The Life of Jesus in Harmony |
Index
Legion
LEGION. A main division of the Roman army, nearly equivalent to our regiment.
It comprised a much larger number of men, running from 3,000 men to
about 6,000 at the time of
Christ. The word legion came to figuratively mean a great number or multitude, for
example, of angels (Mt 26:53) and of evil spirits (Mk 5:9,15). (See Roman
Army).
- The legionaries were not only fighters but they were builders as well. No
Roman legion fought a battle or retired for the night without first building a
fortified camp.
- each legionary carried 80 pounds of equipment (weapons, armor, axe, spade,
saw, basket, tent stakes, cooking utensils, and 2 weeks' rations of meal)
- Overnight camps were tents surrounded by a ditch and a wooden palisade
- When far away they built more permanent quarters of wood, stone, and brick.
(These later became cities)
- The army also built roads and bridges to link the various parts of the
empire.
- bridge building was a special skill of the legionary
- the simplest bridge consisted of wooden frames covered with planking
supported by pontoons.
- When there was a strong current, a more stable bridge was built secured by
pilings into the river bed