CAESAR’S LEGION : THE EPIC SAGA OF JULIUS CAESAR’S ELITE TENTH LEGION AND THE ARMIES OF ROME STEPHEN DANDO-COLLINS John Wiley & Sons, Inc. flast.qxd 12/5/01 4:49 PM Page xiv ffirs.qxd 12/5/01 4:47 PM Page i CAESAR’S LEGION : THE EPIC SAGA OF JULIUS CAESAR’S ELITE TENTH LEGION AND THE ARMIES OF ROME STEPHEN DANDO-COLLINS John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 2002 by Stephen Dando-Collins. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authoriza- tion through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, email: [email protected]. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. This title is also available in print as ISBN 0-471-09570-2. Some content that appears in the print version of this book may not be available in this electronic edition. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.Wiley.com ftoc.qxd 12/5/01 4:48 PM Page iii CONTENTS : Atlas v Acknowledgments xiii Author’s Note xv i Staring Defeat in the Face 1 ii Impatient for Glory 6 iii Savaging the Swiss, Overrunning the Germans 13 iv Conquering Gaul 24 v Invading Britain 30 vi Revolt and Revenge 50 vii Enemy of the State 65 viii Broken Promises 76 ix The Race for Durrës 90 x A Taste of Defeat 98 xi The Battle of Pharsalus 113 xii The Sour Taste of Victory 130 xiii The Murder of Pompey the Great 138 xiv The Power of a Single Word 144 xv The North African Campaign 149 xvi Caesar’s Last Battle 165 xvii Mark Antony’s Men 179 xviii Philippi and Actium 183 xix In the Name of the Emperor 195 xx Knocked into Shape by Corbulo 205 xxi Orders from the Emperor 217 xxii Objective Jerusalem 224 iii ftoc.qxd 12/5/01 4:48 PM Page iv iv contents xxiii The End of the Holy City 238 xxiv Masada 258 xxv Last Days 265 appendix a The Legions of Rome, 30 b.c.–a.d. 233 269 appendix b The Reenlistment Factor 273 appendix c The Uniqueness of the Legion Commands 277 in Egypt and Judea appendix d The Naming and Numbering System of the 281 Roman Legions appendix e The Title “Fretensis” 285 appendix f Imperial Roman Military Ranks and Their 287 Modern-Day Equivalents appendix g Sources 291 Glossary 303 Index 309 flast.qxd 12/5/01 4:49 PM Page v ATLAS : 1. “The West,” First Century b.c. 2. Britain and Gaul, 58–50 b.c. 3. “The East,” First Century b.c. 4. Spain, First Century b.c. 5. Southern Italy, the Balkans, Greece, and Asia, First Century b.c. 6. The Middle East, First Century a.d. v flast.qxd 12/5/01 4:49 PM Page vi N NORTH SEA BRITAIN GERMANY Boulogne Rhine R ENGLISH CHANNEL . GAUL MACEDONIA BAY OF BISCAY CISALPINE GAUL THESSALY TRANSALPINE Ravenna ILLYRICUM GAUL Piacenza Rubicon R. ADRIATIC SEA THRACE Duro R. Narbonne Marseilles Rimini NEARER Lérida Corfinium Durrës Rome ✰ SPAIN Tarragona Capua Tagus R. TYRRHENIAN Apollonia ITALY Brindisi Farsala FARTHER SARDINIA SEA Corfu SPAIN Vibo LUSITANIA Balearic Actium Seville Córdoba Isles MarsalaMessina Athens Utique Reggio Cádiz Munda IONIAN ACHAEA El Rocadillo SICILY SEA Bône Guadalquivir R. Sousse Constantine Ruspina EPIRUS CRETE Thapsus NUMIDIA MAURETANIA Bagradas R. Civil War battle or siege AFRICA Civil War raid “The West,” First Century B.C. ©2001 by D. L. McElhannon CYRENAICA flast.qxd 12/5/01 4:49 PM Page vii Southern Britain Colchester N CATUVELLAUNI NORTH mes SEA a R Th . North Foreland Medway R. South KENT Stour R. Foreland CANTIACI Isle of Wight Boulogne BRITAIN Area of Inset NORTH SEA Colchester USIPETES Rhine R Dover . Strait TENCTHERI Isle of Wight NERVII EBURONES ENGLISH CHANNEL Boulogne Tongres SUEBI SeineATREBATES R. SENONES Sambre R. Trier Paris Moselle R. TREVERI VENETI CARNUTES Sens Orléans Alesia GAUL Dijon Bourges Bibracte BAY OF Besançon BISCAY BITURIGES HELVETII Saône R. Geneva Gergovia Vienne AVERNI Uxellodunum Var R. Rhóne R. Pyrenees Mountains Marseilles Narbonne MEDITERRANEAN SEA NEARER SPAIN Britain and Gaul, 58–50 B.C. ©2001 by D. L. McElhannon flast.qxd 12/5/014:49PMPageviii TRANSALPINE CISALPINE GAUL GAUL ILLYRICUM Ravenna ADRIATIC SEA N Rimini BLACK SEA ITALY MACEDONIA THRACE Rome ✰ Corfinium Durrës Philippi PONTUS TYRRHENIAN Brindisi Apollonia SEA Larisa Zela Buthroton BITHYNIA Vibo Corfu Farsala Messina CAPPADOCIA Marsala Actium LESBOS ASIA COMMAGENE SICILY Reggio Utique AEGEAN s R. CILICIA da Carthage SEA gra Antioch Ba Sousse COS Ruspina IONIAN RHODES SYRIA NUMIDIA SEA Thapsus CRETE CYPRUS MEDITERRANEAN AFRICA SEA JUDEA