Legio X Fretensis

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Legio X Fretensis

Legio decima Fretensis (10th Straits Legion) of the sea strait") 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....
levied by Augustus in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
. X Fretensis is recorded to exist at least until 410s.

X Fretensis symbols were the bull
Taurus (constellation)

Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for cattle, and its symbol is , a stylized bull's head. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky, between Aries to the west and Gemini to the east; to the north lie Perseus and Auriga , to the southeast Orion , to the south E...
, the holy animal of the goddess Venus
Venus (mythology)

Venus was a major Roman mythology goddess principally associated with love, beauty and sexual reproduction, the equivalent of the Greek mythology Aphrodite....
(mythical ancestor of the gens
Gens

In ancient Rome, a gens was a clan, caste, or group of families, that shared a common name and a belief in a common ancestor. In the Roman naming convention, the second name was the name of the gens to which the person belonged....
Julia
Julius

Julius is the nomen of the gens Julia, an important patrician family of ancient Rome supposed to have descended from Julus, and thus from the goddess Venus ....
), a ship (probably a reference to the battles of Naulochus and/or Actium), the god Neptune
Poseidon

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan mythology was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon....
, and a boar.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Legio X Fretensis'

Start a new discussion about 'Legio X Fretensis'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Legio decima Fretensis (10th Straits Legion) of the sea strait") 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....
levied by Augustus in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
. X Fretensis is recorded to exist at least until 410s.

X Fretensis symbols were the bull
Taurus (constellation)

Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for cattle, and its symbol is , a stylized bull's head. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's winter sky, between Aries to the west and Gemini to the east; to the north lie Perseus and Auriga , to the southeast Orion , to the south E...
, the holy animal of the goddess Venus
Venus (mythology)

Venus was a major Roman mythology goddess principally associated with love, beauty and sexual reproduction, the equivalent of the Greek mythology Aphrodite....
(mythical ancestor of the gens
Gens

In ancient Rome, a gens was a clan, caste, or group of families, that shared a common name and a belief in a common ancestor. In the Roman naming convention, the second name was the name of the gens to which the person belonged....
Julia
Julius

Julius is the nomen of the gens Julia, an important patrician family of ancient Rome supposed to have descended from Julus, and thus from the goddess Venus ....
), a ship (probably a reference to the battles of Naulochus and/or Actium), the god Neptune
Poseidon

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan mythology was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon....
, and a boar. The symbol of Taurus may also mean that it was organized between 20 April and 20 May.

History

Civil wars of the Republic and early Empire

Octavian, later known as Augustus, levied a legion and gave it the number ten, as a reference to 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....
's famous Tenth Legion
Legio X Equestris

Legio X Equestris was a Roman legion, levied by Julius Caesar. Legio X was the "most famous legion of its day", in part due to the fact that it took the leading role in most of Caesar's Gallic battles....
.

In 36 BC, the Tenth Legion fought under Octavian against 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....
in the Battle of Naulochus
Battle of Naulochus

The naval Battle of Naulochus was fought on 3 September 36 BC between the fleets of Sextus Pompeius and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, off Naulochus, Sicily....
, where it earned its cognomen
Cognomen

The cognomen was originally a middle name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary ....
Fretensis. The name refers to the fact that the battle took place near the sea Strait of Messina
Strait of Messina

The Strait of Messina is the narrow section of water between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of Calabria in the south of Italy....
(Fretum Siculum).

In 31 BC, it fought in 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....
against Mark Antony
Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
. Although Actium was a battle at sea, the legion was able to board enemy ships that had been hooked close by means of an iron grapnel
Grapple (tool)

A grapple is a hook or Claw used to catch or hold something. A ship's anchor is a type of grapple, especially the anchor#Grapnel.A throwing grapple is a multi-pronged hook that is tied to a rope and thrown to catch a grip, as on a parapet or branch of a tree....
. Its key participation in this battle is probably the reason that the legion also used a trireme
Trireme

File:Romtrireme.jpgThe trireme is a class of warships used by the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greece and ancient Rome....
as one of its symbols. Actium marked the end of the civil war and the rise to power of Octavian, who was proclaimed Augustus some years later.

