Legio I Parthica

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Legio I Parthica (Latin pronunciation: prima párthica) was a Roman legion levied in 197 by the emperor Septimius Severus. The legion presence in the Middle East is recorded until the early 5th century.

The legions I, II, and III Parthica were levied by Septimius Severus for his campaign against Parthian Empire. After the success this campaign, I and III Parthica remained in the region, in the camp of Singara (Sinjar, Iraq), in Mesopotamia, to avoid following rebellions and attacks from the Parthian Empire.

Legionaries from I Parthica were usually sent to other provinces, namely Lycia, Cilicia and Cyrenaica.

In 360, I Parthica unsuccessfully defended its camp against a Sassanid attack; after the defeat, the legion was moved to Nisibis (modern Turkey), where it is last mentioned in 5th century.

The legion emblem was the centaur.

See also

• List of Roman legions
• Roman legion

External links

• livius.org account of Legio I Parthica

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Monday December 17, 2007 at 03:38:44 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation