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Legio X Fretensis

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Legio X Fretensis
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legion to Scythopolis (bell. IV 2, 1). When Titus, now son of the emperor, entrusted with the renewal of the war, set out against Jerusalem in 69 CE, the X Fret. moved out of Jericho, where it had previously camped (Joseph. Bell. V.1.6: “He [Titus] ordered the tenth to march to Jericho”; 2.3: “And the tenth legion, which came through Jericho”). For the exploits of the legion, which set up its camp on the Mount of the Olives, during the siege of Jerusalem see Joseph. Bell. V.2.4f., V.3.5, V.6.3, 11.4, VI.4.3. 
The tombstone of a soldier, found in Byblus (CIL III 6697), may come from the time before the Jewish war. Also the inscription from Seleucia Pieriae (III 190 = 6045), if ever the X Fretensis was named here, could only come from the legion located later in northern Syria. 
After the capture of Jerusalem and definitive organization of the conditions of the land the X Fretensis was assigned to the pemanent garrisoning of the Judaean Province: Caesar decided to leave the tenth legion there as guard, together with some troops of cavalry and units of infantry…he dispersed the other part of the army…but he allowed the tenth to stay in Jerusalem as guard, they no longer had to go the Euphrates, where they were before”, Joseph. Bell. VII 1, 2 and 3. See also Joseph. Vit. 422: Titus compensates Josephus for his estate near Jerusalem, which had to be occupied as the territorium legionis, “The lands which I had in Judea would bring me no profit, because a garrison set up camp there to guard the country” by giving him land elsewhere “in the country.” The permanent encampment of the legion was also directly cited on an release-document of a veteran of 93 CE (Dessau 9059) … qui militaverunt Hierosolymnis in leg(ione) X Fretense dimissorum honesta missione … (Discharge for honourable service to those who served in Jerusalem with Legio X Fretensis). As the only legion in the province of Judea, it was subordinated directly to the governor of the province, who held the post of the legionary legate at the same time: leg(atus) Aug(usti) leg(ionis) X Fret(ensis) et leg(atus) pr(o) pr(aetore) [pr]ovinciae Iudaeae: CIL III 12117, see also X 6321 from the reign of Trajan. It was not until the allocation of a second legion to the province after the Jewish revolt under Hadrian, that the X Fretensis was again commanded by its own legionary legate. 
The monuments so far known from its garrison (compilation by Schürer Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes I3.4 634, 123) provide few remarkable accounts: apart from numerous brick-stamps in part with the emblem of the legion (CIL III 6659 = 12090; 1415523; p.2314; AE 1904.202; 1910.208) and some stone-inscription (CIL III 6638; 6641; 141553; AE 1904.91). The name of the legion isn’t mentioned, but we can consider the relation to the X Fretensis certain, for instance AE 1904.201 = Mitt.d.deutsch.Paläst.–Ver. 1903, 17ff.: of(ficina) legi(onis) (centuria) Auguri(ni) . See also the names of centurions CIL III 14383. Rev. Bibl. 1902 p. 200 no. 231; Cagnat IGR III 1206; AE 1910.209. 
In that area the following inscriptions have been found as well:

