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Legions: geographical overview

Chronological overview of legions

A Roman legion was an infantry unit, which consisted of heavily armed soldiers, equiped with shields, armor, helmets, spears and swords. In the early republic, the strength of a legion was about 3,000 men; there were 4,800 legionaries in the days of Julius Caesar; the twenty-five legions that defended the empire during the reign of Augustus counted more than 5,000. They were the backbone of the Roman army. However, in the third century, large cavalry units gradually superseded the legions.

There are two tables: the first one describes the imperial legions and mentions where they were stationed, the second describes the provinces and mentions the legions. Go here for a chronological catalogue.

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Legions and provinces

	14	68/69	74	150	200
I Adiutrix		Italy	Germania Superior	Pannonia Superior	Pannonia Superior
I Germanica	Germania Inferior	Germania Inferior	disbanded 70
I Italica		Gallia Lugdunensis	Moesia	Moesia Inferior	Moesia Inferior
I Macriana Liberatrix		Africa	disbanded 70
I Minervia				Germania Inferior	Germania Inferior
I Parthica					Mesopotamia
II Adiutrix			Britannia	Pannonia Inferior	Pannonia Inferior
II Augusta	Germania Superior	Britannia	Britannia	Britannia	Britannia
II Italica					Noricum
II Parthica					Italy
II Traiana Fortis				Aegyptus	Aegyptus
III Augusta	Africa	Africa	Africa	Africa	Africa
III Cyrenaica	Aegyptus	Aegyptus	Aegyptus	Arabia	Arabia
III Gallica	Syria	Moesia	Syria	Syria	Syria Phoenicia
III Italica					Raetia
III Parthica					Mesopotamia
IIII Macedonica	Hispania Tarracon.	Germania Superior	disbanded 70
IIII Flavia Felix			Dalmatia	Moesia Superior	Moesia Superior
IIII Scythica	Macedonia	Syria	Syria	Syria	Syria Coele
V Alaudae	Germania Inferior	Germania Inferior	disbanded 70
V Macedonica	Moesia	Judaea	Moesia	Moesia Inferior	Dacia
VI Ferrata	Syria	Syria	Syria	Palaestina	Palaestina
VI Victrix	Hispania Tarracon.	Hispania Tarracon.	Germania Inferior	Britannia	Britannia
VII Claudia	Dalmatia	Moesia	Dalmatia?	Moesia Superior	Moesia Superior
VII Galbiana		Pannonia
VII Gemina			Hispania Tarracon.	Hispania Tarracon.	Hispania Tarracon.
VIII Augusta	Pannonia	Moesia	Moesia	Germania Superior	Germania Superior
VIIII Hispana	Pannonia	Britannia	Britannia	disappears after 122
X Fretensis	Syria	Judaea	Judaea	Palaestina	Palaestina
X Gemina	Hispania Tarracon.	Pannonia	Germania Inferior	Pannonia Superior	Pannonia Superior
XI Claudia	Dalmatia	Moesia	Germania Superior	Moesia Inferior	Moesia Inferior
XII Fulminata	Syria	Syria	Cappadocia	Cappadocia	Cappadocia
XIII Gemina	Germania Superior	Pannonia	Pannonia	Dacia	Dacia
XIV Gemina	Germania Superior	Dalmatia	Germania Superior	Pannonia Superior	Pannonia Superior
XV Apollinaris	Pannonia	Judaea	Pannonia	Cappadocia	Cappadocia
XV Primigenia		Germania Inferior	disbanded 70
XVI Gallica	Germania Superior	Germania Inferior	disbanded 70
XVI Flavia Firma			Syria	Cappadocia	Cappadocia
XVII	destroyed 9
XVIII	destroyed 9
XIX	destroyed 9
XX Valeria Victrix	Germania Inferior	Britannia	Britannia	Britannia	Britannia
XXI Rapax	Germania Inferior	Germania Superior	Germania Inferior	destroyed 92
XXII Deiotariana	Aegyptus	Aegyptus	Aegyptus	disappears after 119
XXII Primigenia		Germania Superior	Germania Superior	Germania Superior	Germania Superior
XXX Ulpia Victrix				Germania Inferior	Germania Inferior

Provinces and legions

	14	68/69	74	150	200
Hispania Tarracon.	IIII Macedonica VI Victrix X Gemina	VI Victrix X Gemina	VII Gemina	VII Gemina	VII Gemina
Britannia		II Augusta VIIII Hispana XX Valeria Victrix	II Adiutrix II Augusta VIIII Hispana XX Valeria Victrix	II Augusta VI Victrix XX Valeria Victrix	II Augusta VI Victrix XX Valeria Victrix
Gallia Lugdunensis		I Italica
Germania Inferior	I Germanica V Alaudae XX Valeria Victrix XXI Rapax	I Germanica V Alaudae XV Primigenia XVI Gallica	VI Victrix X Gemina XXI Rapax XXII Primigenia	I Minervia XXX Ulpia Victrix	I Minervia XXX Ulpia Victrix
Germania Superior	II Augusta XIII Gemina XIV Gemina XVI Gallica	IIII Macedonica XXI Rapax XXII Primigenia	I Adiutrix VIII Augusta XI Claudia XIV Gemina	VIII Augusta XXII Primigenia	VIII Augusta XXII Primigenia
Raetia					III Italica
Noricum					II Italica Pia
Pannonia Superior	VIII Augusta XV Apollinaris		XIII Gemina XV Apollinaris	I Adiutrix X Gemina XIV Gemina	I Adiutrix X Gemina XIV Gemina
Pannonia Inferior	VIIII Hispana	XIII Gemina		II Adiutrix	II Adiutrix
Dalmatia	VII Claudia XI Claudia	XIV Gemina	VII Claudia
Moesia Superior	IIII Scythica	XI Claudia VIII Augusta	IIII Flavia	IIII Flavia VII Claudia	IIII Flavia VII Claudia
Moesia Inferior	V Macedonica	VII Claudia III Gallica	I Italica V Macedonica	I Italica XI Claudia	I Italica XI Claudia
Dacia				V Macedonica XIII Gemina	V Macedonica XIII Gemina
Cappadocia			XII Fulminata	XII Fulminata XV Apollinaris XVI Flavia	XII Fulminata XV Apollinaris XVI Flavia
Syria	III Gallica VI Ferrata X Fretensis XII Fulminata	IIII Scythica VI Ferrata XII Fulminata	III Gallica IIII Scythica VI Ferrata XVI Flavia	III Gallica IIII Scythica	III Gallica IIII Scythica
Mesopotamia					I Parthica III Parthica
Judaea (until 136) Palaestina (after 136)		V Macedonica X Fretensis XV Apollinaris	X Fretensis	VI Ferrata X Fretensis	VI Ferrata X Fretensis
Arabia				III Cyrenaica	III Cyrenaica
Aegyptus	III Cyrenaica XXII Deiotariana	III Cyrenaica XXII Deiotariana	III Cyrenaica XXII Deiotariana	II Traiana Fortis	II Traiana Fortis
Numidia	III Augusta	III Augusta	III Augusta	III Augusta	III Augusta
Italia		I Adiutrix			II Parthica

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