The purpose of this site is to provide brief operational histories of many of the Legions of the Roman Empire, together with bibliographies and numismatic notes.

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It is a work in progress, begining with just a few legions, more being added as time goes on. With time, also, published sketches will be subject to revision, expansion, or correction. I hope to make this an informative and useful site. For that reason I invite questions, suggestions, comments, and constructive criticism.

The treatment is episodic: brief periods of some detail, with longer intervals of time barely outlined or not discussed at all. This mostly reflects the nature of the surviving records. But it can also be conscious choice. Since many legions participated together in the same campaigns, or were stationed together in the same provinces, their experiences (at least insofar as our records relate) were often very much the same. Rather than repeat similar accounts under each legion, I have in many cases simply stated the legion's presence on such and such a campaign, while providing more detail elsewhere. I am also preparing an "Orders of Battle" page outlining which legions participated in which campaign. This page will also include bibliographic references.....

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by John J. Hartwell

[jjhartwell@yahoo.com]

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NOTE: Currently only the following links are active: Legions III - Legion XII - Legionary Coinage Bibliography

The next sketches to go online will be Legio III Gallica and Legio VII Claudia. Others will follow as time permits. jjh