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XVII Draconis Legion The XVII is a new Legion which is being formed as we speak. We are not a Historical Legion But we are a Fictional Legion but we will follow History of the Great Claudius Gothicus, Roman Emperor from 268 to 270 During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He is a Great leader whom the XVII would gladly lay down our lives to Protect. Most of us are british and we are currently looking for a teamspeak server to go into We have a temporary ts for now, we will be wandering into Native and Napoleonic Wars to fight battles against our foe who seek to crush our Emperor. |
XVII Draconis Legion will be doing Native events, Napoleonic Events and If any one is interested Bello Civili
| Steam Contacts. Centurion - Emmilseafire | 
| Event Schedule. We have Nothing Scheduled right now. |
| Application. If you would Think YOU have what it takes to join the XVII then here is how to: • PM me on FSE • Or add Emmilseafire on Steam • Or Submit an application on our website. |
| Ingame Set Up. Tags: XVII_DLg_Rank_Name | 
The Fist is the in game flag one the other one is our edited one the same flag but just has our Roman Numeral. | 
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Mass army of Cohorts Assembling Varying in Numbers.
XVII Draconis Legion
Ranks
Ranks
Officers:
Legion Legate: LLg
Centurion: Cent
Optio: Opt
Non Commisioned Officers:
Tesserarius: Tsr
Cornicularius: Cil
Decanus: Dcn
Aquilifer: Aql
Enlisted:
Legionary Veteran: LgV
Legionary: Lg
Tiro: Tro
Scouts
Legion Scout: LgS
History Of Emperor Claudius Gothicus
"The Senate immediately deified Claudius as "Divus Claudius Gothicus" - Bowman, The Cambridge Ancient History: The Crisis of Empire, A.D. 193-337
| Emperor Claudius Military Rule Claudius had served with the Roman army for all his adult life, making his way up the military hierarchy until the Emperor Gallienus made him the commander of his elite cavalry force (hipparchos) and subsequently his military deputy.In September 268 he found himself assigned as a military tribune with the Imperial Army besieging the usurper Aureolus in Milan. His troops then proclaimed him Emperor amid charges, never proven, that he murdered his predecessor Gallienus. However, he soon proved to be less than bloodthirsty, as he asked the Roman Senate to spare the lives of Gallienus' family and supporters. He was less magnanimous toward Rome's enemies, however, and it was to this that he owed his popularity. It is possible Claudius gained his position and the respect of the soldiers by being physically strong and especially cruel. A legend tells of Claudius knocking out a horse's teeth with one punch. When Claudius performed as a wrestler in the 250s, he supposedly knocked out the teeth of his opponent when his genitalia had been grabbed in the match. Claudius, like Maximinus Thrax before him, was of barbarian birth. After an interlude of failed aristocratic Roman emperors since Maximinus' death, Claudius was the first in a series of tough soldier-emperors who would eventually restore the Empire from the Crisis of the third century. *** The Empire and Foreign Affairs Under Claudius Claudius was not the only man to reap the benefits of holding high office after the death of Gallienus. Before the rule of Claudius Gothicus, there had only been two emperors from the Balkans, but afterwards there would only be one emperor who did not hail from the provinces of Pannonia, Moesia or Illyricum until the year 378, when Theodosius I from Hispania would take the throne. To comprehend the structure of government during the reign of Claudius, we must look at four inscriptions that deepen our understanding of a new, truncated empire. The first is a dedication to Aurelius Heraclianus, the prefect involved in the conspiracy against Gallienus, from Traianus Mucianus, who also gave a dedication to Heraclianus' brother, Aurelius Appollinaris, who was the equestrian governor of the province of Thracia in 267-68 AD. Because these men shared the family name, Marcus Aurelius, a name given to those made citizens by the constitutio Antoniniana, we can understand that these men did not come from the imperial élite. The third inscription reveals the career of Marcianus, another leading general by the time that Gallienus died. The fourth honors Julius Placidianus, the prefect of the vigiles. While we cannot prove that Heraclianus, Appollinaris, Placidianus, or Marcianus were of Danubian origin themselves, it is clear that none of them were members of the Severan aristocracy, and all of them appear to owe their prominence to their military roles. To these men must be added Marcus Aurelius Aurelianus (the future emperor Aurelian) and Marcus Aurelius Probus (another emperor in waiting), both men of Balkan background, and from families enfranchised in the time of Caracalla. Although we see a rise in Pannonian, Moesian and Illyrian marshals, and foreigners become notable figures, it would be impractical to think the government could function without help from the traditional classes within the empire. Although their influence was weakened, there were still a number of men with influence from the older aristocracy. Claudius assumed the consulship in 269 with Paternus, a member of the prominent senatorial family, the Paterni, who had supplied consuls and urban prefects throughout Gallienus' reign, and thus were quite influential. In addition, Flavius Antiochianus, one of the consuls of 270, who was an urban prefect the year before, would continue to hold his office for the following year. A colleague of Antiochianus, Virius Orfitus, also the descendant of a powerful family, would continue to hold influence during his father's term as prefect. Aurelian's colleague as consul was another such man, Pomponius Bassus, a member of one of the oldest senatorial families, as was one of the consuls in 272, Junius Veldumnianus. In his first full year of power, Claudius was greatly assisted by the sudden destruction of the imperium Galliarum. When Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus, a