Legio XX

Apart from a short period when Roman Chester was first built the Roman force here was Legio XX. Roman historian Cassius Dio writes of them:


 * "…the Twentieth, called both Valeria and Victrix, in Upper Britain. All these I believe, were the troops which Augustus took over and kept, together with the legion known as the Twenty-Second, which is quartered in Germany. The legion I have entitled Valeria is not given this name by all, and in fact no longer uses that designation. At any rate these are the legions which are still in service today, out of those maintained by Augustus himself and by other emperors, in consequence of which such legions have come to bear the name Gemina.” - Cassius Dio, Roman History (LV.23.6-7)

There are many issues with Legio XX:


 * when/where was it formed, or when/where was it disbanded?;
 * what were they called (nicknamed) and when and how did they get that name?;

Meaning of "Valeria and Victrix"
It is often said that the name of Legio XX is "Valeria Victrix" meaning "Valiant and Victorious". However, that might not be completely accurate. The passage from Dio ( c. 155 – c. 235) quoted above is the first mention of the "name" of Legio XX, and has been a source of some scholarly disagreement. Part of the problem arises due to scholars adding "VV" to the text of inscriptions when recording them, even if the original stone does not contain these letters.

Inscriptions which actually feature "VV"
Here are some examples of inscriptions which actually contain "VV":


 * RIB 1430 - Hadrian's Wall;
 * RIB 1645 - Hadrian's Wall;
 * RIB 1093 - Hadrian's Wall;
 * RIB 1708 - Hadrian's Wall
 * RIB 2210 - Camelon fort;
 * RIB 1020 - Cumbria (?);
 * RIB 1166 - Hadrian's Wall;
 * RIB 1204 - Hadrian's Wall;
 * RIB 2184 - Antonine Wall;

The earliest which can be dated are from Gloucester (RIB 3069) and Carvoran (RIB 1826) and many are from Hadrian's Wall. Even RIB 3069 is problematic as the stone was recovered after re-use in the cathedral at Gloucester and the original context is not known. So there is only a single stone bearing the motto "Valeria Victrix" which can potentially be dated to Legio XX in Gloucester. The Roman legionary fortress of Burrium was founded on the River Usk by the military commander Aulus Didius Gallus, around AD 55. He moved his XX Valeria Victrix legion into the area from its earlier base at Glevum (Gloucester). In AD 66, the legion was (possibly) transferred to Viroconium Cornoviorum (at Wroxeter) and their base in Wales was largely abandoned. The only evidence for Legio XX at Viroconium is a single tombstone (RIB 293 which does not use VV).

...from Valerius Messalinus? (see: Legio XX Valeria Victrix)
One opinion holds that the honorific has two parts, one (Valeria) derived from the family (clan or gens) name of Valerius Messalinus, under whose command Legio XX gained distinction in suppressing the revolt of the Pannonians and Dalmatians in AD 6-9. This view was first put forward by Emil Ritterling in 1925.

Messallinus was born and raised in Rome. He was the oldest son of the famous senator, orator and literary patron Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus whom he resembled in character, from wife Calpurnia. Messallinus is known to have had at least one sister, Valeria, who married the Senator Titus Statilius Taurus. From his father’s second marriage, his younger paternal half-brother was the Senator Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus. Messallinus was the great-uncle of Lollia Paulina, the third wife of Emperor Caligula, and a relation to Statilia Messalina, the third wife of Emperor Nero. In AD 6, Messallinus served as a governor in Illyricum. During his time in Illyricum, he served with Tiberius with distinction in a campaign against the Pannonians and Dalmatians in the uprising of the Great Illyrian Revolt (Bellum Batonianum) with the half-strength Legio XX. In one battle the legion cut through the enemy lines, was surrounded, and cut its way out again. Messallinus defeated the Pannonii, led by Bato the Daesitiate, and prevented spread of the uprising. For his defeat over Bato, Messallinus was rewarded with a triumphal decoration (ornamenta triumphalia) and a place in the procession during Tiberius’ Pannonian triumph in AD 12, four years after the death of his father. Tacitus notes that Messallinus, along with Caecina Severus, proposed a golden statue be placed in the temple of Mars the Avenger (Mars Ultor), and an altar dedicated to Vengeance, in celebration of the execution/suicide of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso.