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a dedication of the 1st cohort of the legion to Hadrian, CIL iii 13589 = 1415514 p. 2313 (from Samaria, but more probably from Gadara), a tombstone of a centurion from Tiberias (Cagnat IGR III 1204), a reminder of a vexillatio leg. X Fre(tensis) AE 1902.230 and an unknown soldier of the legion from Gordian’s reign, Cagnat IGR III 1379 (in CIL III 13586 = 141552 from Bettir the legion evidently wasn’t mentioned). 
At what time the legion changed its permanent camp in Jerusalem for that in Aila at the Black Sea (Euseb. Onom. 210.78) is not certain. The suggestion of Von Rohden De Palaestina et Arabia provinc. 21, that the change of its permanent camp must be taken into context with the division of the province among Phoenicia, Arabia and Palaestina under Septimius Severus, was disproved by an inscription of the legionary legate M. Iunius Maximus, CIL III 6641, which shows the legion at the time of Caracalla or Elagabalus still in Jerusalem. Only in the late 3rd century CE, perhaps through the reforms of Diocletian (Brünnow Prov. Arabia III 275f.), did the legion move its camp to Aila, where it is proven to still be at the time of Notitia dign. or. XXXIV 30: praefectus legionis decimae Fretensis, Ailae. 
Only a few war exploits in which the X Fretensis took part during its sojourn in Iudaea-Syria Palaestina are known through direct evidence. The last sparks of the Jewish uprising were smothered by the legion under the leadership of Lucilius Bassus by capture of Machaerus (Joseph. Bell. VII 6.1), and under Flavius Silva by capture of Masada (Idem VII.8) in 72/73 CE. In the oriental wars of Trajan among others two tribuni militum of the X Fretensis (Dessau 8863 and RE X p. 954) were decorated with dona militaria. In the Jewish war under Hadrian the legion stood in the middle of the fight and seems to have been compelled to leave its permanent camp in Jerusalem (Schürer I3.4 686, 112); only after several years did it succeed in recapturing it. A centurio of the legion then decorated with the dona militaria is known (CIL III 7334), and perhaps also, if the emendation of the inscription CIL XI 6339 is correct, a legionary legate; in the last case the legion would have its own commander, instead of the provincial governor who commanded it during the wars. In the Marcomannic Wars, under the emperor Marcus Aurelius, a unit of the X Fretensis fought in ranks of a joint corps of troops (faked letter of Marcus in S.-Ber. Akad. Berl. 1894, 864; see above col.1303 paragraph A). Whether this vexillation was dragged to Dacia Porolissensis during the prolonged wars, and if an altar was erected by its members CIL III 7625 near Bistritz, remains undecided; other periods are also possible (see also V. Domaszewski Rh. Mus. XLIX 618, 1), and also the detachment

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of an individual for a specific aim is not excluded. 
At the time of the emperor Severus the legion participated, with other legions of the eastern provinces, in the defeat of their pretender Pescennius Niger, and it seems that it had also been embroiled in struggles for local interests between Jews and Samaritans. The secondment of the centurion of the X Fretensis as praepositus coh(ortis) I Hisp(anorum) to Britain (CIL VII 371) still doesn’t prove the conclusion, that a unit of this legion was called to a greater campaign, perhaps that of Severus in 208-211, on the island. However at the time of Gallienus a mobilized unit of the X Fretensis took to the field in the western part of the empire, probably in Gallia or possibly Britain, which is proven by a golden coin of the usurper Victorinus (Cohen VI2 75 no. 62: LEG X FRETENSIS PF with a bull-emblem) (see col. 1343). Neither this nor other parts of the legion seem to have survived into the field army of the 4th and 5th century CE. It is certainly possible that the legion of the decumani Fortenses, mentioned in Ammianus XVIII 9.3 for 359 CE, originated from the old legion because of the correspondence in seriál numbers. And Valerius suggestion to replace Fortenses with Fretenses in the text should not be discarded straightaway.

Legati legionis: 
A. Before the year 71 CE 
M. Ulpius Trajanus, in 67 and 68, Joseph. Bell. Iud. III.7.31 “He [Vespasian] sent Trajan, who was in command of the tenth legion” see also IV.8.1; Prosop. III p. 463 no. 574. 
A. Larcius A. f. Lepidus, in 70, Joseph. Bell. VI.4.3, in council of war of Titus: CIL X 6659: [leg(ato) i]mp(eratoris) Vespasiani Caesaris Aug(usti) leg(ionis) X Freten(sis) [donato] donis mili[taribus a]b imp. Vespasiano … et] Tito Caesare Aug(usti) f(ilio) bello Iudaico … 
Terentius Rufus, in 71, immediately after the capture of Jerusalem, Joseph. Bell. VII.2.2: “Terentius Rufus, who was in command of the army left there” 
B. After the establishment of the province of Judea the governor was also the legate of the X Fretensis, see above; see also the list by Von Rohden De Palaestina et Arab. prov. 37ff. Liebenam Legaten 241-244. Schürer Gesch. des jüd. Volkes I3.4 644ff. 
Sex. Vettulenus Cerialis, in 71. Joseph. Bell. VII.6.1. 
Lucilius Bassus, in 71/72, Bell. VII.6.1; 8.1. 
L. Flavius Silva, in 72 ff., Bell. VII.8 and 9. 
[M. Salvidenus must be deleted, Pick Berl. Numism. Ztschr. XIV 330, 1.]

