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Roman Legion

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The Roman legion was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizens serving as legionaries. In the late Republic and much of the imperial period a legion was organized into ten cohorts of six centuries each, with a full-strength legion numbering around 4,800 legionaries, though Julius Caesar's own legions during his campaign in Gaul often numbered only around 3,500 men. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Disputed
Founded Year
107 BCE 1
The Roman legion as a standing professional formation is usually dated to the Marian reforms of 107 BC; earlier Republican legions existed as citizen levies raised for individual campaigns rather than permanent units, so an earlier founding date is defensible depending on which institution is meant.
Force Type
Standing citizen-levy heavy infantry army organized in cohorts and centuries (legions) 1
Country
Roman Republic 1
Force Type
Force Type (category)
Army 1
Roman Legion
Filter Results1 entry
Connections

Associated With

Devised and directed personally by the dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus rather than by the legion as an institution; contemporary opposition to it is recorded in the dissent below.

Source Wikipedia: Fabian strategy
Source Wikipedia: Gladius
Hasta, Weapons Systems
Source Wikipedia: Hastati
Pilum, Weapons Systems

The Roman Legion is the standing force that fought under this tactical system.

Source Wikipedia: Roman legion
Roman Onager, Weapons Systems

The onager, a single armed torsion catapult, was a Roman Legion siege weapon from the late Roman period onward

Doctrines Developed

Source Wikipedia: Roman legion

Fought In

Boudican Revolt, Wars

Roman legions under Gaius Suetonius Paulinus crushed Boudica's revolt in Roman Britain around AD 60-61

Roman legions under Vespasian and Titus suppressed the Great Jewish Revolt (First Jewish-Roman War, AD 66-73), destroying the Second Temple

First Punic War, Wars

Roman legions, backed by Rome's newly built navy, fought the First Punic War against Carthage from 264 to 241 BC

Gallic Wars, Wars
Source Wikipedia: Roman legion
Jugurthine War, Wars

Roman legions under Metellus and later Marius fought Jugurtha of Numidia in the 112-106 BC Jugurthine War

Mithridatic Wars, Wars

Roman legions under Sulla, Lucullus and Pompey fought Mithridates VI of Pontus across the three Mithridatic Wars, 89-63 BC

Roman legions fought the Parthian Empire across centuries of intermittent war, including Crassus's disastrous defeat at Carrhae

Samnite Wars, Wars

Roman legions fought the Samnites across the three Samnite Wars between 343 and 290 BC, securing Rome's control of central Italy

Third Punic War, Wars

Roman legions besieged and destroyed Carthage in the 149-146 BC Third Punic War

Roman legions under Crassus and Pompey suppressed Spartacus's slave revolt in the 73-71 BC Third Servile War

Operates

Source Wikipedia: Gladius

Practices

Derived from entity-description (backfill w-bfill-g2-0924): "Julius Caesar's own legions in the Gallic Wars fought under the cohort system"

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Roman legion
Wikipedia
  • Opening paragraph and Size section
    The Roman legion was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizens serving as legionaries...Julius Caesar's legions during his campaign in Gaul often only had around 3,500 men.
  • Size section
  • Late Republic section
  • Fought In: Gallic Wars
  • Associated With: Roman Legion Tactics (Manipular and Cohort System)
  • Doctrines Developed: Roman Legion Tactics (Manipular and Cohort System), article text
    By the 3rd century BC, this system was seen to be inefficient. Under the new Polybian system the ranks were no longer structured by wealth, and instead by age and experience.
View the Source
Wikidata: Roman Legion
Wikidata Q163323, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
Wikipedia: Gladius
Wikipedia
  • Associated With: Gladius
  • Operates: Gladius, Infobox, used by field
    Infobox used by: Roman foot soldiers during the wars of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire
View the Source
Wikipedia: Fabian strategy
WikipediaAssociated With: Fabian StrategyView the Source
Wikipedia: Hastati
WikipediaAssociated With: Hasta, History and deployment, Camillan system
Quote, Associated With: Hasta, History and deployment, Camillan system
Hastati were armed with short spears, or hastae, up to 1.8 metres (6 ft) long, from which the soldiers acquired their name.
View the Source
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