Armed Forces and Units
Roman Legion
Ancient, Roman Republic
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The Roman legion was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizens serving as legionaries. In the late Republic and much of the imperial period a legion was organized into ten cohorts of six centuries each, with a full-strength legion numbering around 4,800 legionaries, though Julius Caesar's own legions during his campaign in Gaul often numbered only around 3,500 men.
Facts
Disputed
Founded YearThe Roman legion as a standing professional formation is usually dated to the Marian reforms of 107 BC; earlier Republican legions existed as citizen levies raised for individual campaigns rather than permanent units, so an earlier founding date is defensible depending on which institution is meant. Force TypeStanding citizen-levy heavy infantry army organized in cohorts and centuries (legions) 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Devised and directed personally by the dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus rather than by the legion as an institution; contemporary opposition to it is recorded in the dissent below.
The Roman Legion is the standing force that fought under this tactical system.
Fought In
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