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Cn. Pompeius Longinus, in 86, CIL III p. 757. Ritterling Arch.-epigr. Mitt. XX 13. 
Sex. Hermetidius Campanus, in 93. Dessau 9059. 
[Ti. Claudius Atticus Herodes, in 107, Euseb. hist. eccl. III 32, 3; see Asbach Bonn. Jahrb. LXXII 37ff.; see also Prosop. I 351ff. no. 654ff.] 
Q. Roscius Sex. f. Qui(rina) Coelius … Pompeius Falco, around 107/10, CIL X 6321 leg(ato) Aug. pr(o) pr(aetore) provinc(iae) [Iudaeae e]t leg. X Fret(es) ; III 12117 leg. Aug. leg. X Fret. et leg. pr. pr. provinciae Iudaeae [not consular, as Schürer op.cit. 645 mistook]. Plin. epist. VII 22. the same also CIL VI 3844. Prosop. III p. 134 no. 68.
[Tiberianus, under Trajan after Malal. p. 273 (ed. Bonn.). But the conclusiveness of the evidence is right doubtful. see Prosop. III p. 315 no. 142. Schürer op.cit. 646f.] 
Lusius Quietus, around 117, Schürer op.cit. 647.
Q. Tineius Rufus, in 132, by the outbreak of the Jewish revolt under Hadrian, Prosop. III 321 no. 168. 
C. After the end of the revolt and reorganization of the province (now called Syria Palaestina) in 135 now only as commanders of the legion. 
L. Annius Fabianus, under Antoninus Pius, CIL III 7972. 
M. Iunius Maximus, under Severus and Caracalla, III 6641. 
C. Popilius C. f. Quir(ina) Carus Pedo, legato legionis X Fretensis a cuius cura se excusavit... , under Pius around the year 142, XIV 3610. 
Unknown, Hadrian’s reign during the Jewish wars, if the legion’s name and the connection to the Jewish wars was reconstructed correctly CIL XI 6339 
Unknown, quite uncertain emendation XIII 2662.

Tribuni militum: 
A. Atinius A. f. Pal. Paternus, under Hadrian, CIL VI 1838. 
Clodius Marcellinus, l(ati)c(lavius) trib. mil. leg. II ad. p. f. Ant. translat(us) ex leg. X Fr. Ant. III 3472. 
Q. Domitius Q. f. Quir. Victor, VIII 5363. 
.............T. f. Serg. Heridianus, AE 1912.205. 
P. Iulius P. f. Quir. Geminius Marcianus, (laticl.), under Antoninus Pius, CIL VIII 7050. 
Cn. Iulius Cn. f. Verus, laticl. under Hadrian, III 2732 + 8714. 
[Aemilius?] Iuncus, under Trajan, inscription from Ephesos (unpublished), see RE vol. X p. 954. 
[……. Nikanor, Xiliarchos, Joseph. Bell. Iud. III.8.2. Because he is called “well known and familiar acquaintance” by Josephus here and from the three legions of the Vespasians army only the X Fretensis was located in the east from the beginning, Nikanor must have been serving in this legion.] 
M. Nonius M. f. Pob. Mucianus P. Delphius Peregrinus, (laticl.), perhaps still under Trajan, CIL V 3343. 
A. Pompeius C. f. Quir. Augurinus T. Prifernius Paetus, under Trajan, AE 1905.6 = Dessau 8863. 
Cn. Pompeius Cassianus, (laticl.), CIL XIII 1878. 
Publilius L. f. Fa… Memorialis, during or

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shortly before Vespasians reign, Notiz. 1895, 342 = Dessau 9195. 
Q. Roscius Sex. f. Quir. Coelius Murena … Pompeius Falco, (laticl.), under Domitian, CIL III 12117, see also X 6321. 
Sp. Turranius L. f. .. Fab. Proculus Gellianus, under Tiberius, X 797, see also XIV 4176. 
L. Valerius Priscus Viennensis, V 2841.

