Legio V Alaudae Roman Vexillum

The Legio V Alaudae was a "sui generis" legion, born from the political and military audacity of Julius Caesar in 52 BC in Gallia Transalpina and largely composed of non-citizen Gallic provincials, an absolute first in the history of the Roman army.

The nickname Alaudae, "larks," recalled the high feathered crests of Celtic tradition on their helmets, while the symbol later became the elephant, in memory of the courage shown against Juba I's pachyderms at Thapsus in 46 BC.

Perhaps already employed against Vercingetorix, the legion followed Caesar in the Gallic Wars until 49 BC, distinguishing itself for discipline and valor. After the dictator's assassination, the V Alaudae became one of Mark Antony's most trusted units, fighting at Philippi and probably at Actium, before being absorbed into the Augustan army. In the Imperial age, it was deployed on the Rhine, took part in the Germanic campaigns of Tiberius and Germanicus, and quelled the Frisian revolt in 28 AD. Its history likely ends in the chaos of the Jewish and Batavian wars of the 1st century AD, but its political legacy was lasting: it demonstrated that provincials could, in their own right, become soldiers of Rome.