Legio IV Scythica

Legio IV Scythica ("Scythian Fourth Legion"), also written as Legio IIII Scythica,[1] was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in c. 42 BCE by the Roman general Mark Antony, for his campaign against the Parthian Empire, hence its other cognomen, Parthica. The legion was still active in the Roman province of Syria in the early 5th century.

Fourth Legion Scythica
Legio IV Scythica
Legio IIII Scythica
Legio Quarta Scythica
Map of the Roman Empire under the reign of Hadrian (125 CE), showing the Fourth Legion Scythica, stationed on the river Euphrates at Zeugma (near modern Gaziantep, Turkey), in the Roman province of Syria, from 68 CE until possibly the 4th century.
Activec. 42 BCE until 219 CE (confirmed)
CountryRoman Republic (closing years) and Roman Empire
TypeRoman legion
Coin issued by Philip the Arab for his wife Marcia Otacilia Severa. On the reverse in the exergue, a capricorn, in reference to IIII Scythica, beneath a tetrastyle temple; mint of Zeugma, Roman Syria, a legionary camp. BMC 34.

Origins and service during the Roman Republic
Further information: Roman army of the late Republic

The Legio IV Scythica was founded by the Roman general Mark Antony after 42 BCE.[1] It is unknown where the legion was first stationed, although Syria is a possibility.[1] If that is the case, the legion most likely took part in Mark Antony's campaign against the Parthians.[1] The name Scythica implies that it fought the Scythians.[1] The Scythians were a group of nomadic tribes located near a Roman city named Olbia.[1] The Scythians also occasionally tried to cross the Danube.[1] This makes it very likely the Legion defeated one of the Scythian tribes in a battle.[1]

Service under the Roman Empire
Further information: Imperial Roman army

After the Battle of Actium (31 BCE) and Mark Antony's suicide, Octavian transferred the Legio IV Scythica to the Roman province of Moesia, in the Danube area. The legion is reported to have taken part in civilian tasks, such as the building and keeping of roads. In his youth, future Roman Emperor Vespasian served in this legion. The legion's base was probably at Viminacium.

Tiberius's war against Illyria

Between 6 and 9 CE, the IV Scythica took part in Tiberius' wars against the Illyrians and Pannonians. The legion also constructed roads and other works of engineering in the Danube area.

Roman–Parthian War of 58–63

King Vologases I of Parthia invaded Armenia, a client kingdom of Rome, in 58 CE, beginning the war against the Parthians (58–63 CE). Nero ordered Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, the new legate of Cappadocia, to manage the matter. Corbulo brought the Legio IIII Scythica from Moesia, and with the legions III Gallica and VI Ferrata they defeated the Parthians, restoring Tigranes VI to the Armenian throne. In 62 CE, IIII Scythica and XII Fulminata, commanded by the new legate of Cappadocia, Lucius Caesennius Paetus, were defeated by the Parthians at the Battle of Rhandeia and forced to surrender. The legions were covered with shame and withdrawn from the war theatre to Zeugma. This city would be the base camp of IIII Scythica for the next century.[1]

Year of the Four Emperors

In the Year of the Four Emperors, in 69 CE, the IV Scythica, alongside the rest of the Eastern legions, sided with Vespasian immediately. Despite the demonstrated loyalty, IV Scythica was not involved in actual fighting because it was not considered a high-quality legion. This was a consequence of an earlier defeat in the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE).[1] In 70 CE, the legion was used to stop a pogrom against the Jewish population of Antioch. The legion would also build a canal in Seleucia Pieria.

Roman–Parthian Wars and Roman–Sassanid Wars

The IV Scythica took part in the Parthian campaign of Trajan, As well as the war against the Parthians (161–166 CE). Between 181 and 183 CE, Septimius Severus acted as the commander of the Eastern legions, and he later relied on the power of said legions to become the next Roman Emperor. The legion's former commander, now Emperor, Semptimus Severus would lead another campaign against the Parthians. This campaign also used the IV Scythica. The legion was most likely involved in the eastern campaign of Caracalla in 219 CE.[1]

Revolt and disappearance

The legion disappeared from Roman historiographical sources after 219 CE, when their commander, Gellius Maximus, rebelled against Emperor Elagabalus and proclaimed himself Emperor, but was defeated.[1] However, according to Notitia Dignitatum (XXXIII), in the early 3rd century, the IV Scythica was still active in Roman Syria, camped in Orese. It is possible this legion participated in the campaigns of Severus Alexander and Odaenathus against the Sassanids.

