- Legio I Minervia
Legio I "Minervia" (Latin: "prima minérvia") was a
Roman legion levied by emperorDomitian in82 , for the campaign against the Germanic tribe of theChatti . Itscognomen is related to the goddessMinerva , the legion's protector. There are still records of the I "Minervia" in theRhine border in the middle of the4th century . The legion's emblem is an image of goddess Minerva.Legio I "Minervia" first, and main, camp was in the city of "Bonna" (modern
Bonn ), in the province ofGermania Inferior . In89 , they suppressed a revolt of the governor ofGermania Superior . Due to this, Domitian gave them the cognomen "Pia Fidelis Domitiana" (loyal and faithful to Domitian) to acknowledge their support.Between
101 and106 , the legion fought theDacian Wars of emperorTrajan , commanded byHadrian , the future emperor. The emblem with Minerva figure appears on the column of Trajan inRome , along with symbols of other legions. After this war, I "Minervia" returned to its home city of Bonna. Together with XXX "Ulpia Victrix", stationed close by in "Castra Vetera II" (modernXanten ), they worked in numerous military and building activities, even extracting stone from quarries.Although it belonged to the Germanic army and Bonn was its camp, "
vexillatio nes" (subunits) of the legion were allocated in different parts of the Empire:
*162 -166 war against theParthian Empire , commanded by emperorLucius Verus
*166 -175 and178 -180 war against theMarcomanni , commanded by emperorMarcus Aurelius
*173 campaign against the Chauci ofGallia Belgica , commanded by governorDidius Julianus
*198 -211 garrison of the city ofLugdunum , capital of GalliaDuring the civil wars of the late 2nd and
3rd century , I "Minervia" supported the following emperors (each of them gave them the indicated titles, dropped out after their fall):
*Septimius Severus
*Elagabalus ("Antoniniana")
*Alexander Severus ("Severiana Alexandriana")
* theGallic Empire , that existed between260 and274 Around
353 , Bonna was destroyed by the Franks, and I "Minervia" disappears from the sources. However, there is no reference to its destruction.ee also
*
List of Roman legions
*Roman legion External links
* [http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/i_minervia.html livius.org account for Legio I "Minervia"]
* [http://www.legioprima.de/ Legio I Minervia Pia Fidelis] , German re-enactment group
* [http://www.erste-legion.de/deutsch/main.php?main=historisch=LegioI] , German re-enactment group, reenacting not only the Legio I Minervia.
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