NERO'S KILLING MACHINE; The True Story of Rome's Remarkable Fourteenth Legion

Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Son, Inc, 2005. First U.S. Edition, First Printing. Boards. Very Fine/Very Fine. maps. 8vo, brown boards with gold lettering on spine, illustrated with an Atlas consisting of 5 maps, archival mylar-protected pictorial dust jacket (price-clipped) by Corbis, xiv + 322 pages. EXCEPTIONAL CONDITION: tight, bright, clean in comparable sharp dust jacket. Rome's Fourteenth Legion, LEGIO XIV G M V [Gemina Martia Victrix, "Twinned Martial and Victorious"] was raised from defeat after being wiped out by an ambush in Gaul when led by none other than the great Julius Caesar. Thereafter, after being "raised" again (i.e., reconstituted), the legion was honored by receiving the cognomen Martia Victrix (martial and victorious) for their outstanding service in the Pannonian War c. AD 9. Under Germanicus, they retaliated against Arminius and the Germans who had destroyed 3 of Caesar Augustus's legions in the Teutoberg Forest. Never resting for long, the 14th Legion fought bravely at the decisive battle of Actium in AD 31, where it was combined with another understrength legion; thereby receiving the cognomen "Gemina" or twinned) Thereafter, the brave legionaires defeated more than 200,000 raging Britons led by Queen Boadicea in AD 61. Its spectacular victory led Emperor Nero to call it "Conqueror of Britain." Subsequently, Legion XIV G M V fought to the end of the Roman Empire in the fifth century C.E. Noteworthy engagements included combat during the Year of the Four Emperors (69); the revolt of Saturninus (89); the Dacian Wars (101-106); Marcus Aurelius's Marcomannic campaign (168-180); and under Septimius Severus (193-98 C.E.). An extremely well researched study of one of Rome's most celebrated legions. EXCEPTIONAL CONDITION: tight, bright, clean in a comparable dust jacket (price-clipped).