Attested members
Name Rank Time frame Province Source
Lucius Funisulanus Vettonianus legatus legionis c. 62 Armenia CIL III, 4013, Tacitus, Annales, xv.7
Gnaeus Pompeius Collega legatus legionis 69-c. 70 Syria Josephus, Bell. Jud. vii.3, 4
Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus legatus legionis c. 80-82 Syria AE 1905, 120, AE 1905, 121
Aulus Larcius Priscus[2] legatus legionis c. 97 Syria CIL VIII, 17891, AE 1908, 237
Gaius Julius Severus legatus legionis c. 132 Syria CIG 4031, 4032 = IGR III 173, 174
Gaius Julius Scapula legatus legionis c. 135 Syria CIG 4022, 4023
Quintus Voconius Saxa Fidus[3] legatus legionis ?138-?141 Syria IGR III 173, 174
Publius Cornelius Dexter[3] legatus legionis ?144-?147 Syria CIL III, 12116 = ILS 1050
Lucius Septimius Severus[4] legatus legionis c. 181 - c. 183 Syria Historia Augusta, "Vita Severi" 3.6
Aulus Vicirius A.f. Proculus[5] tribunus laticlavius c. 50 Syria
Quintus Paesidius Macedo tribunus angusticlavius between 40 and 54 Syria AE 1923, 40
Lucius Julius Marinus Caecilius Simplex tribunus laticlavius c. 80 Syria CIL IX, 4965
Gaius Julius Proculus tribunus laticlavius c. 100 Syria CIL X, 6658 = ILS 1040
Publius Manilius Vopiscus Vicinillianus tribunus laticlavius c. 107 Syria CIL XIV, 4242 = ILS 1044
Claudius Maximus tribunus laticlavius c. 115 Syria CIL III, 10336
Tiberius Claudius Helius Secundus tribunus angusticlavius between 96 and 118 Syria AE 1925, 44
Gnaeus Cornelius Pulcher tribunus angusticlavius between 96 and 118 Syria IG 4.795
Tiberius Claudius Pius tribunus angusticlavius between 100 and 120 Syria AE 1933, 270
T. Statilius [...]nus tribunus angusticlavius between 118 and 130 Syria
C. Julius Juli Quadrati f. Severus tribunus laticlavius Before 134 Syria AE 1923, 4
Gaius Arrius Antoninus tribunus laticlavius c. 150 Syria CIL VIII, 7030
Gaius Sempronius Fidus tribunus angusticlavius between 70 and 150 Syria CIL II, 4245
Publius Julius Geminius Marcianus[6] tribunus laticlavius c. 155 Syria
Julius Antoninus tribunus angusticlavius between 118 and 161 Syria IGR 3.500
Lucius Egnatuleius Sabinus tribunus angusticlavius c. 175 Syria CIL VIII, 10500 = ILS 1409
Tiberius Claudius Telemachus tribunus angusticlavius after 185 Syria AE 1981, 844
Lucius Marius Perpetuus tribunus laticlavius late 2nd century Syria CIL III, 1178 = ILS 1165
Gellius Maximus[4] tribunus laticlavius c. 219 Syria Dio Cassius lxxix.7.1
Gaius Aemilius Berenicianus Maximus tribunus laticlavius first quarter 3rd century Syria CIL XII, 3163 = ILS 1168

Epigraphic testimonies
  • Caio Sempronio Marci filio Galeria (tribu) Fido Calagorritano / tribuno militum legionis IIII Scythicae tribuno militum (...). [7]
  • D(is) M(anibus) / Ael(ius) Verecundinus / (centurio) leg(ionis) IIII / Scy(thicae) hastatus (p)rior natus / in Dacia ad Vatabos mil(itavit) ann(os) XXI / primum exactus librarius / frum(entarius) speculator evocatus [8]

Unit symbol

The legion's symbol was a capricorn.[9]

The legion appeared in Harry Sidebottom's series of historical novels Warrior of Rome.

See also

References
  1. "Legio IIII Scythica - Livius". www.livius.org. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  2. This was a brevet promotion, as quaestors normally lacked the seniority to command a legion.
  3. Géza Alföldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antoninen (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt Verlag, 1977), p. 298
  4. Paul M. M. Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander (Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben, 1989), p. 339
  5. Vincenzo Saladino, "Iscrizioni Latine di Roselle (II)", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 39 (1980), pp. 229-232
  6. Dabrowa, Legio X Fretensis: A Prosopographical Study of its Officers (I-III c. A.D.) (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1993), p. 60
  7. Tarragona (Tarraco), Spain. CIL II 4427.
  8. Epigraphic Database Heidelberg HD053009.
  9. Legions and Veterans: Roman Army Papers 1971–2000, L. J. F. Keppie, page 128.
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