Legio V Alaudae

Legio quinta alaudae ("Lark-crested Fifth Legion"), sometimes also known as Gallica, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army originally founded in 48 BC by the general Caius Julius Caesar (dictator of Rome 49-44 BC). It was originally composed of Roman settlers in Spain. The legion was destroyed in AD 86 at the battle of Tapae in Domitian's Dacian War.

History

Their emblem was an elephant, and their cognomen Alaudae came from the high crest on their helmets, typical of the Gauls, which made them look like larks. The French word "Alouette" is a direct descendant of "Alauda", itself not a proper Latin noun, but a loan word from Gaulish, possibly the first reason for the legionary name.

V Gallica was the first Roman legion composed of provincial soldiers, as opposed to Roman citizens. Caesar paid the soldiers with his own resources, but the legion was later recognized by the Roman Senate. V Alaudae fought in the Gallic Wars until 49 BC, as one of the bravest legions of Caesar, then they were moved to Spain. They served with Mark Antony between 41 BC and 31 BC and probably fought in Actium. After Antony committed suicide, they were merged into Augustus' army in 30 BC.

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.