LEGIO xx VALERIA VICTRIX A PROSOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL STUDY Stephen James Malone, BSc. Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2005 Volume 2 111.1 The Early History of Legio XX (31 BC-AD 43) The legions of Republican times were on the whole short-lived, raised for specific campaigns and disbanded wholesale when no longer required. Legions were numbered according to the order of their creation in any given year and, even if held over into a second season of campaigning, might be subject to 1 reordering and renumbering whilst in winter quarters • There was thus little continuity from campaign to campaign, and legions with the same number existed at different times without necessarily being connected. The vast increase in the number of men under arms during the civil wars of 49-31 BC means that there was certainly a Twentieth Legion in existence in this period - at times probably more than one, fighting on opposing sides - and although it was out of the legions of these wars that Octavian fashioned his standing army, questions of continuity and identity still remain over the origins of the legion that was to become legioXX Valeria Vietra. Republican formations At the height of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) the forces of Rome had exceeded 20 legions, but it was not until the first century BC that they regularly surpassed that numbe~. Whether numeration was always continuous, or whether duplications were allowed between the forces of different commanders in different theatres of war, is uncertain. As Brunt points oue, there were certainly more than 10 legions already in existence when Caesar formed his legions XI-XV in the 50s BC, so that even when twenty or more legions were in the field, there need not have been a /egio XX. 4 However, numbers as high as XVIII are recorded as early as 56-54 BC , and the dispositions of 53 BC, with Pompey's six legions in Spain, Julius Caesar campaigning in Gaul with ten and Crassus engaging the Parthians (albeit unsuccessfully) with eight, might allow the existence of a /egio XX, perhaps in the east, at this times. However, even had a legion with that number existed at this date, it 1 Parker 1928,42-3; Keppie 1984, 55-6. 2 Brunt 1971,418 table X; 449 and table XIV. 3 Brunt 1971,448. 4lLLRP 502 from Athens, a centurion serving under P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinter in Cilicia. S The lower numbered legions appear mostly to be found in the west and an intentional west-east numeration is sometimes adduced: Keppie 1984,78 quoting Domaszewski 1894, 158. 317 would probably have been among the forces defeated at Carrhae and, if not destroyed, would in all likelihood have been disbanded soon after. In 49 BC when Caesar invaded Italy, he rapidly built up his forces to something over 30 legions, 6 numbered in unbroken sequence from I to about xxxm • This Caesarian legio XX presumably remained in existence up to the battle of Philippi (42 BC) and the defeat of Brutus and Cassius by the forces of Antony and Octavian. After this battle the majority of the legions which had been in service under Caesar were dissolved and in the following years Octavian appears to have begun the formation of a new numerical sequence which would ultimately form the basis of his Imperial Army'. This sequence in all probability encompassed a /egio XX, although this need not have contained any part of 8 Caesar's original. Certainly by 31 BC, Octavian's forces approached 28 legions • Antony faced him at Actium with nineteen, four others remaining in Cyrenaica. All twenty-three are recorded on his 9 legionary coin issue , so we can be no more certain of the whereabouts of Antony's Twentieth Legion than we can of Octavian' s, but it is possible that a /egio XX was present at Actium on one side if not both. Veterans of a legio XX Siciliano settled at Beneventum in southern Italy to perhaps provide confirmation of the early existence of the legion. This unit might be an entirely separate entity raised in Sicily at some point during the civil warsll but it is perhaps more likely that the epithet reflects service in Sicily, 6 Brunt 1971,474-475; Keppie 1983,23; 1984, 199-200. , Keppie 1983,26 after Schmitthenner 1958 and see further below. 8 Brunt 1971, 501: 16 at Actium, perhaps 12 more in Gaul, Spain, Illyricum, Italy and Cyrenaica. 