Legio VII Gemina Roman Vexillum

The Legio VII Gemina was born in the turbulent Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD), when the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, Servius Galba, recruited a new legion to march on Rome against Nero. Originally known as VII Galbiana or Hispana, it was reorganized by Emperor Vespasian, who incorporated the survivors of Legio I Germanica into it: this "fusion" gave rise to the name Gemina, the "twin legion".

After the civil wars and a period of service on the Danube in Pannonia, the VII Gemina was permanently stationed in Hispania, based in Legio, modern-day León, tasked with controlling the rich gold and iron mines of Gallaecia and guarding the main communication routes of the province. The legion earned the nicknames Felix and Pia for its loyalty to the emperors and its good fortune in campaign. It remained garrisoned in Hispania for centuries, still attested in León at the end of the 4th century, becoming one of the most enduring military corps of the Roman army and profoundly contributing to the Romanization of the north of the Iberian Peninsula.