XII Fulminata

Legio XII Fulminata ("Thunderbolt Twelfth Legion"), also known as ''Paterna'', ''Victrix'', ''Antiqua'', ''Certa Constans'', and ''Galliena'', was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was originally levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC, and the legion accompanied him during the Gallic Wars until 49 BC. The unit was still guarding the Euphrates River crossing near Melitene at the beginning of the 5th century.

The legion's emblem was a thunderbolt (on a shield '' fulmen''). In later centuries it came to be called commonly, but incorrectly, the ''Legio Fulminatrix'', the Thundering Legion.

History

Under the Republic

The Twelfth legion, as it is perhaps better known, fought in the Battle against the Nervians, and probably also in the Siege of Alesia. The Twelfth fought at the Battle of Pharsalus (48 BC), when Caesar defeated Pompey. After Caesar won the civil war, the legion was named ''Victrix'', and enlisted in 43 BC by Lepidus and Mark Anthony. Mark Anthony led the Twelfth, renamed ''XII Antiqua'' during his campaign against the Parthian Empire.

During the latest part of Augustus' principality, XII ''Fulminata'' served in Syria, camping at Raphana.

Under the Empire

Against the Parthians

From his eastern Parthian Empire in present-day Iran and Iraq, King Vologeses I in 58 AD invaded Armenia, a client kingdom of Rome. Emperor Nero ordered Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, the new Legate of Cappadocia, to manage the matter. Corbulo ordered Legion IV ''Scythica'' from Moesia, and along with the III ''Gallica'' and VI ''Ferrata'' defeated the Parthians, restoring Tigranes VI to the Armenian throne. In 62 AD, the XII ''Fulminata'' joined the IV ''Scythica'', now commanded by the new Legate of Cappadocia, Lucius Caesennius Paetus. Both legions were defeated by the Parthians and Armenians at the battle of Rhandeia; after surrendering, the legions were shamed and removed from this theater of war.

First Jewish–Roman War

In 66, after a Zealot revolt had destroyed the Roman garrison in Jerusalem, the XII ''Fulminata'', with ''vexillationes'' of IV ''Scythica'' and VI ''Ferrata'', were sent to restore Roman authority. However, after a defeat where the legion lost its '' aquila'', Gaius Cestius Gallus, legate of Syria, ordered the survivors to return to Syria. On its way back, XII ''Fulminata'' was ambushed and defeated by Eleazar ben Simon in the Battle of Beth Horon. However, XII ''Fulminata'' fought well in the last part of the war, and supported its commander T. Flavius Vespasian in his successful bid for the imperial throne. At the end of the war, XII ''Fulminata'' and XVI ''Flavia Firma'' were sent to guard the Euphrates border, camping at Melitene.

Defending the Eastern frontier

In 75 AD, the XII ''Fulminata'' was in the Caucasus, where Emperor Vespasian had sent the legion to support the allied kingdoms of Iberia and Albania. An inscription presumably from this period has been found in modern-day Azerbaijan which reads:

Some historians argue that the settlement of Ramana near Baku was possibly founded by the Roman troops of Lucius Julius Maximus from Legio XII Fulminata in circa 84-96 AD and derives its name from the Latin ''Romana''. Facts that strengthen this hypothesis include: a military-topographical map of the Caucasus published in 1903 by Russian administrators, which refers to the town as "Romana"; various Roman artifacts found in Absheron region; and records that old(er) inhabitants referred to their town as ''Romani''.

The legion was probably in Armenia during Trajan's campaign of 114 AD, that ended with the annexation of the Kingdom of Armenia.

In 134, the threat of the Alans was subdued by the governor of Cappadocia, Arrian, who defeated the invaders with the aid of XII ''Fulminata'' and XV ''Apollinaris''.

The Twelfth probably fought in the Parthian campaign of Emperor Lucius Verus, in 162–166, if a mixed unit of XII and XV controlled for some time the newly conquered Armenian capital Artaxata. Emperor Marcus Aurelius commanded the XII ''Fulminata'' in his campaign against the Quadi, a people inhabiting an area in modern-day Slovakia, and an episode of a miraculous rain and lightning saving a Twelfth subunit from defeat is reported by the sources. At this time, most of the Twelfth was composed chiefly of Christians. There was a belief that this had led to the emperor issuing a decree forbidding the persecution of the Christians, but this seems to have been based on a forgery.

In 175, the legion was in Melitene, when Avidius Cassius revolted; the Twelfth, having been loyal to the Emperor, obtained the cognomen ''Certa Constans'', "surely constant".

After the death of Emperor Pertinax, 193, XII ''Fulminata'' supported the governor of Syria, Pescennius Niger, who was in the end defeated by Emperor Septimius Severus. When the Eastern frontier of the Empire was moved from the Euphrates to the Tigris, the Twelfth stayed in the reserve, possibly as a punishment for its support of Severus' rival.

The region around Melitene was one of the first in which Christian faith spread. Polyeuctes is a martyr under Valerian who was a soldier of the Twelfth.

The Sassanid Empire was a major threat to the Roman power in the East. King Shapur I conquered the base of the XV ''Apollinaris'', Satala (256), and sacked Trapezus (258). Emperor Valerian moved against Shapur, but was defeated and captured. The defeat caused the partial collapse of the Empire, with the secessionistic Gallic Empire in the West and Palmyrene Empire in the East. It is known that the XII ''Fulminata'' was under the command of Odaenathus, ruler of the Palmyrene Empire, but also that Emperor Gallienus awarded the legion with the cognomen ''Galliena''.

After these episodes, the records of the ''Fulminata'' are scarce. The Palmyrene Empire was reconquered by Aurelian; Emperor Diocletian defeated the Sassanids and moved the frontier to Northern Mesopotamia. The Twelfth, which probably took part to these campaigns, is recorded guarding the frontier of the Euphrates in Melitene, at the beginning of the 5th century ('' Notitia Dignitatum'').

Attested members

In popular culture

In Rick Riordan's book ''The Son of Neptune'', the Twelfth Legion went to America after the fall of Rome, following the Roman gods, and set up Camp Jupiter in California as a base for Roman demigods.

In Mikhail Bulgakov's book ''The Master and Margarita'', Pontius Pilate mentions the Legion during his meeting with Caiaphas. He threatens using the Legion in bloody pacification of possible future Jewish rebellion, along with auxiliary Arab cavalry.

The fiction book ''Rome: The Eagle of the Twelfth'' by M.C. Scott is based on the legion during the Jewish rebellion.

See also

* Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, a group of Roman soldiers from the Legio XII ''Fulminata'', whom Basil of Caesarea portrayed as Christian martyrs .''Homilies'' xix in Patrologia Graeca, XXXI, 507 sqq.
* List of Roman legions

Notes

References

livius.org account

External links

LEGIO XII FVLMINATA
Italian re-enactment group

Legio XII Fulminata Cohors I
French re-enactment group


Online copy of (an English translation of) Church History by Eusebius of Caesarea, where Eusebius describes the legion's miracle of rain event.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legio Xii Fulminata
12 Fulminata
50s BC establishments
58 BC
Military units and formations established in the 1st century BC
First Jewish–Roman War