Tiles found in Caesarea Maritima, built in the second decade BC, suggest that the legion was at that time based in Iudaea
Iudaea Province

Iudaea was a Roman province that extended over the former region of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel. It was named after the tetrarchy of Judea of which it was an expansion, the latter name deriving from the Kingdom of Judah of the 6th century BCE....
. Later X Fretensis moved 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....
. In 6 it was stationed in that province together with legions III Gallica
Legio III Gallica

Legio tertia Gallica was a Roman legion levied by Julius Caesar around 49 BC, for his Roman Republican civil wars against the conservative republicans led by Pompey....
, VI Ferrata
Legio VI Ferrata

Legio VI Ferrata , was a Roman Legion formed in 65 BC, and in existence up to at least 215 AD. It served under Julius Caesar in the Gallic Wars , and in the various Roman civil wars of the Roman Republic in the years before and after Caesar's assassination ....
, and XII Fulminata
Legio XII Fulminata

Legio duodecima Fulminata , also known as Paterna, Victrix, Antiqua, Certa Constans, and Galliena, was a Roman legion, levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC and which accompanied him during the Gallic wars until 49 BC....
. In the same year, Publius Sulpicius Quirinus, governor of Syria, led these legions in the suppression of the revolt that sprung out after the killing of Herod Archelaus
Herod Archelaus

Herod Archelaus was the ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Edom from 4 BC to 6 AD. He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace, the brother of Herod Antipas, and the half-brother of Herod Philip I....
.

Under 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 58, X Fretensis participated in the campaign of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo was a Ancient Rome general....
against the Parthians
Parthia

Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
.

First Jewish-Roman War

X Fretensis was centrally involved in the First Jewish-Roman War
First Jewish-Roman War

The first Jewish-Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three Jewish-Roman wars by the Jews of Iudaea Province against the Roman Empire ....
(66–73), under the supreme command of Vespasian
Vespasian

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 A.D. until his death in 79 A.D. Vespasian was the founder of the short lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 A.D....
.

In 66, the X Fretensis and V Macedonica
Legio V Macedonica

Legio quinta Macedonica was a Roman legion. It was probably originally levied by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Augustus in 43 BC, and it existed in Moesia at least until 5th century....
went 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....
for an invasion of Ethiopia planned 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....
. However, the two legions were needed in Iudaea to suppress a revolt. After spending the winter in Ptolemais Ace (modern Acre, Israel
Acre, Israel

Acre also Akko, is a List of Israeli cities in the Western Galilee region of North District Israel. It is situated on a low promontory at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay....
), X Fretensis and V Macedonica relocated in the coastal city of Caesarea Maritima (67/68). This was due to the large number of legions being mobilized in Ptolemais, under Marcus Ulpius Traianus
Marcus Ulpius Traianus (senator)

Marcus Ulpius Traianus Maior was a Ancient Rome senator who lived in the 1st century....
, future governor of Syria and father of the emperor Trajan
Trajan

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 98 until his death in 117. Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus into a nonpatrician family in the Hispania Baetica province , Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian, serving as a general in the Roman army along the Limes G...
. During that same winter, the Caesarea camp of Xth and Vth hosted Vespasian, who was forced the following year
Year of the Four Emperors

The Year of the Four Emperors was a year in the history of the Roman Empire, AD 69, in which four emperors ruled in a remarkable succession. These four emperors were Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian....
, to go to Rome to seize power. Vespasian's son, 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 ....
ended the suppression of the revolt.

When Tarichacae and Gamala were conquered, the X Fretensis moved to Scythopolis (modern Bet She'an
Bet She'an

is a city in the North District of Israel which has played an important role historically due to its geographical location at the junction of the Jordan River and Jezreel Valley....
), just west of Jordan River
Jordan River

The Jordan River is a river in Southwest Asia which flows into the Dead Sea. It is considered to be one of the world's most sacred rivers. It is 251 kilometers long....
. In the summer of 68, X Fretensis destroyed the monastery of Qumran
Qumran

Qumran is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea in the West Bank, just next to the Israeli kibbutz of Kalia, West Bank....
, where the Dead Sea Scrolls
Dead Sea scrolls

The Dead Sea scrolls consist of roughly 900 documents, including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves in and around the Wadi Qumran near the ruins of the ancient settlement of Qumran, on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea....
are believed to have originated. Its winter camp was at Jericho
Jericho

Jericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate, and has a population of over 20,000 Arabs....
.

By 70, the rebellion in all of Iudaea had been crushed, except for Jerusalem and a few fortresses, including Masada
Masada

Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel on top of an isolated rock plateau, or large mesa, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea....
. In that year X Fretensis, in conjunction with V Macedonica, XII Fulminata, and XV Apollinaris
Legio XV Apollinaris

Legio decima quinta Apollinaris was a Roman legion. It was recruited by Augustus in 41/40 BC. The emblem of this legion was probably a picture of Apollo, or of one of his holy animals....
, began the siege of Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
, stronghold of the rebellion. The Xth camped on the Mount of Olives
Mount of Olives

The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in east Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters ....
. During the siege, Legio X gained fame in the effective use of their various war machines. It was noted that they were able to hurl stones that weighted a talent (about 25 kg) a distance of two furlongs (400 m) or further. The projectiles of their ballista
Ballista

