legion

legion, large unit of the Roman army. It came into prominence c.400 B.C. It originally consisted of 3,000 to 4,000 men drawn into eight ranks: the first six ranks, called hoplites, were heavily armed, while the last two, called velites, were only lightly armed. Marcus Furius Camillus is traditionally regarded as the great organizer of the legion. Under Camillus the hoplites were divided into three groups: the hastati (youngest men), the principes, and the triarii (oldest). Within the legion was the cohort, consisting of one maniple of each of the three groups plus 120 velites and a cavalry unit about 30 strong. A legion was composed of 10 cohorts and comprised about 5,000 men. In Caesar's time each legion had a commander who was responsible to the Senate, 6 tribunes, a legate, a prefect, and some 60 centurions. Training was hard, with much difficult drilling to prepare the men especially in shock tactics and for rapid marches. The standard weapons were the spear (pilum) and (after Scipio Africanus Major conquered Spain) the short thrusting sword (gladius). The characteristic emblems of the legions were eagles inscribed SPQR [Senatus Populusque Romanus—the Senate and the people of Rome], and they carried the eagles in triumph over the far reaches of the empire for hundreds of years. Upon the legions rested to a large extent the glory of Rome. They were primarily heavy infantry and were vulnerable to quickly moving cavalry and archers (e.g., the defeat of Marcus Lucinius Crassus at Carrhae) and to guerrilla fighters (e.g., the famous defeat of Varus by the Germans). With the Germanic invasions the legion proved unable to match the barbarian horsemen, rendering it obsolete.

Military organization, originally the largest permanent unit in the Roman army. It was the basis of the military system by which imperial Rome conquered and ruled its empire. The early Roman Republic found the Greek phalanx too unwieldy for fragmented fighting in the hills and valleys of central Italy. To replace it the Romans evolved a new tactical system based on small and flexible infantry units called maniples. These were grouped in larger units called cohorts, which ranged from 360 to 600 men, depending on the era. Ten cohorts made up a legion, which moved into battle with four cohorts in the first line and three each in the second and third lines. Seealso Foreign Legion.

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Organization of U.S. war veterans. Founded in 1919, it works for the care of disabled and sick veterans and promotes compensation and pensions for the disabled, widows, and orphans. Nonpolitical and nonsectarian, its membership requirement is honourable service and an honourable discharge. It was instrumental in establishing veterans' hospitals, and it sponsored the creation of the U.S. Veterans Administration in 1930. In 1944 it played an important role in the passage of the GI Bill. The American Legion claims about three million members in some 15,000 local posts, or groups.

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Armed forces

Military units

• Roman Legion
• The Theban Legion – a Roman Legion whose members, under a long-lasting tradition, were massacred for their Christian belief
• Legion of the United States, an early United States land force
• Hampton's Legion, a combined arms force of the Confederate States Army recruited and led by Wade Hampton III in the American Civil War.
• Foreign legion
• Nauvoo Legion, a militia playing a significant part in early Mormon history
• The Arab Legion (al-Jaysh al-Arabī) was the regular army of Transjordan, predecessor of the present Jordanian Army.
• Condor Legion, unit of "volunteers" from the German Luftwaffe serving with the Nationalist side during the Spanish Civil War.
• International Legion - founded by Garibaldi
• Mickiewicz's Legion - Polish exiles fighting in 1848 Italy
• SS-Legion - Military units of Waffen-SS.
• Irish Legion - the Irish Legion (French:Legion irlandaise) was originally created for a proposed invasion of Ireland.
• La Legion Noire (The black Legion) in the French Revolutionary Army

Awards

• Légion d'honneur (France)
• Philippine Legion of Honor
• Legion of Merit (USA)

Veterans' organizations

• American Legion, an organization of United States veterans
• Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a post-Civil War fraternity of loyal service members
• American Legion Auxiliary, a woman's service organization affiliated with the American Legion
• The Royal British Legion
• Royal Canadian Legion

Ships

• HMS Legion (1914), a Royal Navy ship sunk in 1921
• HMS Legion (G74), a Royal Navy ship sunk in 1941
• USS American Legion (AP-35)

Battles

• Battle of the City of Legion

Pop culture

Games

• Legions (Magic: The Gathering)
• Legion Arena, a computer game released in 2005
• Legion: The Legend of Excalibur, a Playstation 2 game released in 2002
• Alpha Legion in the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000
• A recurring enemy in the Castlevania video game series
• Legion, central villain of the 1999 video game Shadow Man
• LEGION, the Nod AI seen from the player's perspective in Command and Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
• Legions of the Damned, demons in "Disciples: Sacred Lands"

Film and television

• Legion the monster, seen in the film Gamera 2: Attack of Legion
• Legion of Super Heroes (animated series), inspired by the DC Comics superhero team
• Legion (Law & Order: CI Episode)
• Legion (Red Dwarf episode)

Literature and comic books

• Legion, a novel by William Peter Blatty
• Legion of Super-Heroes, a DC comics superhero team
• L.E.G.I.O.N., a DC Comics title.
• Legion, an antihero in Marvel Comics.
• Legion, a supervillain in DC Comics.
• Ghostbusters: Legion, a comic book series.
• Legion of Space Series, science fiction series by Jack Williamson.
• The Legion of Space, a novel in the Legion of Space Series by Jack Williamson.
• The Legion of Time, stories by Jack Williamson.
• Legion (Warhammer 40,000), a Horus Heresy novel by Dan Abnett, published by Black Library (Games Workshop).
• Legion a play by Hal Corley.
• Legion, a one-shot horror comic written by Salvador Sanz and published by IDW
• "The Misplaced Legion", "An Emperor for the Legion", "The Legion of Videssos" and "The Swords of the Legion" - a fantasy series by Harry Turtledove known collectively as "The Videssos Cycle".
• The Book of Luke in the New Testament mentions "Legion" as a personification of The Devil (Luke 8:30).

Music

• Legion, an album by Deicide
• Legion, Swedish vocalist of black metal
• Legion Records
• "Legion" is a song by VNV Nation from the album Empires.
• "Legion" is a song by Junkie XL from the album Big Sounds of the Drags.
• Legion, a New Zealand Thrash Metal Band
• Legion, a hardcore rap group out of the Bronx, New York, USA.

Places

• Legion Field, a stadium in Birmingham, Alabama
• Legion Park, a stadium in Great Falls, Montana
• Legion Sports Complex, a complex in Wilmington, North Carolina
• Legion Stadium, the main stadium in the Legion Sports Complex
• Legion State Park
• Colchester Legion Stadium, a stadium in Truro, Nova Scotia

Other

• A number 3,000-6,000
• Legion (biology)
• Legion (demon) (also The Gadarene demon) in the New Testament
• Legion (software), a computer software system
• Legion Interactive, an Australian telecommunications company
• Racine Legion, an American football team
• The Romanian version of a fascist movement, the Iron Guard, was founded as the "Legion of the Archangel Michael"
• Legionary Romania or National Legionary State, terms used sometimes for the period of Romanian history when the above dominated the country's politics
• "Legionnairism", fascist idelogy professed by far-right Romanians claiming heritage of the above (see Noua Dreaptă).
• Legionary ant or Army ant, particularly aggressive types of ant
• Legion of Christ (contemporary religious organization)
• Legion of Mary (Legio Mariae), an association of Catholic laity
• Legionella
• Legion is the alternate name of Anonymous, group participating in various cyber and real-life activities.

See also

• My name is Legion