McPake argues against the notion that Legio XX acquired its title in honor of its commander. It would have been the only legion to have done so and, presumably, its honorific would have appeared on at least one other inscription in the more than half a century that followed. Yet, of all those that mention the Twentieth Legion, there is no epigraphic evidence datable before AD 60 that shows any indication of the name. Only in inscriptions from the late first century AD do the initial letters VV or Val Vic begin to appear. However a number of unusual privileges did attach to this family, including the right to burial within the city walls, and a special place for its members in the Circus Maximus, where the unique honour of a throne was granted them. The house built by Publius Valerius Publicola at the foot of the Velian Hill was the only one whose doors were permitted to open into the street. The historian Niebuhr conjectured that, during the transition from the monarchy to the Republic, the Valerii were entitled to exercise royal power on behalf of the Titienses, one of the three Romulean tribes that made up the Roman people.

...from "Valeria" (valiant)? (see:Legio XX Valeria Victrix)
McPake contends, Valeria is derived from valeo (which the Oxford Latin Dictionary defines as “to possess, or have predominance in, military or political power, resources, etc.”) and personifies its qualities of strength and well-being, luck and good omen, in much the same way that Martia represents the warlike qualities of Mars. Nor was Legio XX the only military unit to hold this title. Cohors I Breucorum also was known as Valeria Victrix (in german), which must have been given that title quite independently of a commander called Valerius or events in Britain. Cohors Breucorum was an important Roman castrum located in western Mauretania Caesariensis (located at Takhemaret in what is now Algeria). Curiously, the name was given because it was under the control of the Cohors of the "Breuci", a tribe from ancient Illyria, where the abovementioned revolt took place. An example of the use of VV by the Cohors I Breucorum (from a stone near Ingolstadt) can be found in EDCS;

...from "Victorious Black Eagle"? (see; Legio XX Valeria Victrix)


Incidentally, the cap-badge of the Mercian Regiment, formed by amalgamation including the Cheshire Regiment is derived from the double-headed eagle used as a personal emblem by Leofric, Earl of Chester (see: Dark Ages) and that this could this be a corntinuous tradition from the Roman eagle, through the Mercian Eagle to the eagle of the regiment (this also featured as a pub sign in Castle Street).

This may be a based on a mistranslation of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History (10.3 ‘melanaetos a Graecis dicta, eadem in valeria’). Pliny's source was Aristotle's Historia animalium (9, chapter 32) which might be read as "hare-eagle" (leporaria). Unfortunately early editions of english translations of Pliny contained the error:


 * "The one cailed by the Greeks the black eagle, and also the hare-eagle, is smallest in size and of outstanding strength ; it is of a blackish colour. It is the only eagle that rears its own young, whereas all the others, as we shall describe, drive tliem away; and it is the only one that has no scream or cry."

and this led some to believe that "Valeria" meant black eagle. Later translations make it clear that Aristotle calls it "the hare-killing eagle". It is not at all clear which type of eagle Aristotle is referring to. The smallest eagle is the Booted eagle which breeds in southern Europe, North Africa and across Asia, but it is not "black". There are two relatively distinct plumage forms. Pale birds are mainly light grey with a darker head and flight feathers. The other form has mid-brown plumage with dark grey flight feathers. It hunts small mammals, reptiles and (mainly) smaller birds.

...after the Boudican revolt?
Probably the best-known event in the history of Legio XX is the defeat of Boudicca's Revolt in 60. The Roman governor Suetonius Paulinus was just completing the eradication of a Druid stronghold in northwest Wales (Angelsey) when he got word of the revolt. The rebels had sacked and burned three undefended towns, including London, and had ambushed and wiped out part of Legio IX Hispana, which had been rushing to the scene (although the Roman cavalry contingent escaped cleanly--some ambush!). Paulinus force-marched his army--Legio XIIII Gemina, most of Legio XX, ans some auxiliaries--across the province, and met Boudicca's vastly larger force head on. In the resulting battle, the Britons were completely crushed, and Roman losses were minimal.