The ballista , plural ballistae, was a weapon developed from earlier Greek weapons. It relied upon different mechanics, using two levers with Torsion springs instead of a prod, the springs consisting of several loops of twisted skeins....
e caused heavy damage to the ramparts. The siege of Jerusalem lasted five months and the besieged population experienced all the terrible rigors of starvation. Finally, the combined assaults of the legions succeeded in taking the city, which was then subjected to destruction. During the spring of 71, Titus set sail for Rome. A new military governor was then appointed from Rome, Lucilius Bassus
Lucilius Bassus

Lucilius Bassus was a Roman Empire legatus appointed by Emperor Vespasian to the Iudaea Province in 71 AD. Assigned to finish off the last remnants of the Great Jewish Revolt in the province, he led the legion Legio X Fretensis, destroying the Jewish strongholds Herodium and Machaerus on their march to the siege of Masada....
, whose assigned task was to undertake the "mopping-up" operations in Iudaea. Naturally, he used X Fretensis to oppose the few remaining fortresses that still resisted. As part of this, X Fretensis took Herodium
Herodium

Herodium or Herodion is a hill shaped like a truncated cone , located in the West Bank, southeast of Bethlehem and under control of Israel, built as a fortress palace by King Herod the Great....
, and then crossed the Jordan to capture the fortress of Machaerus
Machaerus

Machaerus is a fortified hilltop palace located in Jordan fifteen miles southeast of the mouth of the Jordan river on the eastern side of the Dead Sea....
on the shore of the Dead Sea. Due to illness, Bassus did not live to complete his mission. Lucius Flavius Silva
Lucius Flavius Silva

Lucius Flavius Silva was a late-1st century Roman general, governor of the province of Iudaea and Roman consul. History remembers Silva as the Roman commander who led his army, composed mainly of the Legio X Fretensis, in 73 AD up to Masada and laid siege to its near-impenetrable mountain fortress occupied by a group of Jewish rebels c...
replaced him, and moved against the last Jewish stronghold, Masada, in the autumn of 72. He used Legio X, auxiliary troops, and thousands of Jewish prisoners. After his orders for surrender were rejected, Silva established several base camps and a wall of circumvolution completely around the fortress. When the Romans finally broke through the walls of this citadel, they discovered that the Jewish defenders had chosen death with a mass suicide.

After the conclusion of the Jewish revolt, Legio X was garrisoned at Jerusalem. Their main camp was positioned on the Western Hill, located in the southern half of the old city, now leveled of all former buildings. The camp of the Tenth was built using the surviving portions of the walls of Herod the Great
Herod the Great

Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great , was a Roman Empire client state of Israel. Herod is known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and other parts of the ancient world, including the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple....
's palace, demolished by order of Titus. The camp was at the end of the cardo maximus
Cardo

In ancient Roman city planning, a cardo or cardus was a north-south-oriented street in cities, military camps, and Colonia e. Sometimes called the cardus maximus, the cardo served as the center of economic life....
of Aelia Capitolina
Aelia Capitolina

Aelia Capitolina was a city built by the emperor Hadrian, and occupied by a Roman colony, on the site of Jerusalem, which was still in ruins from the First Jewish-Roman War in 70 A.D.....
.

At the time, Legio X was the sole legion assigned to maintain the peace in Iudaea, and was directly under the command of the governor of the province, who was also legatus
Legatus

A legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of Roman senate rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes....
of the legion.

Second Jewish-Roman War
After participating to Trajan
Trajan

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 98 until his death in 117. Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus into a nonpatrician family in the Hispania Baetica province , Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian, serving as a general in the Roman army along the Limes G...
Parthian campaign, Fretensis was caught in the Bar Kokhba's revolt
Bar Kokhba's revolt

The Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire was a second major rebellion by the Jews of Iudaea Province and the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars....
(132-135).

The revolt, originated with the decision of Emperor Hadrian
Hadrian

Publius Aelius Hadrianus , as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after his apotheosis, known as Hadrian in English language, was Roman Emperor of Roman Empire from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoicism and Epicureanism philosopher....
to build a Pagan temple to Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Jupiter or Jove was the king of the gods,and the god of sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
in Jerusalem. Simon Bar Kokhba
Simon bar Kokhba

Simon bar Kokhba was the Jewish leader who led what is known as Bar Kokhba's revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 Common Era, establishing an independent Jewish state of Israel which he ruled for three years as Nasi ....
started a revolt that occupied Jerusalem and inflicted many casualties to the Romans. The war ended when the Roman army — which included Fretensis many other and Danubian troops under the command of Sextus Julius Severus
Sextus Julius Severus

Sextus Julius Severus was an accomplished Roman Empire General of the 2nd century.Julius Severus served as Roman governor of Moesia; he was appointed Roman governor of Roman Britain around 131....
— reconquered Jerusalem and successfully besieged the last Jewish stronghold, the fortress of Betar
Betar (fortress)

Betar was the last standing Jewish fortress in the Bar Kochba revolt of the 2nd century AD, destroyed by the Ancient Rome army on Tisha B'av.The site of historic Betar , next to the modern village of Battir southwest of Jerusalem, was known as Khirbet al-Yahudi, Arabic for "the Jew's ruins"....
.