Nile Site of battle or siege Alexandria Delta Jerusalem Site of raid CYRENAICA Pelusium B.C. EGYPT “The East,” First Century ©2001 by D. L. McElhannon flast.qxd 12/5/014:49PMPageix CANTABRIAN MTS PYRENEES MTS Ebro River Segre R. Rive o r ur Cinca R. Lérida D NEARER SPAIN Tarragona N Rive Tagus r LUSITANIA FARTHER SPAIN River r dalquivi ua Córdoba G Seville Munda Spain, First Cádiz Century B.C. El Rocadillo Civil War battle or siege ©2001 by D. L. McElhannon flast.qxd 12/5/01 4:49 PM Page x Trieste Southern Italy, the Balkans, ILLYRICUM Greece, and Asia, First Century B.C. Site of battle or siege N Site of raid ADRIATIC SEA Site of amphibious landing ITALY THRACE Durrës MACEDONIA Philippi Brindisi Kavalla Apollonia TYRRHENIANPUGLIA Thessalonika Oricum Véroia BITHYNIA SEA Buthrotum EPIRUS Larisa CORFU THESSALY LESBOS Mytilene Farsala Messina Vibo Actium Delphi AEGEAN ASIA Reggio SEA ACHAEA Athens SICILY Strait of Messina COS MEDITERRANEAN IONIAN RHODES SEA SEA ©2001 by D. L. McElhannon CRETE flast.qxd 12/5/01 4:49 PM Page xi BLACK SEA PONTUS Artaxata Volandum Aras R. t R. ura BITHYNIA M Rhandeia Mt. Ararat CAPPADOCIA ARMENIA Tigranocerta ASIA COMMAGENE Zeugma Carrhae CILICIA Cyrrhus Euphr ✰ ate PARTHIAN Antioch s Celenderis R. EMPIRE SYRIA CYPRUS Caesarea Philippi SYRIA MEDITERRANEAN SEA SEA OF Caesarea ✰ Gishala GALILEE Jerusalem Ptolemais Jefat Delta Ascalon Gamala Nile Tiberius Mt. Carmel Tarachaea ✰ Pelusium Masada Alexandria ✰ Caesarea Area of Inset N Scythopolis Jo r Babylon Fossatum d a n JUDEA R . Nile R. Joppa RED Beth-Horon Battle site SEA Lod Jericho Emmaus Cypros Mountain DEAD SEA Qumran ✰ Jerusalem Provincial capital Ascalon Legion base IDUMAEA Machaerus Legion detachment Hebron Roman siege Masada Parthian siege EGYPT NABATAEA The Middle East, First Century A.D. Palestine 66–71 A.D. ©2001 by D. L. McElhannon flast.qxd 12/5/01 4:49 PM Page xii flast.qxd 12/5/01 4:49 PM Page xiii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS : This book would not have been possible without the immense help pro- vided over many years by countless staff at libraries, museums, and historic sites throughout the world. To them all, my heartfelt thanks. Neither they nor I knew at the time what my labor of love would develop into. My thanks, too, to those who read my research material as it blossomed into manuscript form and made invaluable suggestions. Most particularly, I wish to record my appreciation for the role played by three people in bringing this work to fruition. First, I want to thank Stephen S. Power, senior editor at John Wiley & Sons, for his enthusiasm, encouragement, vision, and guidance. Then there is Richard Curtis, my wonderful New York literary agent, who over a period of several years supported my aspirations, provided direc- tion, and finally married me with an excellent publishing house. It was Richard who suggested I break down one massive tome on all the legions into histories of individual legions. Without him, there would have been no Caesar’s Legion. In this increasingly impersonal new-fashioned elec- tronic age, I can certify without reservation that in a brownstone on the Upper East Side there sits a man who embodies all the old-fashioned qual- ities that a writer dreams of finding in a literary agent. For a man who embraces technology and is at the forefront of the electronic publishing revolution, you really are a gentleman of the old school, Richard. And then there is Louise, my wife of almost twenty years. What a roller-coaster ride she has taken with me all these years, never with a word of complaint, always with words of encouragement. How can I describe the role she has played in making this book, in making this writer? Roman historian Tacitus put it best, I think, in his Agricola. He was describing the relationship between his mother-in-law, Domitia, and Agricola, his father- in-law, but his words equally express the way I feel about the relationship my beloved wife and I have shared these past two decades: “They lived in rare accord, maintained by mutual affection and unselfishness; in such a partnership, however, a good wife deserves more than half the praise, just as a bad one deserves more than half the blame.” xiii flast.qxd 12/5/01 4:49 PM Page xiv AUTHOR’S NOTE : Never before has a comprehensive history of an individual Roman legion been written.