Legio XV Apollinaris

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Legio XV Apollinaris

Legio decima quinta Apollinaris (15th Apollonian Legion) was a Roman legion
Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
. It was recruited by Octavian in 41/40 BC. The emblem of this legion was probably a picture of Apollo, or of one of his holy animals.

XV Apollinaris is sometimes confused with two other legions with the same number: An earlier unit which was commanded by Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and met its end in North Africa in 49 BC, and a later unit that was present at the Battle of Philippi
Battle of Philippi

The Battle of Philippi was the final battle in the Liberators' civil war between the forces of Mark Antony and Augustus against the forces of Julius Caesar's assassins Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus in 42 BC, at Philippi in Macedonia ....
on the side of the Second Triumvirate
Second Triumvirate

The Second Triumvirate is the name historians give to the official political alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus , Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , and Mark Antony, formed on 26 November 43 BC with the enactment of the Lex Titia, the adoption of which marked the end of the Roman Republic....
and then sent east.

vianus (later Emperor Augustus) raised XV Apollinaris in order to end the occupation of Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
by Sextus Pompeius
Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey , was a Ancient Rome general from the late Roman Republic . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate....
, who was threatening Rome's grain supply
Grain supply to the city of Rome

The megalopolis of ancient Rome could never be fed entirely from its own surrounding countryside, especially as this region was increasingly used to produce fruit, vegetables and other perishable goods, and also taken up with the villas and parks of the aristocracy....
.

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Legio decima quinta Apollinaris (15th Apollonian Legion) was a Roman legion
Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
. It was recruited by Octavian in 41/40 BC. The emblem of this legion was probably a picture of Apollo, or of one of his holy animals.

XV Apollinaris is sometimes confused with two other legions with the same number: An earlier unit which was commanded by Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and met its end in North Africa in 49 BC, and a later unit that was present at the Battle of Philippi
Battle of Philippi

The Battle of Philippi was the final battle in the Liberators' civil war between the forces of Mark Antony and Augustus against the forces of Julius Caesar's assassins Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus in 42 BC, at Philippi in Macedonia ....
on the side of the Second Triumvirate
Second Triumvirate

The Second Triumvirate is the name historians give to the official political alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus , Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , and Mark Antony, formed on 26 November 43 BC with the enactment of the Lex Titia, the adoption of which marked the end of the Roman Republic....
and then sent east.

History
Octavianus (later Emperor Augustus) raised XV Apollinaris in order to end the occupation of Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
by Sextus Pompeius
Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey , was a Ancient Rome general from the late Roman Republic . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate....
, who was threatening Rome's grain supply
Grain supply to the city of Rome

The megalopolis of ancient Rome could never be fed entirely from its own surrounding countryside, especially as this region was increasingly used to produce fruit, vegetables and other perishable goods, and also taken up with the villas and parks of the aristocracy....
. After the Battle of Actium
Battle of Actium

The Battle of Actium was the final engagement in the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Augustus and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII....
, the legion was sent to garrison Illyricum
Illyricum

Illyricum can refer to:* Illyricum * Diocese of Illyricum* Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum...
, where it probably remained until 6 BC, though it might have seen action in the Cantabrian Wars
Cantabrian Wars

The Cantabrian Wars or Astur-Cantabrian Wars occurred during the Ancient Rome conquest of the provinces of Cantabria, Asturias and Le?n. They were the final stage of the conquest of Hispania....
.

In 6 BC, Apollinaris was part of the huge campaign by Emperor Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
against the Marcomanni
Marcomanni

The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Buri , Suebi or Suevi....
that was obstructed by a revolt in Pannonia
Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
. Apollinaris saw a good deal of fighting in the suppression of the revolt. It was most likely this legion that built the Colonia Iulia Aemona. By 9 the legion was headquartered in Pannonia, in the town of Carnuntum
Carnuntum

Carnuntum was an important Roman Empire army camp in what is now Austria. It belonged originally to Noricum province, but after the 1st century was part of Pannonia....
.

There the unit stayed until sent to Syria
Syria (Roman province)

Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War....
and possibly Armenia
Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
by Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
in 61 or 62, these territories newly conquered from the Parthians. After the conclusion of the war with Parthia, the legion was sent to Alexandria
Alexandria

Alexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports....
but soon found itself engaged in the fierce fighting of the First Jewish Revolt, capturing the towns of Jotapata
Jotapata

Jotapata was an ancient fortified Jewish village in the Galilee, north of Sepphoris, Israel, mostly known for the bloody and ruthless battle in the year 67, as related by Josephus in his book, The Wars of the Jews, the only account of this battle....
and Gamla
Gamla

Gamla , a site inhabited since the Early Bronze Age, became the capital of the Jewish Golan from 87 BCE to 68 CE when it was sacked by the Romans....
. It was the Fifteenth that captured the Jewish general later to become famous as the historian Josephus
Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70....
. During this period the legion was commanded by Titus
Titus

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Titus , was a Roman Emperor who briefly reigned from 79 until his death in 81. Titus was the second emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Titus's father Vespasian , Titus himself and his younger brother Domitian ....
, who would later become Emperor.

