7,712 between auxiliaries and regulars, not counting local levies and other reinforcements sent from Rome for temporary services.
The station of this legion in the
Gallaecia
Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal, Asturias and León (province), Leon and the lat ...
Roman province grew into an important city,
León, that after the invasions of 409 AD in Iberia became part of the
Suevic Kingdom, which resisted the attacks of the
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
until 586, when it was taken by
Leovigild
Liuvigild, Leuvigild, Leovigild, or ''Leovigildo'' (Spanish and Portuguese), ( 519 – 586) was a Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania from 568 to 586. Known for his Codex Revisus or Code of Leovigild, a law allowing equal rights between th ...
. It was one of the few cities which the Visigoths allowed to retain their fortifications.
The
Roman bridge
The ancient Romans were the first civilization to build large, permanent bridges. Early Roman bridges used techniques introduced by Etruscan immigrants, but the Romans improved those skills, developing and enhancing methods such as arches and ...
over the
Tâmega River in
Chaves,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, then
Aquae Flaviae, was built by the stationed legionnaires of the Legio VII ''Gemina'' at the time of
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
.
Known members of the legion
See also
*
List of Roman legions
References
*
External links
livius.org account{{Roman Legion}
07 Gemina
68 establishments
07 Gemina
Military units and formations established in the 1st century
60s establishments in the Roman Empire
60s establishments