Legio IIII Scythica PDF Print E-mail
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Legio IIII Scythica
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[1558]
the following served as Military tribunes in the legion: T. Clodius Pro[culus ?] under Augustus (CIL  X  680), Mamius Murrius Umber (Ephem. epigr. VIII  p. 415 No. 144) and Q. Veranius Q. f. at about the year 34 CE (Cagnat  IGR  III  703); the later emperor Vespasian must have carried out his first war service (Suet. Vespas. 2) around 27 CE in IIII Scythica (or V Macedonica), perhaps he participated in thrashing the rebellion of the Thracians, which had broken out in 26 / 27 CE (Tac. ann.  IV  46 ff.). An unknown primuspilus (CIL  X  1711) served likewise still under the rule of Tiberius or Caligula in this legion; just as perhaps so did the Centurio Pomponius Aquila (Année épigr. 1915 No. 115), as well as veterans from Mediolanum (CIL  V  5595 and 5828), who were dismissed from the legion in this time. Records at the permanent camp of the legion in Moesia refers also the promotion of the veteran  L. Campanius Verecundus to signifer and further to centurio of  coh. I  Cisipadensium (CIL  V  8185).  A cohors that still later belonged to the Moesian army (as is well known, promotions from old legionary soldiers to non-commissioned officers of the auxilia took place only within the same Provincial  exercitus). In addition the Centurio Etuvius Capreolus from Vienna, who served 35 years with IIII Scythica (Dessau 9090) and rose from the ranks to Centurionate, and was conscripted at the latest, in the time of Tiberius.

3. Due to a corrupt or misunderstood indication of Tacitus, a transfer of IIII Scythica to the Rhine has been assumed in many cases to have occurred at the beginning of the reign of Claudius to reinforce the oriental army in the first years of Nero   adiectaque ex Germania legio cum equitibus alariis. ... (Tac. ann. XIII  35). The suggestion that this legion was detached to Syria can only be IIII Scythica may be now after longer hesitation possibly be XII Fulminata or III Gallica instead (see Filow Legionen der Provinz Mösien  8  Anmerkung 6 - 11), and is accepted generally. But to suggest the previous dispatching of the legion to the Rhine army (upper or lower Rhine ?) in connection with the war in Britannia is to be regarded as virtually excluded, if one regards the entire military-political conditions and customs, as has been stated in detail by Filow, 9 and 19. Since in view of the uniform representation a simple handwritten corruption is hardly to be assumed, an extensive mistake or a misunderstanding therefore must be the reason for the words of Tacitus   ex Germania. If Tacitus could believed capable of such, might be assumed that he meant in his source with Germania being not the country, but a little known location, such as a permanent camp of the legion, if such details in his source can be expected to be accurate at all. A place of this name, lying in the 5th century on the border between Upper Moesia and Thrace (-Greek- èch Germnías, è Thrachôn te chaì  Illuriôn metaxù cheìtai,   Procop. bell. Vand. I  11, 21)  and  Jirecek (Arch.-epigr. Mitt.  X  1886,

 
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