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Short description

V Alaudae (Gallica) was the first Roman legion composed of provincial soldiers, as opposed to Roman citizens.

Description

Legio V Alaudae, the larks, sometimes known as Gallica, was levied by Julius Caesar in 52 BC from native Gauls. Their emblem was an elephant, and their cognomen Alaudae came from the high crest on their helmets, typical of the Gauls, which made them look like larks. The French word 'Alouette' is a direct descendant of 'Alauda', itself not a proper Latin noun, but a loan word from Gaulish, possibly the first reason for the legionary name.

V Gallica was the first Roman legion composed of provincial soldiers, as opposed to Roman citizens. Caesar paid the soldiers with his own resources, but the legion was later recognised by the Roman Senate. V Alaudae fought in the Gallic wars until 49 BC, as one of the bravest legions of Caesar, then they were moved to Spain. They served with Mark Antony between 41 and 31 BC and probably fought in Actium. After Antony committed suicide, they were merged into Augustus' army in 30 BC. Their emblem depicted an elephant and was awarded in 46 BC for bravery against a charge of elephants in the Battle of Thapsus.

The legion was stationed at Castra Vetera (modern Birten near Xanten, in north-west Germany) on the Rhine frontier from about 10 BC along with Legio XXI Rapax, and may have participated in campaigns beyond the Rhine. After the loss of Germania Magna following the Clades Variana, the legion again crossed the Rhine under the command of Germanicus Caesar. However, after his final campaign in AD 16, the legion remained at Castra Vetera. It was joined by the Legio XV Primigenia in 43 AD, as the troop requirements of the emperor Claudius' invasion of Britannia necessitated a reorganisation of the Rhine frontier. In 47 AD, both legions were involved in a war against the Frisians just across the Rhine, and built a canal between the Rhine and Meuse Rivers whilst Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo was governor of Germania Inferior.

During 69 AD, or the Year of the Four Emperors, Legio V Alaudae, as with all the legions on the Rhine, supported Vitellius in his claim for the throne, but trouble was brewing closer to home. The Batavians, a tribe of Germans who lived west of the Rhine, who were ostensibly loyal allies of Rome and provided crack auxiliary infantry and cavalry to the Roman army, had risen in revolt against Rome under their prince, Julius Civilis. The two legions at Xanten were ordered to attack, at once. Their auxiliaries (which included a Batavian cavalry wing) defected, however, and the two legions were beaten back to Castra Vetera, and besieged.

No orders arrived from the Rhine frontier's commanders. Civilis' rebels were in fact pinning down two legions that belonged to Vespasian's opponent Vitellius, and it was beginning to tell. Vespasian seemed to be winning the war, and so the generals on the Rhine opted not to relieve Castra Vetera for fear of incurring the wrath of the Emperor-to-be.

However, news of Vitellius' defeat after the Second Battle of Bedriacum arrived, but Civilis continued his siege. The camp was very well fortified, with a double ditch and a wall of brick and wood which included towers equipped with artillery. It was also well provisioned. However, the Rhine command decided to mount an offensive from Moguntiacum (modern Mainz) to relieve the fort. Civilis beat them to the punch, and sent eight of his best cavalry regiments to attack the legions as they marshalled at Krefeld. The cavalry was destroyed, but the Roman casualties had been very heavy. Then the rebels left Xanten to attack Moguntiacum. As the Romans rushed to defend the fortress, many of the Rhine garrison's troops heard of Vespasian's victory for the first time when Marcus Hordeonius Flaccus, who was in charge, offered them their customary donative. The enraged soldiers butchered their general, and his second in command was forced to flee for his life, leaving the remaining Rhine legions without any effective leadership. Civilis then used this opportunity to besiege Castra Vetera once again. This time, he had more success. The legions inside had not had a chance to restock the fortress with supplies, and were soon reduced to eating their pack animals to survive. Early in 70 AD with the remaining Rhine garrisons either routed, in chaos, or gone over to the rebels (two legions, XVI Gallica and I Germanica, had defected at some point near the turn of the year), Castra Vetera surrendered. The terms of surrender stipulated that all arms, artillery and valuables were to be left behind as plunder. The legions marched out of their camp under their standards, but after a few miles they were ambushed and annihilated by the Germanic troops.

This was not the end of Legio V Alaudae, however. It is known that the legion was still in service following the end of the revolt. It is possible that not all of the legion was present at Castra Vetera and so escaped annihilation, or that it was simply re-constituted. In any case, it was later employed by Domitian in his ill-fated campaigns against the Dacians in 86/87 AD. Crossing the Danube, the large Roman army of six legions and supporting auxiliaries was ambushed at Tapae, en-route to the Dacian capital, Sarmisegethusa. The commander of the army, Cornelius Fuscus, was killed, and Legio V Alaudae was completely annihilated, its standards and artillery falling into the hands of the Dacians. The legion was never reconstituted afterwards.