As a consequence of the unrest in the region, Fretensis was supported by a second legion, VI Ferrata
Legio VI Ferrata

Legio VI Ferrata , was a Roman Legion formed in 65 BC, and in existence up to at least 215 AD. It served under Julius Caesar in the Gallic Wars , and in the various Roman civil wars of the Roman Republic in the years before and after Caesar's assassination ....
, which camped in Lejjun.

Later history
A vexillatio
Vexillatio

A vexillatio was a detachment of a Roman legion formed as a temporary task force created by the Military history of ancient Rome of the Principate....
of Fretensis fought in the Marcomannic campaign
Marcomannic Wars

The Marcomannic Wars were a series of wars lasting over a dozen years from about 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against the Marcomanni, Quadi and other Germanic peoples, along both sides of the upper and middle Danube....
of 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....
.

In 193, the legion supported Pescennius Niger
Pescennius Niger

Gaius Pescennius Niger was a Roman usurper from 193 to 194. Niger was born of an old Italian equestrian family.File:Denarius-Pescennius Niger-RIC 0015var.jpg...
against Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus

Lucius Septimius Severus was a Roman Empire general, and Roman Emperor from April 14 193 to 211. He was born in what is now the Libyan part of Rome's historic Africa Province, making him the first emperor to be born in the Roman province of Africa Province....
, and was possibly involved in a local struggle between Jews and Samaritans. The legion was still in Jerusalem at the time of Caracalla
Caracalla

Caracalla , born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 – 217....
or Elagabalus
Elagabalus

Elagabalus , also known as Heliogabalus or Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, was a Roman Emperor of the Severan dynasty who reigned from 218 to 222....
.

Under Gallienus
Gallienus

Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus ruled the Roman Empire as co-emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and then as the sole Roman Emperor from 260 to 268....
, Fretensis was employed in the war against the Gallic Empire
Gallic Empire

The Gallic Empire is the modern name for the independent realm that existed from 260 to 273, during the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century....
.

The legion moved to Aila (close to modern Aqaba
Aqaba

Aqaba is a coastal town in the far south of Jordan. It is the capital of Aqaba Governorate. Aqaba is strategically important to Jordan as it is the country's only seaport....
), probably during Diocletian
Diocletian

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus , born Diocles and commonly known as Diocletian , was Roman Emperor from November 20, 284 to May 1, 305....
's reforms, and is recorded as still camping there at the time of the compilation of the 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....
, in the 390s, when it is reported serving under 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....
Palaestinae.

Archeology
A Latin inscription of the end of the 2nd century, found in the church of Abu Ghosh
Abu Ghosh

Abu Ghosh is an Israeli Arab town located 10 kilometers west of Jerusalem on the Highway 1 , 610-720 meters above sea level. Abu Ghosh is one of the most known feodal families in Palestine that exacted a toll from pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem during the Ottoman Empire....
(at 15 km west of Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
) marks the presence of a vexillatio (detachment)Vexillatio

A vexillatio was a detachment of a Roman legion formed as a temporary task force created by the Military history of ancient Rome of the Principate....
of X Fretensis:
VEXILLATIO
LEG X FRE

Some fragments bearing the "L.X.F" mark of the Legio X Fretensis are present at the Tower of David
Tower of David

The Tower of David is an ancient citadel located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem. Built to strengthen a strategically weak point in the Old City's defenses, the citadel was constructed during the second century BCE and subsequently destroyed and rebuilt by, in succession, the Christian, Muslim, Mamluk, and Ottoman...
in Jerusalem. Roman Law required all pottery to bear the maker's stamp, and the Legion pottery works just to the West of Jerusalem were obviously no exception. A huge production of pottery bearing the marks of the Legio X Fretensis has been discovered in Jerusalem.

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....
Destruction of Jerusalem
Masada
Masada

Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel on top of an isolated rock plateau, or large mesa, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea....
and Bar Kokhba's revolt
Bar Kokhba's revolt

The Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire was a second major rebellion by the Jews of Iudaea Province and the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars....

External links

, U.S. re-enactment group.

: A Legio X reenactment group based in the U.S. but with international membership. Performs museum openings, school visits, and other public educational activities.