Legions during the Jewish revolt

[L C Cinna]

Hi there,

I have a short question.

Titus army during the siege of Jerusalem consisted of legio V Macedonica, X Fretensis and XV Apollinaris.

Now while looking through the legions histories I read that VI Ferrata and XII Fulminata were in the area as well around the time of the revolt. Now my question is: what have they been doing during that war? Were they part of Vespasians army before he left and Titus took over command? or did they just guard the other asian provinces? any detatchemnts in combat during the war in Judaea or the civil war?

oh and where was Gallica, which was part of Corbulo's army? shouldn~t it have been in the area as well?

thank you very much!

yours
Cinna

[A_Volpe]

Supposedly a detatchment from Legion III Cyrenaica was also sent up to Jerusalem, possibly from thier Alexandria base in Egypt.

[Quintius Clavus]

Legio XII Fulminata was the one brought down by Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria, in the early stages of the revolt. They got to Jerusalem, then after some inconclusive fighting in the area, they abruptly pulled up stakes and headed away. The Jews, who couldn't believe what they were seeing, decided to give chase. End result was a legion suffering an ingnominious defeat, including the loss of their eagle. The eagle was later recovered when Titus took the city.
This is one example where losing the eagle did not end the legion's existance.
Legio III Gallica was one of the legions sent west by Vespasian to take on Vitellius' legions at the Battle of Second Cremona. It is the one about which Tacitus (The Histories) tells of the legion which turned eastward to salute the dawn, which in turn had the Vitellian legions thinking they were greeting reinforcements (because the Vespasianic legions had marched in from the east).

Marcus Quintius Clavus/Quinton

[Johnny Shumate]

What was so fatally weak about the legion that would allow a ragtag Jewish mob, armed mainly with slings and bows, to destroy a whole legion?
Johnny

[Antonius Lucretius]

Motivation, TNarcher, motivation...
The Jews fought for their homeland.. And they've always been ferocious fighters.
Besides, XII Fulminata found istelf in a very bad tactical position, apparently and was attacked during its march home, the worst time to enjoy such things. It lost not only its Eagle but also all its artillery and siege train.

[L C Cinna]

yes, just reread that part. they were attacked constantly by the jew who had occupied all the high ground around.

[Daniel S Peterson]

The legion was clearly not "destroyed". Harried and humbled, yes, but it lived on to fight another day. It was a situation similar to Varus' retreat, but not nearly so catastrophic. What should be understood in both of these situations, is that they could be considered "popular uprisings of vast human populations", and the Romans in both cases may have been outnumber anywhere from 10-1 to 50-1, thus explaining a Roman defeat.
Dan

[Johnny Shumate]

I'll admit the whole legion didn't get waxed, I think maybe 4 or 5 legionaires survived(just joking!).

What is amazing after reading the "Jewish War", is the fighting quality of the Jews. At Jotapata, when the first gangplank was lowered, the Jews kick the legionaire's back into the siege engine....
Johnny