Everything about Legio Vii Gemina totally explained
Legio VII Gemina (
Twin) was a
Roman legion; its full name was
Legio VII Gemina Felix. VII
Gemina dates back to the
Year of the four emperors (
69), when the governor of
Hispania Tarraconensis,
Galba, levied a legion to march on
Rome. The legion was still in the city called Legio VII Gemina (modern
León) in
Hispania Tarraconensis at the end of the fourth century. The emblem of this legion is unknown.
Tacitus calls the legion "Galbiana", to distinguish it from the old
Legio VII Claudia, but this appellation isn't found on any inscriptions. It appears to have received the appellation of "Gemina" on account of its amalgamation by
Vespasian with one of the German legions, not improbably the
Legio I Germanica.
After serving in
Pannonia, and in the civil wars, it was settled by Vespasian in Hispania Tarraconensis, to supply the place of the
Legio VI Victrix and
Legio X Gemina, two of the three legions ordinarily stationed in the province, but which had been withdrawn to
Germania. That its regular winter quarters, under later emperors, were at Leon, we learn from the
Antonine Itinerary,
Ptolemy, and the
Notitia Imperii, as well as from a few inscriptions; but there are numerous inscriptions to prove that a strong detachment of it was stationed at Tarraco (modern
Tarragona), the chief city of the province. The following are a selection, in order of time:
» In the inscriptions the legion has the surnames of "
P. F. ANTONINIANA", "
P. F. ALEXANDRIANA", and "
P. F. SEVERIANA ALEXANDRIANA"; and its name occurs in a
Greek inscription as ΛΕΤ. Ζ. ΔΙΔύμη, while another mentions a χιλίαρχον ἐν Ἱσπανίᾳ λεγεῶνος ἑβδόμης. There is an inscription in which is found a "Tribunus Militum
LEG. VII. GEMINAE FELICIS IN GERMANIA", from a comparison of which with two inscriptions found in Germany, it has been inferred that the legion was employed on an expedition into Germany under
Alexander Severus, and that this circumstance gave rise to the erroneous designation of Γερμανική in the text of Ptolemy.
The station of this legion in Asturias grew into an important city that after the invasions of 409 AD in Spain, became part of the
Suevic Kingdom, which resisted the attacks of the
Visigoths til
586, when it was taken by
Leovigild; and it was one of the few cities which the Visigoths allowed to retain their fortifications. See
León.
Popular Culture
The Roman bridge over the
Tamega River in
Chaves, then
Aquae Flaviae, was built by the stationed legionaries of the Legio VII
Gemina at the time of
Trajan. The Portuguese pop / rock music group of the
1980's and
1990's Sétima Legião, from
Chaves, took its name from it (
see Portuguese rock and Culture of Portugal).
Further Information
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