Legio XX had no cognomen apart from its double honorific, which appears to have been awarded only after the Boudican revolt, at the same time and for the same reason, that Legio XIV Gemina was similarly recognized with the title Martia Victrix. However even dating the use of "VV" to just after Boudicca's Revolt has its problems as there are very few examples and these are gravestones without dates. Just because a gravestone is found where the legion had been stationed at some point does not unambiguously date the stone to that time, as a person could have died while travelling, or may have retired to a veteran's colony elsewhere. Thus while it is certain that Legio XX were using the title Valeria Victrix when stationed on Hadrian's Wall (122-125) it is not clear how much earlier they used it. Perhaps notably, even though Tacitus writes about the role of Legio XX in the Boudican revolt, he never refers to the "VV" title even though his father in law was Agricola who was appointed to command of Legio XX in place of Marcus Roscius Coelius in 71. What Tacitus writes is:


 * "Agricola, having been sent by Mucianus to conduct a levy of troops, and having done his work with integrity and energy, was appointed to command the 20th Legion, which had been slow to take the new oath of allegiance, and the retiring officer of which was reported to be acting disloyally. It was a trying and formidable charge for even officers of consular rank, and the late praetorian officer, perhaps from his own disposition, perhaps from that of the soldiers, was powerless to restrain them. Chosen thus at once to supersede and to punish, Agricola, with a singular moderation, wished it to be thought that he had found rather than made an obedient soldiery."

It is surely surprising that Tacitus does not mention the cognomen of the Legio XX if it had been awarded prior to Agricola's recall from Britain in 85.

...under Domitian?
Titus Flavius Caesar Domitianus Augustus; (24 October 51 – 18 September 96 AD) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. He was the younger brother of Titus and the son of Vespasian, his two predecessors on the throne, and the last member of the Flavian dynasty. During his reign, the authoritarian nature of his rule put him at sharp odds with the Senate, whose powers he drastically curtailed. He honoured certain legions in 89 by granting them the title "Domitiana". Domitian's reign came to an end in AD 96 when he was assassinated by court officials. He was succeeded the same day by his advisor Nerva. After his death, Domitian's memory was "condemned to oblivion" by the Roman Senate, while senatorial authors such as Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Suetonius propagated the view of Domitian as a cruel and paranoid tyrant. Modern revisionists instead have characterized Domitian as a ruthless but efficient autocrat whose cultural, economic, and political programs provided the foundation of the peaceful second century.



RIB 449 is a fragment of a right jamb, with rebate, from the edge of a door or niche, with only the left margin intact. It was found (1897) in Shoemaker’s Row, Northgate Street, Chester, in debris near the bases of what may have been a colonnade in the Headquarters Building of the fortress and is now in the Grosvenor Museum. After V.V. a title beginning D...... has been erased. It has been said that this cannot be "Domitiana", because the formula was p(ia) f(idelis) D(omitiana), and Legio XX was not one of the group of units which in a.d. 89 received this honour from Domitian. However if it was a reference to an honour granted by Domitian this wouldd fit with the lack of any mention in Tacitus' "Agricola". In 93, Agricola died on his family estates in Gallia Narbonensis aged fifty-three. Rumours circulated attributing the death to a poison administered by the Emperor Domitian, but no positive evidence for this was ever produced. Not long after Agricola's recall from Britain, the Roman Empire entered into war with the Kingdom of Dacia in the East. Reinforcements were needed, and in 87 or 88, Domitian ordered a large-scale strategic withdrawal of troops in the British province. The fortress at Inchtuthil, being built by Legio XX, was dismantled and the Caledonian forts and watchtowers abandoned, moving the Roman frontier some 120 kilometres (75 mi) further south. The army command may have resented Domitian's decision to retreat, but to him the Caledonian territories never represented anything more than a loss to the Roman treasury.

As noted above "VV" is used at the Carvoran Fort. These include RIB 1779 and RIB 1826. RIB 1826 is probably Flavian in style and so possibly dates from before the death of Domitian (AD 96). It also has the "VV". The full text reads "Gaius Valerius Iullus, son of Gaius of the Voltinian voting-tribe, from Vienne, soldier of the Twentieth Legion Valeria Victrix."

