Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis Roman Standard

The Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis was one of the longest-lived units of the Roman army, active from the Gallic wars until the height of the empire, earning a reputation as a loyal and disciplined legion.

The legion was born in Caesar’s time: it was raised by Gaius Julius Caesar in 58 BC, together with the XII, for the campaign against the Helvetii, and then fought in the main wars in Gaul, from the operations against the Nervii to the sieges that brought the region under Roman control. After being disbanded following the civil wars, it was re-formed by Augustus in 42 BC and deployed alongside Octavian in the decisive battles against Caesar’s assassins and then against Mark Antony, distinguishing itself at Philippi and above all at Actium. In the Julio-Claudian period it was long stationed in the Balkans and in Dalmatia, where it put down local revolts and helped build strategic infrastructure.

In AD 42, when the governor Scribonianus rebelled, the XI remained loyal to the emperor Claudius: for this it received the honorific title “Claudia Pia Fidelis”. It later took part in the suppression of the Batavian revolt and was transferred along the Rhine and Danube limes, finally being stationed at Durostorum in Moesia Inferior, from where it continued to guard the Danube until the late empire.