IMPERIUM ROMANUM

Legions · Guide

Regional deployment atlas

These registers connect legionary biographies with the places where troops lived, supplied armies, crossed frontiers, or operated in temporary campaigns. The entries are diachronic: legions appearing together in a row need not have occupied the same place simultaneously. Dates in the individual dossiers distinguish the relevant phases.

Britain and the northern military zone

Ancient place Modern locator Legionary associations Military function and historical setting
Camulodunum Colchester XX and the early conquest establishment An early center of occupation; later veteran settlement and the destruction of 60/61 belong to different phases.
Lindum Lincoln IX Hispana; II Adiutrix Successive military establishments before the mature northern and western fortress system.
Isca Augusta Caerleon II Augusta Long western headquarters with access to the Usk and roads into Wales.
Deva Chester II Adiutrix; XX Valeria Victrix Successive legionary occupations; supply connected with the Dee and the western road network.
Eboracum York IX Hispana; VI Victrix A northern headquarters and imperial center, with different legionary generations before and after Hadrian.
Inchtuthil Perthshire Northern Flavian legionary establishment associated with XX A short-lived phase in Rome’s northern occupation, not a permanently held Scottish province.
Hadrian’s Wall Tyne–Solway frontier Building detachments of II Augusta, VI Victrix, XX Collective construction and rebuilding; routine occupation largely involved auxiliary garrisons.
Antonine Wall Forth–Clyde frontier II Augusta, VI Victrix, XX A later northern advance, commemorated in legionary distance slabs.
Rutupiae Richborough Late II Augusta A coastal assignment within a changed late Roman military establishment.

Rhine, Alpine approaches, and Gaul

Ancient place Modern locator Legionary associations Military function and historical setting
Bonna Bonn I Germanica; XXI Rapax; I Minervia Successive Lower Rhine occupations, not one simultaneous permanent garrison.
Novaesium Neuss XX; XVI Gallica; VI Victrix A sequence reflecting the army’s repeated Rhine reorganizations.
Vetera and the Xanten district Xanten V Alaudae, XXI Rapax, XV Primigenia, XXII Primigenia, VI Victrix, XXX Different fortress generations and units before and after the destruction of 70.
Noviomagus Nijmegen X Gemina; II Adiutrix; IX Hispana material Batavian-region military control, rebuilding, and the distinction between a parent legion and a detachment.
Mogontiacum Mainz IV Macedonica, XIV Gemina, XXI Rapax, XXII Primigenia, I Adiutrix A major crossing and command center with shifting paired garrisons.
Argentoratum Strasbourg II Augusta; later VIII Augusta Successive occupations at an Upper Rhine crossing.
Vindonissa Windisch XIII Gemina, XXI Rapax, XI Claudia Successive garrisons linking the Rhine system with routes toward the Alps.
Divitia Cologne-Deutz A later II Italica branch and other military associations A bridgehead and example of a detached body acquiring a separate history.
Lugdunum Lyon Detachments of several Rhine legions Provincial capital and administrative center, not the permanent home of every regiment represented there.

