Legio IV Italica
The Legio IV Italica ("Italian Fourth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army raised in AD 231 by emperor Alexander Severus. The legion remained in existence as late as AD 400.
History
The legion was raised during the reign of Alexander Severus in 231, with Italian and Pannonian soldiers, and perhaps took soon part in the expedition against the Sassanids in 231–231.[1]
Its first commander was an Equestrian praefectus legionis Maximinus Thrax, the former common soldier and future emperor; reflecting the growing trend of appointed equestrian legati in place of senatorial ones.[2]
The legion participated in all of Maximinus' campaigns in the Danubian area in 235–238.[3] Under Gordian III, it returned to the eastern frontier in 242–244 to fight the Sassanids under the prefect Serapamo,[4] with its base set perhaps in the province of Mesopotamia.[5][dubious – discuss] Nischer speculates it may have later been based in the Gaul under Diocletian.[6]
The Notitia dignitatum attests the unit as a pseudo-comitatenses legion under the magister militum per Orientem. It perhaps survived until the reformation of Justinian in 545.[7]
See also
References
- ^ Herodian, VI, 3.1; Parker, 176.
- ^ Herodian, VI, 8.2–3; Historia Augusta, "The Two Maximini", 5.5; Gonzales, vol.I, p. 165.
- ^ Gonzales, p.166
- ^ Historia Augusta, "The Three Gordians", 25.2; Ritterling, c.1326; Gonzales, p.166.
- ^ Luttwak, p. 231–232; Gonzales, p. 166.
- ^ J.Kromayer e G.Veith, p.483, map 54, illustration 147; Nischer, p. 22.
- ^ Diehl, p. 146; Runciman, p. 125; Gonzales, p. 166.
Sources
Primary sources
- Herodian, Storia dell'Impero dopo Marco Aurelio, VI.
- Historia Augusta, "The Two Maximini". Note that the Historia Augusta is a late-4th-century hoax.
- Notitia dignitatum, Orientis.
Secondary sources
- C. Diehl, Justinienne et la civilisation byzantine au VI siecle, vol.I, New York 1901.
- Gonzalez, Julio Rodriguez (2003). Historia de las legiones Romanas (in Spanish). Madrid.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - J. Kromayer e G. Veith, Heerwessen und kriegfuhrung die griechen und romer, Munich, 1928.
- E. Luttwak, La grande strategia dell'impero romano, Milan, 1976.
- J. C. Mann, A note on the legion IV Italica, ZPE 126, Bonn.
- E. C. Nischer, The army reforms of Dioclatian and Constantine and their modifications up to the time of the Notitia Dignitatum, Journal of Roman Studies n.13, Londra 1923.
- H. M. D. Parker, "The legions of Diocletian and Constantine", in Journal of Roman Studies 23, 1933, London.
- Ritterling, Emil, [1]
- S. Runciman, La civilizacion bizantina, Madrid 1942.
- v
- t
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- Legio I Adiutrix
- Legio I Armeniaca
- Legio I Flavia Constantia
- Legio I Germanica
- Legio I Illyricorum
- Legio I Iovia
- Legio I Isaura Sagittaria
- Legio I Italica
- Legio I Macriana liberatrix
- Legio I Maximiana
- Legio I Minervia
- Legio I Parthica
- Legio II Adiutrix
- Legio II Armeniaca
- Legio II Augusta
- Legio II Flavia Constantia
- Legio II Flavia Virtutis
- Legio II Gallica
- Legio II Herculia
- Legio II Isaura
- Legio II Italica
- Legio II Parthica
- Legio II Traiana Fortis
- Legio III Augusta
- Legio III Cyrenaica
- Legio III Diocletiana
- Legio III Gallica
- Legio III Isaura
- Legio III Italica
- Legio III Parthica
- Legio IV Flavia Felix
- Legio IV Italica
- Legio IV Macedonica
- Legio IV Martia
- Legio IV Scythica
- Legio V Alaudae
- Legio V Iovia
- Legio V Macedonica
- Legio V Parthica
- Legio VI Ferrata
- Legio VI Herculia
- Legio VI Hispana
- Legio VI Victrix
- Legio VII Claudia
- Legio VII Gemina
- Legio VIII Augusta
- Legio IX Hispana
- Legio X Equestris
- Legio X Fretensis
- Legio X Gemina
- Legio XI
- Legio XI Claudia
- Legio XII Fulminata
- Legio XIII Gemina
- Legio XIV Gemina
- Legio XV Apollinaris
- Legio XV Primigenia
- Legio XVI Flavia Firma
- Legio XVI Gallica
- Legio XVII
- Legio XVIII
- Legio XIX
- Legio XX Siciliana
- Legio XX Valeria Victrix
- Legio XXI Rapax
- Legio XXII Deiotariana
- Legio XXII Primigenia
- Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix