Legio XIII History?

[Titus Juventius Tertius]

So I've been trying to research legions that were active during the reign of Caesar (Julius) and Octavian (Augustus). The XIII or 13th seems to have been fairly active in the battles during that time period but there's not much information about the legion itself. What I mean is, it was just "XIII".

What was needed for a legion to attain a "surname" or cognomen? I know that later on it was given the name, "XIII Gemina". But did it ever hold any other name like "Gallica"? Maybe they didn't have much of an impact then. Did they ever pick up the name Augusta when re-constructed by the Emperor or just Gemina (the twin legion) during that period?

The XIII like many other legions suffer from a lot of blank holes and "implied" or suspected involvements in battles. Does anyone have any detailed information on the legion other than what you might find on say Wikipedia or http://www.livius.org ?

Thanks guys! I'm trying to focus my efforts on a few legions with the hopes of being able to become fairly familiar with their activities (for possible projects in the future).

If this units history was discussed before, I'd love a link. I searched for it and found it mentioned only twice (two threads) on the forums. Four if you include two of mine. There's what appears to be an Austrian reenactment unit that depicts the XIII but alas, I can't understand a word they're saying on their site.

[Jona Lendering]

Have you tried Ritterling and the additions in Wolff's article in Le Bohec?

[Titus Juventius Tertius]

No I haven't. Is it on the web? I'll see if I can't find something.

[Jona Lendering]

No I haven't. Is it on the web? I'll see if I can't find something.

Mo, you should visit the library - as we always must, because the web is not a substitute for the library, yet.

[Currahee Chris]

I seem to recall reading they were probably at Alesia and the invasion of Britain, though I am not 100% sure where I read it.

Cheers
CC

[Titus Juventius Tertius]

I'd never heard of them being in Britain at all... so that would be some most interesting news if you had a source. I only know of four Legions that served during the invasion unless you're referring to Caesar's first series of invasions?

[Currahee Chris]

I'd never heard of them being in Britain at all... so that would be some most interesting news if you had a source. I only know of four Legions that served during the invasion unless you're referring to Caesar's first series of invasions?

Again, I believe I may have read it during Caesar's first invasions- sorry for the miscommunication. :oops:

Cheers
CC