Danube, Balkans, and Dacia

Ancient place Modern locator Legionary associations Military function and historical setting
Castra Regina Regensburg III Italica Raetian legionary center, with the monumental establishment dated to 179.
Lauriacum Lorch/Enns II Italica Norican fortress at a river junction and a center for the upper Danubian army.
Vindobona Vienna XIV Gemina; later X Gemina Separate occupation phases and long later association with the Tenth.
Carnuntum Petronell-Carnuntum district XV Apollinaris; VII Galbiana briefly; XIV Gemina later River crossing, provincial center, and repeated imperial military concentration.
Brigetio Szőny/Komárom XI Claudia, XXX, and enduring I Adiutrix Successive early-second-century occupations and a long later First Adiutrix establishment.
Aquincum Budapest II Adiutrix Middle Danubian legionary, urban, and administrative center.
Poetovio Ptuj VIII Augusta; XIII Gemina Important earlier Balkan headquarters before later redistributions.
Burnum Near Kistanje XI Claudia; IV Flavia Felix Dalmatian military center with successive institutional roles.
Singidunum Belgrade IV Flavia Felix; II Adiutrix in an earlier campaign setting Confluence of Sava and Danube and communication with the Balkan interior.
Viminacium Kostolac district VII Claudia A major Moesian fortress and provincial center.
Novae Near Svishtov VIII Augusta earlier; I Italica enduring Lower Danubian headquarters and associated river-sector duties.
Durostorum Silistra XI Claudia Long Lower Danubian legionary establishment from the Trajanic period.
Transmarisca Tutrakan Late XI Claudia subdivisions Distributed river defense rather than another complete early imperial Eleventh.
Oescus Gigen V Macedonica Repeated headquarters before and after the Dacian occupation.
Troesmis Near Iglița/Turcoaia V Macedonica Lower Danubian station before the transfer to Potaissa.
Potaissa Turda V Macedonica Interior Dacian fortress from the later second century until evacuation.
Apulum Alba Iulia XIII Gemina Major legionary center inside Roman Dacia.
Ratiaria Archar XIII Gemina after the Dacian withdrawal A new principal geography south of the Danube.

Eastern provinces, Africa, and Egypt

Ancient place Modern locator Legionary associations Military function and historical setting
Raphanaea Western Syria III Gallica; proposed earlier VI Ferrata associations A specific garrison history distinct from the importance of Antioch as a regional capital.
Danaba Inland Syria Late III Gallica Later station; exact site identification remains uncertain.
Zeugma Near Belkıs IV Scythica Euphrates crossing and communications center.
Oresa Euphrates region Late IV Scythica A changed later station, not another name for Zeugma.
Samosata Old Samsat region VI Ferrata; later XVI Flavia Firma Successive roles on the Euphrates and routes through Commagene.
Sura Syrian Euphrates Late XVI Flavia Firma Later river headquarters.
Satala Sadak XVI Flavia Firma earlier; XV Apollinaris later Northern eastern command facing Armenian routes.
Melitene Malatya region XII Fulminata Durable Cappadocian base near Armenian and Euphrates approaches.
Asia Minor around 200 CE, including the Cappadocian and Armenian approaches
PlateLegionsAsia Minor around 200 CE, including the Cappadocian and Armenian approaches
Ancient place Modern locator Legionary associations Military function and historical setting
Singara Sinjar region I Parthica Mesopotamian fortress captured by Shapur II in 360.
Rhesaena Ras al-Ayn/Ceylanpınar district III Parthica Upper Khabur headquarters on the routes between regional centers.
Constantina Viranşehir region Late I Parthica Nisibena A later station whose title preserves a different geographical association.
Cepha Hasankeyf region Late II Parthica Eastern phase after the legion’s earlier Italian reserve role.
Bostra Bosra III Cyrenaica Arabian legionary center and road-network junction.
Legio/Caparcotna Near Megiddo VI Ferrata A durable military establishment in the Palestinian interior.
Jerusalem Jerusalem X Fretensis Siege and later occupation; the permanent camp’s precise development remains a separate archaeological problem.
Masada Judean Desert X Fretensis under Silva Siege camps and works in a difficult elevated landscape.
Aila Aqaba Late X Fretensis Northern Red Sea station.
Albanum Albano Laziale II Parthica Italian reserve base near the imperial center.
Legio León VII Gemina Spanish headquarters with strong regional economic and administrative connections.
Ammaedara Haïdra III Augusta Early African headquarters.
Theveste Tébessa III Augusta Major headquarters before the enduring Lambaesis phase.
Lambaesis Tazoult III Augusta African legionary, administrative, and training center.
Alexandria/Nicopolis Alexandria district III Cyrenaica, XXII Deiotariana, II Traiana at different periods A succession of Egyptian garrison arrangements; not one permanent combined roster.
Babylon in Egypt Old Cairo Late XIII Gemina component Egyptian branch distinct from the Danubian parent; not Mesopotamian Babylon.
Memphis Near Mit Rahina Late V Macedonica component A separate Egyptian presence alongside Danubian continuity.
Thebes and Ombos Luxor and Kom Ombo III Diocletiana components Distributed Thebaid establishment.

The other guides to legions

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