Legio V Alaudae Roman Standard

The Legio V Alaudae was a legion “sui generis”, born of Julius Caesar’s political and military daring in 52 BC in Transalpine Gaul and made up largely of non-citizen Gallic provincials, an absolute first in the history of the Roman army.

The nickname Alaudae, “larks”, recalled the tall feathered crests of Celtic tradition on the helmets, while its symbol later became the elephant, in memory of the courage shown against the elephants of Juba I at Thapsus in 46 BC.

Perhaps already deployed against Vercingetorix, the legion followed Caesar in the Gallic wars until 49 BC, distinguishing itself for discipline and valour. After the dictator’s murder, 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 put down the revolt of the Frisii in AD 28. Its history probably ends in the chaos of the Jewish and Batavian wars of the 1st century AD, but its political legacy was lasting: it proved that provincials could become soldiers of Rome in their own right.