Legio XII Fulminata Roman Vexillum

The Legio XII Fulminata was one of the longest-serving and most combative legions of the Roman Army, "bearer of the thunderbolt" according to its emblematic name.

It was recruited by Gaius Julius Caesar in 58 BC, probably in the cities of Cisalpine Gaul, including Mediolanum, for the campaign against the Helvetii and the subsequent Gallic Wars. It fought throughout Caesar's Celtic-Germanic itinerary, participating in battles such as that of the Nervii and supporting sieges of cities like Alesia.

After the civil war and the Battle of Pharsalus, it fought alongside Caesar against Pompey, only to be briefly disbanded in 45 BC and reorganized in the Augustan age, with the official name Fulminata and the symbol of the thunderbolt. In the First Jewish-Roman War, it contributed to the siege and capture of Jerusalem in 70 AD, earning great honor and recognition. Destroyed by the Parthian king Orodes near the Cynicoma River in 6 AD, it was quickly refounded and assigned to the eastern limes: its main base was Melitene (Malatya), where it guarded the Euphrates crossing until the beginning of the 5th century. There, amidst Parthians, Alans, and Caucasian problems, the XII Fulminata remained a military bulwark of the Empire on the eastern frontier.