The Legio IV Italica' was an ancient Roman legion

Roman legion

A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...

, established by emperor Alexander Severus

Alexander Severus

Severus Alexander was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. Alexander was the last emperor of the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his cousin Elagabalus upon the latter's assassination in 222, and was ultimately assassinated himself, marking the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century — nearly fifty...

 and which was still existing in the early 5th century AD.

History

The legion was founded under Alexander Severus in 231, with Italian and Pannonian soldiers, and perhaps took soon part in the expedition against the Sassanids in 231-231 Its first commander was Maximinus Thrax

Maximinus Thrax

Maximinus Thrax , also known as Maximinus I, was Roman Emperor from 235 to 238.Maximinus is described by several ancient sources, though none are contemporary except Herodian's Roman History. Maximinus was the first emperor never to set foot in Rome...

, the future emperor.

It participated in all Maximinus' campaigns in the Danubian area in 235-238. Under Gordian III

Gordian III

Gordian III , was Roman Emperor from 238 to 244. Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana and an unnamed Roman Senator who died before 238. Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I and younger sister of Emperor Gordian II. Very little is known on his early life before his acclamation...

, it returned to the eastern frontier in 242-244 to fight the Sassanids, under prefect Serapamo, with its base set perhaps in the province of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia (Roman province)

Mesopotamia was the name of two distinct Roman provinces, the one a short-lived creation of the Roman Emperor Trajan in 116–117 and the other established by Emperor Septimius Severus in ca. 198, which lasted until the Muslim conquests of the 7th century....

. Later, it was based in the Gaul under Diocletian

Diocletian

Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244  – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....

.

It is mentioned in the Notitia dignitatum

Notitia Dignitatum

The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...

, as a pseudo-comitatenses

Comitatenses

Comitatenses is the Latin plural of comitatensis, originally the adjective derived from comitatus , itself rooting in Comes .However, historically it became the accepted name for...

 legion under the magister militum per Orientem. It perhaps survived until the reformation of Justinian in 545.

Primary sources

• Herodian
  Herodian
  Herodian or Herodianus of Syria was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus in eight books covering the years 180 to 238. His work is not entirely reliable although his relatively unbiased account of Elagabalus is...
  
  , Storia dell'Impero dopo Marco Aurelio, VI.
• Historia Augusta, "The Two Maximini".
• Notitia dignitatum
  Notitia Dignitatum
  The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...
  
  , Orientis.

Secondary sources

• C.Diehl, Justinienne et la civilisation byzantine au VI siecle, vol.I, New York 1901.
• J.Kromayer e G.Veith, Heerwessen und kriegfuhrung die griechen und romer, Munich, 1928.
• E.Luttwak, La grande strategia dell'impero romano, Milan, 1976.
• J.C.Mann, A note on the legion IV Italica, ZPE 126, Bonn.
• E.C.Nischer, The army reforms of Dioclatian and Constantine and their modifiacations up to the time of the Notitia Dignitatum, Journal of Roman Studies n.13, Londra 1923.
• H.M.D.Parker, "The legions of Diocletian and Constantine", in Journal of Roman Studies 23, 1933, London.
• Ritterling, Emil, http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/content/view/137/114/
• S.Runciman, La civilizacion bizantina, Madrid 1942.