History of Legio XX
Direct references to Legio XX are largely confined to the first century and the events of AD 6, AD 14-16, AD 60 and AD 69. The written sources for the history of Legio XX are:


 * Velleius Paterculus (c. 19 BC – c. AD 31): His History (Latin: Historiae), written in a highly rhetorical style, covers the period from the end of the Trojan War to the death of Livia in AD 29, but is most useful for the period from the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. to the death of Augustus in 14 AD;


 * Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (c.  56 – c.  120 AD) lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature, and is known for the brevity and compactness of his Latin prose, as well as for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics. The text of Tacitus is available online;


 * Cassius Dio ( c. 155 – c. 235) was a Roman statesman and historian of Greek and Roman origin. He published 80 volumes of history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the subsequent founding of Rome (753 BC), the formation of the Republic (509 BC), and the creation of the Empire (31 BC), up until 229 AD. Written in ancient Greek over 22 years, Dio's work covers approximately 1,000 years of history. Many of his 80 books have survived intact, or as fragments, providing modern scholars with a detailed perspective on Roman history;


 * Ptolemy (c. AD 100 – c. 170) was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer and astrologer. He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt.


 * The Antonine Itinary is a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly from a survey carried out under Augustus. Almost nothing is known of its date or author. Scholars consider it likely that the original edition was prepared at the beginning of the 3rd century. Although it is traditionally ascribed to the patronage of the 2nd-century Antoninus Pius, the oldest extant copy has been assigned to the time of Diocletian and the most likely imperial patron—if the work had one—would have been Caracalla.

Prior to Britain
The original founding of Legio XX may have been as early as 40 BC, for one of Octavian's campaigns. The legion possibly played a part in his Actium campaign and his victory over Antony and Cleopatra, in 31 BC, which brought to an end the "Final War of the Roman Republic". If not, it may have been formed shortly thereafter.

Legio XX was probably part of the large Roman force that fought in the Cantabrian Wars in Hispania from 25 to 19 BC. However, that may be a misunderstanding based on the use of wings on coins struck in connection with the wars and a wrong interpretation of the name "Valeria" as meaning eagle.

Legio XX was afterwards based in Illyricum (Yugoslavia). This may shed some light both on the name of the legion and it's genetic impact on the population of North Wales.

In the great Pannonian revolt of 6 AD, Velleius Paterculus (c. 19 BC – c. AD 31) records (2.112) that Legio XX served with distinction. During one battle the legion broke through the enemy lines, but then became cut off and surrounded, and had to fight its way back out again.

After Publius Quinctilius Varus' disasterous defeat in 9 AD and the destruction of Legio XVII, XVIII and XIV, Tacitus records that Legio XX was moved to Cologne and then to Neuss in Germany, and in the following years took part in Germanicus' punitive campaigns across the Rhine. In 21, a mixed subunit of Legio XX and XXI Rapax, commanded by an officer from I Germanica, was sent out to suppress the rebellion of the Turoni in Gaul, who had revolted against the heavy Roman taxation under a nobleman named Julius Sacrovir and Julius Florus. Almost twenty years later, the Twentieth was employed during the Germanic war of Caligula. The details, however, are not fully understood.

In Britain
Legio XX was part of the army sent by Emperor Claudius to invade Britain in 43 AD. Its first base was Camulodunum (Colchester), then it moved west in 47 or 49, possibly to Kingsholm (near Gloucester), and probably to Usk shortly afterwards (57). There was sporadic fighting against such famous enemies as Caratacus, and against the Silures and Ordovices in south-eastern Wales.