Primi ordines : 
T. Flavius Domitianus, domo Nicomedia, hastatus leg., under Severus Alexander, Not. d. scavi 1883, 458. 
……..Florianus, Hastatos, Le Bas III 1903 a. 
L. Gerellanus Sex. f. Fab. Fronto, primipilus, CIL III 14387 g. h, under Nero. The same Gerellanus was tribunus in 65, Tac. Ann. XV 69. 
Gn. Pompeius Sex. f. Quir Homullus Aelius Gracilis Cassianus Longinus, p. p. (perhaps at the time of Domitian), CIL VI 1626. 
…….lius Sabinus, princeps, III 6638 = 1415515 (p. 2314). 
C. Sornatius C. f. Vel., prim. pil., at the time of Augustus, VI 3633. 
L. Velius L. f. Cla. Prudens, (trecenarius), under Trajan or possibly at the beginning of Hadrian’s reign, XI 7093 = Dessau 9189.

Centuriones: 
Aemi(lius) Licinianus (?), AE 1902.231. 
M. Antonius M. f. Coll. Sabinus Caesarea Augusta, CIL VIII 2808. 
... Augur (?), AE 1904.201. 
Aur(elius) Marcellinus, Cagnat IGR III 1204. 
M. Censorius M. f. Volt. Cornelianus, Nemauso, CIL VII 371. 
Ti. Claudius Ti. f. Quir. Ulpianus, domo Laodicea, III 8186. 
M. Dom(itius) Iul. Honoratus, is str(ator) of legat. leg. X Fret. and perhaps Centurio of this legion, III 6641. 
Granius Proculus, III 6697. 
Q. Iulius C. f. Quir. Aquila, at the time of Hadrian or Antoninus Pius, VIII 15872. 
… Octavius Secundus Curib. Sap(inis), at the time of Hadrian, III 7334. 
L. Petronius L. f. Pup. Sabinus Foro Brent., XI 6055. 
M. Septimius M. f. Fab. Magnus, 7 leg. X Fr. II, CIL III 186. 
M. Septimius M. [f. Fab ……]lis, [7 leg. X] Fret. II, Dessau 9201. 
M Titius M. f. Cl. Ti. Barbius Titianus, CIL III 3846. 
[P. Treptius M. f. Attius, (7 leg. X), XI 394.] 
L. Valerius T. f. Fab. Celer, at the time of Nero, III 14387g. 
Volusius Magnus, VI 3614. 
Unknown, III 6192 (13586. 141552?). AE 1904.91 (?).

Soldier‘s origins 
Galatia: Ancyra (CIL VI 3614), Pessinus (VI 3627). Syria: Gadara (III 6697).

Names of the legion 
leg. X (or decimani) by Tacitus and Josephus, see also Cass. Dio LV 23, who in the case of this legion exceptionally omitted the epithet; on coins of the colonies in Patrae and Ptolemais. On inscriptions, which could be certainly ascribed to the Fretensis,

[1678] 
the epithet is missing only very rarely, for instance CIL X 797 3887 (?). 
leg. X Fretensis, already since Augustus, VI 3636, see also X 3890. Abbreviation of the title FR for instance III 6638. 6641. 6697 (on brick-stamps also F), but usually Fret. But generally the title was mostly written out, particularly outside the Orient. 
leg. Fr(etensis) Antoniniana, CIL III 3472. 6641. 
leg. X Fretensis p(ia) f(idelis), only on coins of Victorius, Cohen VI2 p. 75 no. 62. 
leg. X [Fretensis] felix is misread, CIL III 190 = 6045, if really the legion is mentioned here, then FELIC = felic(iter) is not its epithet. leg. X EQV ..., on an inscription from Patrae, CIL III 508; is certainly incorrectly read.
It is questionable, whether the leg. X Veneria CIL V 4191 can be related to the Fretensis.
<hr>
 The function of praefectus tironum in Mauretania (AE 1921.21) set up by a veteran of the X Fret. who seems to be settled in Volubilis (Mauret. Tingit.), is based on the order concerning his person only and has no relation to the history of the legion.

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