high official under Postumus, declared himself emperor in Germania Superior, in the spring of 269, Postumus defeated him, but in doing so, refused to allow the sack of Mainz, which had served as Laelianus' headquarters. This proved to be his downfall, for out of anger, Postumus' army mutinied and murdered him. Selected by the troops, Marcus Aurelius Marius was to replace Postumus as ruler. Marius' rule did not last long though, as Victorinus, Postumus' praetorian prefect, defeated him. Now emperor of the Gauls, Victorinus was soon in a precarious position, for the Spanish provinces had deserted the Gallic Empire and declared their loyalty to Claudius, while in southern France, Placidianus had captured Grenoble. Luckily, it was there that Placidianus stopped and Victorinus' position stabilized. In the next year, when Autun revolted, declaring itself for Claudius, the central government made no moves to support it. As a result, the city went through a siege, lasting many weeks, until it was finally captured and sacked by Victorinus. It is still unknown why Claudius did nothing to help the city of Autun, but sources tell us his relations with Palmyra were waning in the course of 270. An obscure passage in the Historia Augusta life of Gallienus states that he had sent an army under Heraclianus to the region that had been annihilated by Zenobia. But because Heraclianus was not actually in the east in 268 (instead, at this time, he was involved in the conspiracy of Gallienus' death), we can see that this can not be correct. But the confusion evident in this passage, which also places the bulk of "Skythian" activity during 269 a year earlier, under Gallienus, may stem from a later effort to pile all possible disasters in this year into the reign of the former Emperor. This would keep Claudius' record of being an ancestor of Constantine from being tainted. If this understanding of the sources is correct, it might also be correct to see the expedition of Heraclianus to the east as an event of Claudius' time. The victories of Claudius over the Goths would not only make him a hero in Latin tradition, but an admirable choice as an ancestor for Constantine, who was born at Naissus, the site of Claudius' victory in 269. Claudius is also held in high esteem by Zonaras, whose Greek tradition seems to have been influenced by Latin. For Zosimus, a more reasoned contemporary view shows him as less grand. Claudius' successes in the year 269 were not continued in his next year as Emperor. As the "Skythai" starved in the mountains or surrendered, the legions pursuing them began to see an epidemic spreading throughout the men. Also, Claudius' unwillingness to do anything at the siege of Autun likely provoked a quarrel with Zenobia. Although it is not proven that the invasion of Gaul was the breaking point between Claudius and Zenobia, the sequence of events point to the siege as an important factor. The issue at hand was the position that Odaenathus held as corrector totius orientis. Vaballathus, the son of Zenobia, was given this title when Zenobia claimed it for him. From then on, tension between the two empires would only get worse. Heraclianus' fabled arrival might have been an effort to reassert central control after the death of Odaenathus, but, if so, it failed. Although coins were never minted with the face of Odaenathus, soon after his death coins were made with image of his son. Under Zabdas, a Palmyrene army invaded Arabia and moved into Egypt in the late summer. At this time, the prefect of Egypt was Tenagino Probus, described as an able soldier who not only defeated an invasion of Cyrenaica by the nomadic tribes to the south in 269, but also was successful in hunting down "Skythian" ships in the Mediterranean. However, he did not see the same success in Egypt, for a Palmyrene underground, led by Timagenes, undermined Probus, defeated his army, and killed him in a battle near the modern city of Cairo in the late summer of 270. Generally when a Roman commander is slaughtered it is taken as a sign that a state of war is in existence, and if we can associate the death of Heraclianus in 270, as well as an inscription from Bostra recording the rebuilding of a temple destroyed by the Palmyrene army, then these violent acts could be interpreted the same way. Yet they apparently were not. As David Potter writes, "The coins of Vaballathus avoid claims to imperial power: he remains vir consularis, rex, imperator, dux Romanorum, a range of titles that did not mimic those of the central government. The status vir consularis was, as we have seen, conferred upon Odaenathus; the title rex, or king, is simply a Latin translation of mlk, or king; imperator in this context simply means "victorious general"; and dux Romanorum looks like yet another version of corrector totius orientis" (Potter, 263). These titles suggest that Odaenathus' position, not unlike a king in the Semitic world, was inheritable. In Roman culture, the status gained in procuring a position could be passed on, but not the position itself. It is possible that the thin line between office and the status that accompanied it were dismissed in Palmyrene court, especially when the circumstance worked against the interests of a regime that was able to defeat Persia, which a number of Roman emperors had failed to do. Vaballathus stressed the meanings of titles, because in Palmyrene context, the titles of Odaenathus meant a great deal. When the summer of 270 ended, things were looking very different in the empire than they did a year before. After its success, Gaul was in a state of inactivity and the empire was failing in the east. Insufficient resources plagued the state, as a great deal of silver was used for the antoninianus, which was again diluted. History Of The XVII Draconis Legion. ''I think scars are like battle wounds - it shows strenght, in a way. They show what you've been through and how strong you are for coming out of it.'' - Legate Draco A.D 213
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