Probably the best-known event in the history of Legio XX is the defeat of Boudica's Revolt in 60. At the time Legio XX was engaged (under Suetonius Paulinus) in mopping-up the Druids in North Wales as described by Tacitus:


 * "He prepared accordingly to attack the island of Mona, which had a considerable population of its own, while serving as a haven for refugees; and, in view of the shallow and variable channel, constructed a flotilla of boats with flat bottoms. By this method the infantry crossed; the cavalry, who followed, did so by fording or, in deeper water, by swimming at the side of their horses. On the beach stood the adverse array, a serried mass of arms and men, with women flitting between the ranks. In the style of Furies, in robes of deathly black and with dishevelled hair, they brandished their torches; while a circle of Druids, lifting their hands to heaven and showering imprecations, struck the troops with such an awe at the extraordinary spectacle that, as though their limbs were paralysed, they exposed their bodies to wounds without an attempt at movement. Then, reassured by their general, and inciting each other never to flinch before a band of females and fanatics, they charged behind the standards, cut down all who met them, and enveloped the enemy in his own flames. The next step was to install a garrison among the conquered population, and to demolish the groves consecrated to their savage cults: for they considered it a duty to consult their deities by means of human entrails. — While he was thus occupied, the sudden revolt of the province was announced to Suetonius."

The cause of the revolt appears to have been ill-treatment by the Romans of the Iceni, especially by retired veterans.

Marcus Roscius Coelius (or Caelius) was the legate of the Legio XX in 68 AD. He was on bad terms with the provincial governor, Marcus Trebellius Maximus, and took the opportunity during the turmoil of the year of four emperors to foment mutiny against him. Trebellius lost all authority with the army, which sided with Coelius, and fled to the protection of Vitellius in Germania. Coelius and his fellow legates briefly ruled the province until Vitellius, now emperor, sent Marcus Vettius Bolanus to be the new governor in late 69. In 69 AD a vexillation was sent to support Vitellius in his brief term on the Imperial throne. Legio XX seems to have fought against its old comrades in Legio XIIII in the Battle of Cremona. The year of civil war ended when Vespasian took the Empire. In 71 he recalled Coelius, whose treacherous behaviour had been made known to him, and replaced him as commander of the XX Valeria Victrix with Gnaeus Julius Agricola.

In 83 another vexillation participated in Emperor Domitian's war against the Chatti, and the next year the legion was with Agricola's campaign into the far north of Britain. Legio XX was to have been based at Inchtuthil in Scotland, and began building a fortress there called Victoria the northernmost Roman fortification in the Empire. But, in 84, before construction was completed, the decision was made to withdraw from the region. The undoubtedly disgruntled legionaries completely demolished the fortress and moved back to the Welsh border (Wroxeter). In the early 90s they moved into the fort of Deva (Chester), which Legio XX was to call home for the next two hundred years.

There was still much activity, however. The men of Legio XX helped build both Hadrian's Wall (122-125) and the Antonine Wall (c. 140). In the years between 155 and 158, a widespread revolt occured in northern Britain, requiring heavy fighting by the British legions. They suffered severely, and reinforcements had to be brought in from the two Germanic provinces. In 196, governor Clodius Albinus of Britannia attempted to become emperor. The British legions were ferried to the continent, but were defeated by the lawful ruler Lucius Septimius Severus in the spring of 197. When the legions returned to their island, they found the province overrun by northern tribes. Punitive actions did not deter the tribesmen, and in 208, Severus came to Britain, in an attempt to conquer Scotland.

A vexillation was sent to Germany in 255, and from there to the Danube and apparently never returned to Britain.

Under Caracalla (Severus' son - formally Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus), the unit added "Antoniniana" to its titles, but this was dropped about 222. Emperor Trajan Decius (249-251) briefly added "Deciana" to the legion's name. The latest known reference to Legio XX is on coins struck by the usurper Carausius, who died in 294, in all, a unit history of nearly 350 years.

Genetic Impact of Legio XX
It has been suggested that the Romans left a genetic footprint in North Wales.In that context it is interesting to discuss the idea of “marriage” due to bachelor status being mandatory for members of the Roman army during the first and second centuries. Bachelor status may have been enforced to ensure a Roman soldier’s first and utmost obligation is to the Roman army and not to his wife and children. If a man was married prior to him joining the Roman army, his recruitment also declared him a bachelor and granted him a divorce from his wife. If a man was not married before he joined the Roman army, then he must remain unmarried while he is in the army. Nonetheless, soldiers had relations with women. Some of these relations led to more committed relationships that morphed into pseudo-family units, with the “wife” and children following behind the soldier’s camp.

