The History of Roman Legion VI Victrix

The Original Watchers on the Wall

Tony Sullivan

• Publisher: Pen & Sword History
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781399088589
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

The first in depth study on the history of Legio VI Victrix in Britain, describing their weapons and armor, as well as the impact on the region's warfare.

Brought over from Germany in 122 to assist in the building of Hadrian's Wall, the Sixth Legion remained in Britain until the end of Roman rule. The book will investigate the changing military organization, weapons and warfare as well as the many auxiliary units posted in the north of Britain.

We will meet members of the Sixth Legion known from inscriptions and literary sources. From lowly legionaries helping to build Hadrian's or the Antonine Wall to Pertinax, tribune of the Sixth, and destined to become Emperor. Case studies will include a praefectus castrorum, Lucius Artorius Castus, along with the legionary bases at York and Corbridge.

The men of the Sixth witnessed the tumultuous, and often bloody, history of Roman Britain: the border shifting back and forth under Antoninus; barbarian incursions and army mutinies under the murderous Commodus; the bloody civil war against Septimius Severus and the subsequent invasion of Caledonia. In the last century of Roman rule, the Sixth supported several rival emperors from Constantine the Great, Magnus Maximus until finally Constantine III.

The journey will end with a discussion of the likely fate of the Sixth in the early fifth century after the end of Roman authority. A must read for anyone interested in the evolution of the Roman legion, the empire or Roman Britain in particular.

"A marvelous introduction to the Roman legion and the military aspects of the Roman empire." —Historical Miniatures Gaming Society

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Tables
• Figures
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Rome and Britannia Before the Wall
• Chapter 2 The Coming of the Sixth Legion
• Chapter 3 Antoninus and the Wall of Turf
• Chapter 4 From a Kingdom of Gold to One of Iron and Rust
• Chapter 5 Septimius Severus, the Hammer of the Scots
• Chapter 6 The Third Century, Crisis and Renewal
• Chapter 7 Fourth Century Britannia, a Province Fertile in Tyrants
• Chapter 8 A Whimper Rather Than a Bang
• Appendix
• Sources for Images and Maps
• Notes
• Bibliography