Editing Legio V Alaudae (section)

==History==

=== Origin and early history ===
The legion was founded in [[Transalpine Gaul]] in [[52 BC]] by [[Julius Caesar]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Legio V Alaudae - Livius|url=https://www.livius.org/articles/legion/legio-v-alaudae/|access-date=2020-08-04|website=www.livius.org}}</ref> Caesar paid the soldiers from his private purse. Only later was it recognized by the Senate.<ref name=":0" /> It is possible the legion was originally named Legio ''V Gallica''{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}. The unusual, Gaulish surname must refer to the Gallic custom to wear lark's wings on their helmets.<ref name=":0" /> The new legion saw its first action during the campaign against the Gallic leader [[Vercingetorix]] and the [[Battle of Alesia|siege of Alesia]].<ref name=":0" /> During the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, the V Alaudae took part in Caesar's invasion of Italy and stayed in [[Apulia]] for some time.<ref name=":0" /> It also fought at [[Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC)|Dyrrhachium]]. The legion did take part in the African campaign against [[Cato the Younger|Cato]], which culminated in the [[Battle of Thapsus]]. Here, the legion heroically fought against the elephants used by Caesar's republican enemies. This made a great impression, and V Alaudae became the only Caesarian legion known not to have used the bull as its emblem, instead choosing the elephant. This emblem was awarded in 46 BC for this action.

=== The last war of the Republic ===
After a [[War of Actium|civil war]] broke out between Mark Antony and [[Augustus]], the legion sided with Antony and fought for him in the lost [[Battle of Mutina]]. When the two men earlier cooperated, they defeated the Liberators Brutus and Cassius, who were seeking to restore the Republic after they had killed Caesar, in the [[Battle of Philippi]] the V Alaudae was there. The legion participated in [[Antony's Parthian War|Antony's war against the Parthian empire]]. Antony employed the legion also during his campaign against Octavian, which culminated in the naval [[Battle of Actium]], where Antony was defeated.<ref name=":0" /> Augustus transferred the V Alaudae to [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] in [[Lusitania]] after 30 BC, where it took part in the [[Cantabrian Wars|campaigns against the Cantabrians]].

=== Service in Germania ===
After a few years, V Alaudae was moved to [[Gallia Belgica]]. While in Gaul the legion may have temporarily lost its standard when its commander Marcus Lollius was defeated by the Germanic [[Sicambri|Sugambri]]. The battle probably took place in the valley of the [[Meuse]]. Although we cannot be precise, it is likely that the transfer from [[Hispania Ulterior]] to [[Gallia Belgica|Belgica]] had taken place in 19 BC, when Augustus' friend [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa]] invaded Germania. The legion was transferred to or [[Xanten]] by Augustus' stepson [[Drusus Julius Caesar|Drusus]] and it took part in his Germanic campaigns. The soldiers of V Alaudae crossed the [[Weser]] and reached the [[Elbe]] in 9 BC. For some time, they may have lived at [[Bergkamen|Oberaden]] or [[Haltern am See|Haltern]] on the east bank of the [[Rhine]]. In 6 AD, several legions marched against king [[Maroboduus]] of the [[Marcomanni]] in [[Czech Republic|Czechia]]; at the same time, the V Alaudae were to attack the Marcomanni along the Elbe. It was to be the most grandiose operation that was ever conducted by a Roman army, but a rebellion in [[Pannonia]] obstructed its execution.<ref name=":0" />

Not much later, the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] put an end to Roman ambition to conquer Germania.<ref name=":0" /> Commander [[Lucius Nonius Asprenas (suffect consul AD 6)|Lucius Nonius Asprenas]] used the [[Legio I Germanica|First legion Germanica]] and the Fifth legion Alaudae to occupy the fortresses of Germania Inferior and prevent a Germanic raid on Belgica After the disaster, V Alaudae was stationed at Xanten, together with [[Legio XXI Rapax|XXI Rapax]], keeping an eye on the nearby tribe of the [[Cugerni]] and guarding the confluence of the Rhine and Lippe. Both units took part in the Germanic campaigns of Germanicus in the first years of the reign of Tiberius. In 43 AD, the twenty-first was replaced by XV Primigenia. At the same time, Xanten was rebuilt. We know that the Fifteenth occupied the eastern half of the base, and the Fifth the western.

In 28 AD, the fifth legion suppressed a Frisian revolt, but the Emperor Tiberius nonetheless allowed the Frisians to be independent. Twelve years later, V Alaudae joined the emperor [[Caligula]] when he visited the delta of the Rhine. The famous anecdote, told by Suetonius, about the emperor commanding soldiers to collect shells on the beach, refers to the visit of the fifth to [[Lugdunum]]. The V Alaudae and XV Primigenia are thought to have been part of the expeditionary force that was led against the [[Frisians]] and Chauci by the Roman general [[Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo]] in 47 AD.

The operation was very successful, but the emperor Claudius ordered the Romans to keep the Rhine as the empire's frontier. The soldiers were now ordered to build fortifications along the Rhine and dig a canal from [[Matilo]] to the capital of the [[Cananefates]], [[Voorburg]]; this canal still exists. Another non-military activity was the production of tiles. Every legion owned and operated a tilery. It is odd to notice that V Alaudae made these objects at Feldkassel, more than 90 kilometers away.

=== Year of Four Emperors ===
In 67 AD, many senators hated Nero. And several governors discussed his removal. Among these were [[Lucius Clodius Macer]] of Africa and [[Gaius Julius Vindex]] of one of the provinces in Gaul, who supported the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, [[Galba|Servius Sulpicius Galba]], when he proclaimed that he wanted to dethrone Nero. The army of Germania Inferior, which included the Legio V Alaudae marched to the south and defeated Gaius Julius Vindex.<ref name=":0" /> Therefore, the army of Germania Inferior acclaimed their own commander, [[Vitellius]], as emperor, and marched on Rome. They were successful, and Vitellius started his reign. However, in the east, general [[Vespasian]] had also decided to make a bid for power; the two armies clashed near [[Battle of Cremona|Cremona]] in northern Italy, and the Rhine army turned out to be no match for the soldiers of Vespasian.

=== Revolt of the Batavi ===
Meanwhile, in Germania Inferior the [[Batavi (Germanic tribe)|Batavians]] revolted. A Roman expeditionary force, consisting of the remains of V Alaudae and XV Primigenia, was defeated near Nijmegen, and not much later, these two legions found themselves besieged at Xanten. Although I Germanica, XVI Gallica and a legion from Germania Superior, XXII Primigenia, tried to rescue them, the two legions at Xanten were forced to surrender in March 70 AD. Not much later, I Germanica and XVI Gallica surrendered as well. It took several months before the new emperor Vespasian could send a strong Roman army to recover the Rhineland and suppress the Batavian revolt, commanded by his relative [[Quintus Petillius Cerialis]]. The legions XVI Gallica and IIII Macedonica, which had guarded Mainz, were renamed XVI Flavia Firma and IIII Flavia Felix; the remains of I Germanica were added with Galba's Seventh legion and became known as VII Gemina. XV Primigenia and V Alaudae were never reconstituted.<ref name=":0" />