Legio VII Claudia Pia Fidelis Roman Standard

The legio VII Claudia Pia Fidelis was one of the oldest and most prestigious units of the Roman imperial army, with its origins in the legions that had followed Julius Caesar in the conquest of Gaul from 58 BC.

It took part in the campaigns against Vercingetorix, probably at Alesia, and in the final “mopping-up” operations among the Bellovaci, consolidating the Roman presence beyond the Alps. During the civil war it followed Caesar against Pompey, fighting in Hispania at Ilerda and then at Pharsalus, before being recalled to Africa and engaged in the campaign that ended with the victory at Thapsus in 46 BC.

Disbanded and re-formed in the triumviral period, the VII was reorganised by Augustus after Actium and established in the Danubian provinces, where it became one of the pillars of the defence system along the middle Danube. In AD 42, stationed in Dalmatia, it put down the revolt of the governor Scribonianus together with the legio XI: for its loyalty to the emperor Claudius it earned the honorific title of Claudia Pia Fidelis, “faithful and loyal to Claudius”. The legion continued to serve until the late 4th century, engaged in guarding the Danube frontiers and in the wars of the emperors, from Vespasian to Septimius Severus.