M. Licinius Crassus

Ok then I'll try to help out XXI Rapax One of the original 28 Augustan Legions Foundation: Formed by Augustus, likely after the Battle of Actium (31 BC) possibly incorporating veterans of other legions. Its emblem was the Capricorn. Permanent Bases: I ? - 9 AD: Regina Castra (Regensburg, Germany) II 9 - 43 AD: Castra Vetera (Xanten-Birten, Germany) III 43 - 69 AD: Vindonissa (Windisch, Switzerland) IV 70? - 83 AD: Bonna (Bonn, Germany) V 83-89 AD: Mainz, Germany VI 89-92 AD: Pannonia Events 69 AD: Supported Vitellius during the civil war and marched on Italy and Rome defeating Otho's supporters at Cremona. Later was defeated by Vespasian. 70 AD: Part of an army sent to reconquer Germany after the uprising of the Batavians. 89 AD: Was one of the two Upper Germania legions to support Saturninus's military revolt which was quickly supressed by the legions from Lower Germania. 92 AD: Was a part of Domitian's campaign against the Suebi and Sarmatians in the 2nd Pannonian War. Was probably destroyed by the Sarmatians during this conflict. ------------------- The main source that I have been reading was "The Emperor Domitian" by Brian W. Jones which covers in depth the military activity under Domitian. So most of the info for ~80 to 92 AD is from this source. For the other, earlier, information I used a couple of sites: http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/xxi_rapax.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legio_XXI_Rapax plus I started with what you already had in the Legion List. Now I have not seen anywhere a clear answer for what XXI was doing from 31 to 9, though they suggest that they spent time in Hispania and moved to Rhaetia around 15 BC, I wasn't sure how you woud like to indicate those uncertainties. There were also a number of events from before 69, which I knew less about and did not include, mostly they seem to be various operations in Germany. I wasn't sure whats the level of "importance" we need to include. Any thoughts?

While this is probably true, it is somewhat curious that C. Cassius (who survived Carrhae) comes off as the hero of the day in accounts from the ancient writers I've read. Couldn't this be a modification of the phrase "History is written by the victors" instead in this case it is written by the survivors? Cassisus being a senior commander in the Roman force would certainly have had the motivation to pin the blame on Crassus (where ultimately as the commander blame does lay). That being said, even in the battle of Carrhae, with unfavorable terrain, against the supposedly superior Parthian technology, the Roman army stood its ground and battled hard and was eventually able to retreat. There are some inconsistencies in the accounts of the battle. Even though supposedly the Parthian arrows pierced the shields and armor of the Roman soldiers, a large portion of those killed fell after the battle in the uncoordinated retreat during the following nights and days. If the Parthians were so successful why not slaughter everyone at the battle itself? Also despite it being said, if I recall correctly, the roman spears and lances were not able to penetrate the Parthian cataphract's armor, why was the charge of P. Crassus and the Roman "inferior" cavalry so successful initially? You are not forced into retreat by an enemy that can do you no harm. Of course maybe the Parthians realized this because they turned around, encircled and slaughtered P. Crassus and his men. I think that technically the Parthians would not be invincible to Roman legions, it was a combination of having the advantage of terrain on their side, supplies and the possible mistakes and/or collapse of the Roman command structure. As has been repeated in this thread, subsequent Roman victories over the Parthians with essentially the same forces supports this.

I'm new to this site and have been reading up regarding the histories of various legions on the fascinating Legion List and noticed that many of the higher numbered legions on Page 2 and Page 3 (Legio IV - XXX) have rather scant biographies. Is this an "in progress" sort of compilation? I happened to be reading a book today that went into some detail on a few particular legions and their movements/battles and felt that maybe I could contribute some to that listing. Who are the authors of that Legion List? Do they accept contributions, and if they do how should I go about trying to assist them if I can? Is there a reason they do not have a great deal of info on some of those higher legions? Maybe you don't want to include any "partial" history for any particular legion or there are no accurate/reputable sources on them?