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:''See List of Roman legions for a catalogue of known late republic, early Empire and late Empire legions, with dates in existence, emblem and locations of deployment.'' A Roman legion (from Latin ''legio'' "military levy, conscription", from ''legere'' "to choose") normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. In reference to the early Roman Kingdom (as opposed to the Roman Republic or Empire), "the legion" means the entire Roman army. The subsequent organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of around five thousand soldiers, divided into three lines of ten maniples during the republic, and later into ten cohorts during the early empire. Legions also included a small cavalry unit. By the third century, the legion was a much smaller unit of about 1,000 to 1,500 men, and there were more of them. In the fourth century, East Roman border guard legions (''limitanei'') may have become even smaller. For most of the Roman Imperial period, the legions formed the Roman army's elite heavy infantry, recruited exclusively from Roman citizens, while the remainder of the army consisted of auxiliaries, who provided additional infantry and the vast majority of the Roman army's cavalry. (Provincials who aspired to citizenship gained it when honorably discharged from the auxiliaries). The Roman army, for most of the Imperial period, consisted mostly of auxiliaries rather than legions.〔Data in: Goldsworthy, Adrian (2003). Complete Roman Army. pp 95-5; Holder, Paul (1980). Studies in the Auxilia of the Roman Army. pp 86–96; Elton, Hugh (1996). Frontiers of the Roman empire. pp 123. See table in article "Auxiliaries (Roman military)" for compilation of this data.〕 Twelve of the legions founded before Common Era were still active until at least the fifth century, notably Legio V Macedonica, which was founded by Augustus in 43 BC and was in Egypt in the seventh century during the Islamic conquest of Egypt. ==Overview of typical organization & strength== Because legions were not standing units until the Marian reforms (c. 107 BC), and were instead created, used, and disbanded again, several hundred legions were named and numbered throughout Roman history. To date, about 50 have been identified. The Republican Legions were composed of levied men that paid for their own equipment and thus the structure of the Roman army at this time reflected the society, and at any time there would be four Consular Legions (with command divided between the two ruling Consuls) and in time of war extra Legions could be levied. Toward the end of the 2nd Century BC, Rome started to experience manpower shortages brought about by property and financial qualifications to join the army. This prompted Consul Gaius Marius to remove property qualification and decreed that all citizens, regardless of their wealth or social class, were made eligible for service in the Roman army with equipment and rewards for fulfilling years of service provided by the state. The Roman army became a volunteer, professional and standing army which extended service beyond Roman citizens but also to non-citizens that could sign on as ''auxillia'' (Auxiliaries) and were rewarded Roman citizenship upon completion of service and all the rights and privileges that entails. In the time of Augustus, there were nearly 50 upon his succession but this was reduced to about 25–35 permanent standing legions and this remained the figure for most of the Empire's history. A legion consisted of several cohorts of heavy infantry known as legionaries. It was almost always accompanied by one or more attached units of auxiliaries, who were not Roman citizens and provided cavalry, ranged troops and skirmishers to complement the legion's heavy infantry. The recruitment of non-citizens was rare but appears to have occurred in times of great need; For example, Caesar appears to have recruited the Legio V Alaudae mostly from non-citizen Gauls. The size of a typical legion varied throughout the history of ancient Rome, with complements of 4,200 legionaries and 300 equites (drawn from the wealthier classes – in early Rome all troops provided their own equipment) in the republican period of Rome, (the infantry were split into 10 cohorts each of four maniples of 120 legionaries), to 5,200 men plus 120 auxiliaries in the imperial period (split into 10 cohorts, nine of 480 men each, plus the first cohort holding 800 men). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Roman legion」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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