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)

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.

...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, 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 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.

...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.

History of Legio XX
The original founding of Legio XX may have been as early as 40 BC, for one of Octavian's campaigns. The legion was possibly y part of 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).

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.

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 Boudicca's Revolt in 60.

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. 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 Inchtuthill 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 Roman 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.

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;