Legio VI Herculia

Legio VI ''Herculia'' was a Roman legion levied by Diocletian in the end of the 3rd century, and was still in service at the beginning of the 5th century. The cognomen of the legion refers to Hercules, to whom Diocletian's colleague, Maximian (also known as ''Herculius'', "the man like Hercules"), was devoted and identified.

In the tetrarchs provincial reforms, the province of Pannonia Inferior was divided into two, the northern part became Pannonia Valeria and the southern part became Pannonia Secunda. However the two legions of the province were stationed in the north at Brigetio and Aquincum leaving the southern province without any legions stationed there. The tetrarchs levied two more legions, Legio VI Herculia and Legio V Iovia. The VI ''Herculia'' had her permanent camp in '' Teutoburgium'' (near modern Vukovar) and an advanced '' castellum'' in ''Onagrinum''. They also protected the imperial residence of Diocletian in ''Sirmium'' which was also the provincial capital of the province and the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum.

The '' Notitia Dignitatum'' locates the legion still in Illyricum at the beginning of the 5th century.

It is possible that some men from this legion and from the V ''Iovia'' formed the Herculians and Jovians, the new imperial bodyguard of Diocletian. If this identification is correct, VI ''Herculia'' men had the appellative ''Martiobarbuli'', since they were expert in throwing small darts, ''martiobarbuli'', carried by five in the inside of their shields.Vegetius, '' De Re Militari'', book i.

See also

* List of Roman legions

References

Notes

{{Roman Legion}

06 Herculia
Military units and formations established in the 3rd century