After the suppression of the revolt, the legion returned to Carnuntum and rebuilt its fortress. Elements of the XVth fought in the Dacian Wars
Dacian Wars

The Dacian Wars were two brief wars between the Roman Empire and Dacia during Emperor Trajan's rule. The conflict was a result of raiding across the Danube by Dacians in 86 AD into the south bank Danube Roman Province of Moesia....
although the main body of the legion remained in Pannonia.

In 115, war with Parthia broke out again and the legion was sent to the front, reinforced with elements of the XXX Ulpia Victrix
Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix

Legio trigesima Ulpia Victrix was a Roman legion levied by the Emperor Trajan in 100 for the Dacian Wars. The legion was active until disbandment of the Rhine frontier in the beginning of the 5th century....
. The legion fought in Mesopotamia, which was conquered by the Romans. After the conflict was over the unit stayed in the east with a new headquarters at Satala
Satala

Located in Turkey, the city of Satala, according to the ancient geographers, was situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, a little north of the Euphrates, where the road from Trapezus to Samosata crossed the boundary of the Roman Empire....
in northeastern Cappadocia
Cappadocia

Cappadocia, Wikipedia:IPA for English /k?p?'do???/ , was an extensive inland district of Asia Minor . The name continued to be used in western sources and in the Christianity tradition throughout history and is still widely used as an international Tourism in Turkey concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders characterized by...
, with elements stationed at Trapezus on the Black Sea and at Ancyra, modern-day Ankara. From this base the XVth helped repulse an invasion of Alans
Alans

The Alans or Alani were a group among the Sarmatians people, Eurasian nomads of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian language and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian language....
in 134.

By 162, Rome and Parthia were at war once more; the campaign, led by Emperor Lucius Verus
Lucius Verus

Lucius Aurelius Verus , born as Lucius Ceionius Commodus, known simply as Lucius Verus, was Roman Emperors with Marcus Aurelius , from 161 until his death....
was successful, and the legion occupied the Armenian capital Artaxata. In 175, the general Avidius Cassius
Avidius Cassius

Gaius Avidius Cassius was a Roman usurper who briefly ruled Aegyptus Province and Syria in 175.A native of Cyrrhus, Syria, he was the son of Gaius Avidius Heliodorus, a noted orator who had become prefect of Egypt....
rebelled against Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important stoicism philosophy....
, but the Fifteenth remained loyal and earned the additional title Pia Fidelis.

The history of the legion after this point involves more conjecture. As a unit stationed in the Middle East, it is almost certain to have taken part in later campaigns against Parthia, including the sack of its capital Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon was one of the great cities of the Persian Empire, located on the east bank of the Tigris.Ctesiphon was an imperial capital of the Arsacids and of their successors, the Sassanids....
by the Romans in 197, and in wars against the new Sassanid power that arose in Persia thereafter, though there is no direct record of this. At the beginning of the 5th century, the legion reappears in history: it is still quartered at Satala and Ancyra, though having lost its post at Trapezus somewhere along the way, and is under the command of the Dux
Dux

Dux is Latin for leader and for duke, and in Ancient Rome could refer to anyone who commanded troops, such as tribal leaders....
Armenia
Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
e.

An inscription possibly relating to this legion was found in a cave in eastern Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a Landlocked_country#Doubly_landlocked_country country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union....
, perhaps carved by soldiers captured by the Parthians and dispatched to their eastern frontier as border guards.

See also

List of Roman legions
List of Roman legions

This is a list of Roman legions, including key facts about each legion,primarily focusing on Principate legions, for which there exists substantial literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence....
Roman soldiers in the East
Sino-Roman relations

Sino-Roman relations started first on an indirect basis during the 2nd century BCE. China and Roman Empire progressively inched closer with the embassy of Zhang Qian in 130 BCE and the military expeditions of China to Central Asia, until general Ban Chao attempted to send an envoy to Rome around 100 CE....
Notitia Dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum

The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Ancient Rome imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western Roman empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial level....
, the document stating XV Apollinaris in 5th century