Legio III Augusta

Legio tertia Augusta ("Augustus' third legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. Its origin may have been the Republican 3rd Legion which served the general Pompey during his civil war against Caius Julius Caesar (49–45 BC). It supported the general Octavian (later emperor Augustus) in his civil war against Mark Antony (31–30 BC). It was officially refounded in 30 BC, when Octavian achieved sole mastery of the Roman empire. In that year, it was deployed in the Roman province of Africa, where it remained until at least the late 4th century AD.

Urbanization

The Third Augustan Legion was not only a source of protection for the Roman Empire, but it was also largely responsible for the urbanization of the North African provinces. The Legion was initially stationed in Ammaedara (modern-day Haïdra) where they built their first military camp. From there they invested part of their time in the construction of roads, beginning expansion. These new connections led to the development of new towns and cities for civilians, camps for the military and even colonies for the veterans. These were usually distinct from each other, but as time progressed they began to merge. The Legion did not always build up the entire town; civilians often assisted in the building of some projects. The most common projects for soldiers were aqueducts, fortifications and amphitheaters. Typically their work was for more "monumental projects" rather than "pure architecture." The legion was not therefore solely a military force but also undertook engineering and surveying functions requiring an advanced mix of skills.

Legio

Legio was a Roman military camp south of Tel Megiddo in the Roman province of Galilee.

Location

The approximate location of the camp of the Legio VI Ferrata was known from the persistence of its name in the form Lajjun by which a Palestinian Arab village was known.

It was close to the ancient town of Rimmon, perhaps the Hadad-rimmon of Zechariah 12:11, which in the 3rd century was renamed Maximianopolis (City of Maximian) by Diocletian in honour of his co-emperor Maximian. Both places were within a single episcopal see, generally called Maximianopolis, but in one list of such sees the name Legionum (genitive plural of the Latin word Legio) is used, where the Greek original has "Maximianopolis".

Recent research

In 2002–2003, an archaeological survey was made in the Legio region by Yotam Tepper as part of his master's thesis. The survey located the legionary camp on the northern slope of El-Manach hill, the village of Ceparcotani on the adjacent hill, and the city of Maximianopolis on the site of the contemporary Kibbutz Megiddo. In 2013 Tepper and the Jezreel Valley Regional Project dug test trenches measuring approximately 295 feet by 16.5 feet that revealed clear evidence of the camp. No military headquarters of this type for this particular period had yet been excavated in the entire Eastern Empire, and the 2013 excavations uncovered defensive earthworks, a circumvallation rampart, barracks areas and artifacts including roof tiles stamped with the name of the Sixth Legion, coins and fragments of scale armor.