9 Grueber 1910 vol. II, 526-30. Coins of legio XX: 529 no. 215. The numbers in fact go higher than 23, but some may not be genuine. to C. Marius, AE 1988.396 = 7.59; perhaps also A. Silanus, CIL IX 1625. Veterans of legions VI and X¥Xwere settled here in 41 BC (Keppie 1983, 155), but we have nothing to clearly date settlement of veterans of the Twentieth (Keppie 2000a, 250-1 suggests a number of possible contexts from 41 through to 14 BC). The nomenclature ofT. Flavius Titullus, IX 1608 = 7.33, also at Beneventum, might suggest a later period in his case at least, but Keppie 1983, 160 and n. 459 suggests an early date might be allowed. 11 cf II Sabina (X 4876) from the Sabine country; IIlI Sorana (X 5713), formed at the town of Sora in Latium: Keppie 1984,203. A. Silanus (above, n. 10) was signifer in a legion whose name is not 318 I2 probably during the campaign ofOctavian against Sextus Pompeius in 36 BC • Legionary titles recorded in this period were not always official and might only reflect the whim of the individual who set up the inscription and wished to commemorate a particular campaign or battle13. This action is also l4 commemorated in the title of legio X Fretensis, named after the Fretum Sicilum, the Straits of Messina , for service perhaps in the sea battles that were the key to the campaign. An earlier attempt in 38 BC with legions drawn from Gaul and Illyricum had failed because Octavian had been unable to force the crossing. In 36 BC a three-pronged assault was launched and although Sextus continued to have the better of naval engagements, once the legions had a foothold he was unable to hold out. In addition to its nautical emblems, X Fretensis shares the Boar symbol of the Twentieth, but the significance of this, if ls any, is not clear • The career of C. Baebius (3.3) also attests to the existence of a legio XX in the years before Actium, for he had been tribune of that legion before his appointment as praefectus orae maritimae in 31 BC, charged l6 with authority over the coast of Hispania Citerior • It cannot, however, be taken as proof of the legion's presence in Spain prior to 31 BC 17 for there is no reason to suppose that the posts were held simultaneously rather than in succession. A tribune who had served in the province might perhaps be ls seen as better qualified for this prefecture, but it is not a necessary conclusion . After Actium there were again large numbers of men to be discharged. Octavian appears to have kept 26- l9 28 legions under arms, for /egio XXII was in existence by 25 BC, if not earlier , and together with the 6 of Antony's legions that kept their identities and were incorporated into Octavian's army we reach the evident on his epitaph. If the designation SICIL thereon were read as his origo, it might support this interpretation. 12 cf the Imperial legions Gallica, Germanica, Hispana, Macedonica, Scythica etc.: Ritterling 1925, 1386; Keppie 1984, 142-3. 13 Keppie 1983,29; cf VIII Mutinensis named from the battle ofMutina. See also Appendix 1 below. 14 Ritterling 1925,167I;D~browa 1993,11. IS Ritterling 1925, 1671; Barag 1967,245-7; see Appendix 2 below. 16 XI 623: ... TR MIL LEG XXX •.. is also possible, but the Caesarian /egio XXX had been disbanded in 41 BC and it does not seem that Octavian's forces reached such a number: Keppie 1983,26-28. 17 contra Ritterling 1925, 1769; Bollini 1975, 339-46. 18 Le Roux 1984, 59 n. 197, but preferring the reading LEG XXX. 19 Ritterling 1925,1791; Parker 1928, 89. Perhaps formed in 3IBC: Keppie 1983,28. 319 20 total of28 known to exist in AD 9 • A sequence of legions numbered from I-XXII with duplicates from among Antony's legions21 can be envisaged. Some continuity can perhaps be allowed. Wholesale restructuring would have allowed the creation of an orderly numerical sequence at this stage. The survival of duplicated numbering must indicate that some legions on both sides retained their identities. This indeed is the root of the suggestion that Octavian's new sequence may have been begun as early as 41 BC, for if an orderly sequence were to be created in 31 BC, then the Antonian legions need only have been slotted into their place, and if there were no continuity of Octavian's legions, there would be no reason to retain a duplicated number. Although the evidence is scant, it is possible therefore to suggest that a Twentieth Legion formed sometime before 36 BC, and seeing service in Sicily and perhaps at Actium, was retained as part ofOctavian's army after 31 BC to become the legio XX ofthe principate. A number of veterans of the Twentieth Legion are attested in Italy in the latter years of the first century 22 BC • Most probably belong to the Augustan legio xx, though the dating is rarely precise, and some may nevertheless have served with earlier civil-war units.