The troops at Roman Chester had a settlement at Roman Prestatyn (where housing development may have destroyed much additional archaeology). Excavations in 1934-7 and from 1981 revealed elements of a first to second century Roman settlement that possibly extending into the 3rd century. The most prominent feature is a bathhouse of about 11.7m by 4.5m, but evidence of bronze working was also recovered. Prior occupation of the site was represented by traces of a roundhouse and other circular structures, together with an infant burial, dated to about 30 BC (AW 25 (1985) 29). Excavations in 1980 re-assessed the area of the 1930s excavations, revealing that rather than being an element of a Roman fort on the plateau to the north, the ditch ran south-south-east, forming part of an enclosure around the Melyd Avenue bath-house and industrial complex which was excavated in 1984/5. The bath-house was built in two stages, the initial one by Legio XX c. AD 120, with the later addition of a cold room and plunge bath, fed by a timber aqueduct. Bronze- and iron-smithing, and enamelling was conducted in adjacent, timber-built workshops, operating from c. AD 90/100 to c. AD 160. The other buildings found in the 1930s unquestionably form part of the same complex, now under a housing estate to the west of the bath-house. The current view is that these may signal a vicus-like settlement associated with a harbour installation designed for the shipment of lead and silver from nearby the mines, though its precise nature is unclear.

Genetic studies have revealed that there is a significant percentage of E1b1b1a2 haplogroup in Abergele. Membership in Y chromosome haplogroup E1b1b1a2 (E-V13) was found to average at 38.97% in a small sample of 18 male y-chromosomes in Abergele. (near Prestatyn) This genetic marker is found at its highest concentrations in the Balkans at over 40% in areas, but at much lower percentages in Northern Europe at less than 5%. The reason for drastically higher levels of E1b1b in Abergele has been argued as most likely due to the heavy Roman Army presence in Abergele. As this is a Y chromosome marker it is only inherited down the male line which means that males from the Balkans would have had to have joined the Roman army to pass on their genes. There is evidence of soldiers of Thracian origin who were members of Legio XX. One tombstone in the Grosvenor Museum is described as:


 * 523. Tombstone, 25 X 46 in., broken across the stool and also above the inscription.  Donatus reclines on a couch, and holds in his left hand a scroll, probably his will, and in his right a cup.  On the left his wife reclines behind him.  Found in 1887 in the North Wall (east part).  Now in the Grosvenor Museum.  Drawn by R. P. W., 1947. [Inscription]:  D(is) M(anibus) | C(a)ecilius Donatus B  |  essus na | tione mili  |  tauit ann | os XXVI uix  |  it annos XXXX.  (To the spirits of the departed, Caecilius Donatus, a Bessian tribesman, served 26 years and lived 40 years). The Bessi were a Thracian tribe. Since Donatus given no praenomen, tribe, or father’s names and uses the spelling Cecilius (for Caecilius), and as a legionary was recruited from a tribal area and not from a town, a third-century date seems certain.

Legio XX were in the Balkans before AD 9 and it is possible that some local males may have joined the legion. In the alternative the daughters of legionaries may have married local men and male offspring joined the legion. This would have introduced the "Balkan" genes into the legionary gene-pool.

Sources and links

 * Twentieth Legion Valeria Victrix - site on the history of the legion;
 * Malone, Stephen James (2005) Legio XX Valeria Victrix:a prosopographical and historical study. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.;
 * THE IMPERIAL ROMAN TWENTIETH LEGION: founded in 1991 to recreate the soldiers of the Roman Army for public demonstrations and living history displays.
 * A Note on the Cognomina of Legio XX" (1981) by R. McPake, Britannia, 12, 293-295;
 * Inscriptions class 1933 ‒ Legio XX Valeria Victrix;
 * Y Chromosome Evidence for Anglo-Saxon Mass Migration;
 * Haplogroup E3b1a2 as a Possible Indicator of Settlement in Roman Britain by Soldiers of Balkan Origin;
 * The Roman Bath House at Prestatyn;
 * The Roman Legions in Britain;
 * Inchtuthil;
 * The Carvoran Fort;