- Legio V Iovia
Legio V "Iovia" was a
Roman legion levied byDiocletian in the end of the3rd century , and was still in service at the beginning of the5th century . Thecognomen of the legion refers to Jupiter, to whom Diocletian (also known as "Iovianus", "the man like Jupiter") was devoted and identified.The V "Iovia" was stationed, together to her sister legion VI "Herculia", in
Pannonia Secunda , a new province created with the segmentation of the oldPannonia province. The legion received the ordinal "Fifth" because in Pannonia there were already four legions. The purpose of the legion, having her permanent camp in "Bononia " and an advanced "castellum " in "Onagrinum", was to protect the imperial residence of Diocletian in "Sirmium " (Illyricum ).The "
Notitia Dignitatum " locates the legion still in Illyricum at the beginning of the 5th century. ["Notitia Dignitatum", occ XXXII v. 44 "praefectus legionis quintae Ioviae cohorti(um) quinque partis superioris Bononiae", v. 46 "praefectus legionis quintae Ioviae Burgenas", v. 48 "praefectus legionis quintae Ioviae et sextae Herculeae in castello Onagrino".]It is possible that some men from this legion and from the VI "Herculia" formed the Jovians and Herculians, the new imperial bodyguard of Diocletian. If this identification is correct, V "Iovia" men had the appellative "martiobarbuli", since they were expert in throwing small darts, carried by five in the inside of their shields. [
Vegetius , "De Re Militari ", book i.]Notes
References
* Ritterling, Emil, "Legio - Legio V Iovia", "Realencyclopädie of Klassischen Altertumswissenschaft", vol 12, 1925. Through [http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=44]
* [http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/v_iovia.html livius.org account]
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