Legio XII Fulminata
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de:Legio XII Fulminata fr:Legio XII Fulminata Legio XII Fulminata (wielder of the thunderbolt), also known as Paterna, Victrix, or Antiqua, was originally levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC and accompanied him during the Gallic wars until 49 BC. The unit was still guarding the Euphrates crossing near Melitene at the beginning of the 5th century. The legion's emblem was a thunderbolt (fulmen).
The Twelfth legion fought in the battle against the Nervians, and probably also in the siege of Alesia. The Twelfth fought at the battle of Pharsalus (48 BC), when Caesar defeated Pompey. After Caesar won the civil war, the legion was named Victrix, and enlisted in 43 BC by Lepidus and Mark Anthony. Mark Anthony led the Twelfth, renamed XII Antiqua (of consolidated quality) during his campaign against the Parthian Empire.
During the latest part of Augustus' principality, XII Fulminata served in Syria, camping at Raphana.
In the East, the king Vologeses I had invaded Armenia (58), a client kingdom of Rome. Nero ordered to Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, the new legatus of Cappadocia, to manage the matter, and Corbulo brought the IV Scythica from Moesia, and with III Gallica and VI Ferrata defeated the Parths, restoring Tigranes on Armenian throne. In 62, IV Scythica and XII Fulminata, commanded by the new legatus of Cappadocia, Lucius Caesennius Paetus, were defeated by the Parthians at battle of Rhandeia and forced to surrender. The legions were covered with shame, removed from the war theatre, and did not partecipate to the successful campaign of Corbulo.
In 66, after a Zealot revolt had destroyed the Roman garrison in Jerusalem, the XII Fulminata, with vexillationes of IV Scythica and VI Ferrata, was sent to settle the matter, but sent back by Gaius Cestius Gallus, legatus of Syria, when he saw that the legion was weak. On its way back, XII Fulminata was ambushed and defeated by Eleazar ben Simon at Beit-Horon, and lost its aquila. However, XII Fulminata fought well in the last part of the war, and supported its commander T. Flavius Vespasian in his successful bid for the imperial throne. At the end of the war, XII Fulminata and XVI Flavia Firma were sent to guard the Euphrates border.
See also
- List of Roman legions and Roman legion
- livius.org account (http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/xii_fulminata.html)
- Legio XII Fulminata Cohors I (http://cf.geocities.com/legioqc/), French re-enactment group