Legio I Germanica Roman Standard

Legio I Germanica was a legion of the Augustan age, formed between 19 and 17 BC for the campaigns against the Germanic peoples along the Rhine.

It probably arose from the reorganisation of an earlier unit, I Augusta, which had already served under Augustus in the civil wars and the Hispanic campaigns. Its name “Germanica” reflects its role as a frontier legion on the Rhine limes, where it served in the expeditions of Drusus and then of Tiberius beyond the Rhine. After the Teutoburg disaster, the legion helped stabilise Germania Inferior, based in particular at Bonna (Bonn).

In AD 14 it took part in the mutinies of the Rhine legions on the death of Augustus; it was later engaged in various operations in Gaul and against the Germanic tribes. In AD 69, the Year of the Four Emperors, I Germanica, led by the legate Fabius Valens, supported Vitellius and fought victoriously at the first battle of Bedriacum, opening the way to his short-lived rule. The Batavian revolt (AD 70), however, spelt its ruin: besieged at Castra Vetera and severely tested, the legion was judged compromised and disbanded by Vespasian, who merged its remnants into VII Galbiana, giving rise to VII Gemina.