The soldiers of the Roman Legio X Fretensis were notorious for their brutal actions against Jews and other insurgents – they were involved in the siege of Masada, among other things. Hundreds of coins discovered on the Georgian Black Sea coast now prove that this legion reached ancient Colchis in the second century. The legionnaires were probably stationed in the Apsaros fortress there around the year 114, shortly before the Roman Emperor Trajan led his troops against Mesopotamia.
The Roman legion Legio X Fretensis was a military unit founded under the Roman Emperor Augustus that was specifically responsible for suppressing uprisings. In the 1st century, the soldiers of this unit fought primarily against the Jewish resistance in the Roman provinces of Judea and Syria. They destroyed the monastery at Qumran and took part in the siege of Jerusalem and the mountain fortress of Masada. After the bloody suppression of the Jewish rebellion, the Legio X Fretensis remained stationed in numerous Middle Eastern garrisons.
A Roman fortress on the Black Sea
But the soldiers of the notorious legion did not stay there, as finds now show near the Georgian coastal town of Batumi on the Black Sea. In the 2nd century, the Roman fortress of Apsaros was located in the ancient region of Colchis. The soldiers stationed there were supposed to protect the border of the Roman province of Cappadocia. Because of its strategically important location, Apsaros was important for securing the eastern border of the Roman Empire. Today, remains of the walls and ruins of various buildings from this fortress, which was built around 2000 years ago, have been preserved, including the house of the Roman garrison commander along with a floor mosaic.
During excavations in Apsarus, archaeologists from a Georgian-Polish excavation team also found hundreds of Roman coins on the site of the Roman garrison. Because Colchis did not have its own mint, these coins came mainly from other Roman provinces. The soldiers and legions brought their money with them when they were stationed on the Black Sea coast. “Even their large number is not surprising at first,” explains the archaeologist and numismatist Piotr Jaworski from the University of Warsaw. “They were just small denominations used daily to buy food or services.”
Coins with countermarks of Legio X
What is special, however, is that Jaworski discovered additional minting marks, also known as countermarks, on some of these coins, which were originally minted in Syrian Antioch and Judea. “Such countermarks were used to extend the period of validity of coins when the original dies were hardly recognizable after decades of use,” explains Jaworski. “In this case, the countermarks bore the symbols of the Legio X Fretensis.” Typical coin markers of this legion were images of bulls, boars or abbreviations such as X, XF or LXF.
These coins prove that at least parts of this notorious legion must have been stationed on the Black Sea coast at the time. “Until now, we have had sources reporting the presence of this legion in Satala, today’s Sadak in Turkey,” explains Jaworski. Accordingly, these soldiers were present in 114 when the Roman Emperor Trajan reached Satala from Antioch, about 250 kilometers west of Apsaros. At that time the emperor was preparing for the campaign against the Parthians. The coin finds now prove that the Legio X Fretensis was also stationed in Colchis in the same year – this is the northernmost location of these troops that has been clearly proven to date.
Intermediate station on the Parthian campaign
“The only time this legion could have been stationed in Apsaros for any length of time was during the winter of 114,” explains the archaeologist. “For Trajan returned temporarily to Syria in 114, leaving troops in Armenia and the southern Caucasus to winter there.” According to the mint dies, among these troops were soldiers of the Legio X Fretensis. According to Jaworski’s estimates, several cohorts of the legion could have been in the fortress of Apsaros – several thousand soldiers. In 115 Trajan then launched another offensive in his campaign against Mesopotamia – with success: at the end of 115 he had conquered Armenia and Mesopotamia and declared them Roman provinces.
Source: PAP – Science in Poland