Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LEGION

The principal division in the Roman army (Gk. legiṓn, from Lat. legere, “to gather”). Following the defeat of Antony at the Battle of Actium (31 b.c.), Octavian made many military reforms. He reduced the number of legions from 60 or 70 to 28 (150 thousand men, plus an equal number of auxiliaries) and changed the army from a militia to a professional military (cf. Tacitus Ann. 1.17). Most rulers of this period kept a small standing force of elite troops supported by civilian levies, which were no match for the professional legionnaires (cf. Josephus BJ 3.70-109).

The legion (ca. 6000 men), under the authority of the provincial governor or a prefect (e.g., Egypt), was often directly commanded by an imperial legate assisted by tribunes and centurions. It contained 10 cohorts: a double-strength first cohort of 960 men and nine other cohorts of 480 foot-soldiers and 120 cavalry (scouts and dispatch riders). Cohorts were further subdivided into six centuries of 80 men, each commanded by a centurion.

A legionnaire was equipped with a large rectangular shield, helmet with neck guard and cheek pieces, body armor (leather, mail, or segmented steel), a short sword, dagger, and both heavy spears and light javelins.

At Matt. 26:53; Mark 5:9, 15; Luke 8:30 the term is figurative for a large number.

Bibliography. B. Campbell, The Roman Army, 31 b.c.–a.d. 337 (London, 1994); G. Webster, The Roman Imperial Army of the First and Second Centuries a.d., 3rd ed. (Norman, Okla., 1998).

Andrea Lorenzo Molinari

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LEGION

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)