Legio XII Fulminata ("Thunderbolt Twelfth Legion"), also known as Paterna , Victrix , Antiqua , Certa Constans , and Galliena , was a legion of the Imperial Roman army . It was originally levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC, and the legion accompanied him during the Gallic Wars until 49 BC. The unit was still guarding the Euphrates River crossing near Melitene at the beginning of the 5th century.
29-720: The legion's emblem was a thunderbolt (on a shield fulmen ). In later centuries it came to be called commonly, but incorrectly, the Legio Fulminatrix , the Thundering Legion . The Twelfth legion, as it is perhaps better known, fought in the Battle against the Nervians , and probably also in the Siege of Alesia . The Twelfth fought at the Battle of Pharsalus (48 BC), when Caesar defeated Pompey. After Caesar won
58-454: A temperate semi-arid climate ( Köppen climate classification : BSk ) with warm and dry summers, cool and occasionally wet winters, and strong winds all year long. The peninsula is the most arid part of Azerbaijan ( precipitation here is around or less than 200 mm (8 in) a year). The majority of the light annual precipitation occurs in seasons other than summer, but none of these seasons are particularly wet. The natural vegetation of
87-768: A client kingdom of Rome. Emperor Nero ordered Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo , the new Legate of Cappadocia , to manage the matter. Corbulo ordered Legion IV Scythica from Moesia , and along with the III Gallica and VI Ferrata defeated the Parthians , restoring Tigranes VI to the Armenian throne. In 62 AD, the XII Fulminata joined the IV Scythica , now commanded by the new Legate of Cappadocia, Lucius Caesennius Paetus . Both legions were defeated by
116-494: A loud thunderclap . In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father' ; this association is also found in later Hellenic representations of Zeus and Vedic descriptions of the vajra wielded by the god Indra . It may have been a symbol of cosmic order, as expressed in the fragment from Heraclitus describing "the Thunderbolt that steers the course of all things". In its original usage
145-530: A lower salinity . In the western areas of the peninsula there are outcrops of low permeability clays from the Cretaceous, Palaogene, Neogene, and Lower Pliocene. These clays are deeper in the eastern areas and covered by Quaternary sediments. Although the peninsula is tectonically a southeast continuous of the Greater Caucasus , its Quaternary deposits are isolated. The Absheron Peninsula has
174-621: A maximum width of 30 km (19 mi). Though technically the easternmost extension of the Caucasus Mountains , the landscape is only mildly hilly, a gently undulating plain that ends in a long spit of sand dunes known as Shah Dili, and now declared the Absheron National Park . In this part, the peninsula is dissected by ravines and characterized by frequent salt lakes . The name "Absheron" comes from Persian āb šuran (salty waters). This also gave its name to
203-571: Is a peninsula in Azerbaijan . It is the location of Baku , the biggest and the most populous city of the country, and also the Baku metropolitan area, with its satellite cities Sumqayit and Khyrdalan . There are three districts, of which two are urban (Baku and Sumqayit) and one is suburban ( Absheron Rayon ). It extends 60 km (37 mi) eastward into the Caspian Sea , and reaches
232-705: Is recorded guarding the frontier of the Euphrates in Melitene, at the beginning of the 5th century ( Notitia Dignitatum ). In Rick Riordan 's book The Son of Neptune , the Twelfth Legion went to America after the fall of Rome, following the Roman gods , and set up Camp Jupiter in California as a base for Roman demigods. In Mikhail Bulgakov 's book The Master and Margarita , Pontius Pilate mentions
261-553: The Cretaceous , Palaeogene , Neogene , Pliocene and Quaternary periods. The lithological composition up to the Neogene layers is made up of clays , sandy clays, sands and limestones . Middle Pliocene sediments are sandy clays. These are thick in areas with highly mineralized groundwaters. Fresh groundwater is unable to permeate the thick clays to reach underlying sequences, by the overlying layers of sediment deposits have
290-564: The Parthians and Armenians at the battle of Rhandeia ; after surrendering, the legions were shamed and removed from this theater of war. In 66, after a Zealot revolt had destroyed the Roman garrison in Jerusalem , the XII Fulminata , with vexillationes of IV Scythica and VI Ferrata , were sent to restore Roman authority. However, after a defeat where the legion lost its aquila , Gaius Cestius Gallus , legate of Syria , ordered
319-588: The Absheron Peninsula is dry steppe and semi-desert . Due to the semi-arid climate, local agriculture requires irrigation . Petrochemical and refining industries on the peninsula have had environmental impacts on the Caspian Sea shore and the sea itself. Local scientists consider the peninsula (including Baku and Sumqayit and the Caspian Sea) to be the ecologically most devastated area in
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#1732775510711348-532: The Absheron Peninsula, including Robert Nobel and Zeynalabdin Taghiyev . There are natural resources such as oil, lime, sand and salt in the peninsula. The peninsula has famous lakes like Masazir, Khojahasan and Boyuk Shor. Several ancient oil wells of the world are located in the Absheron Peninsula. Azerbaijan is in the first place for the variety of mud volcanoes in Absheron. 400 out of 800 mud volcanoes in
377-526: The Asia (1100 in the world) are located within the Southern Caspian oil-gas basin as well as in the dry areas of Azerbaijan and other islands in the water area of the Caspian Sea. The main highways of the country are in Baku and the Absheron Peninsula. These are the highways of Heydar Aliyev International Airport , Sea port, Baku Railway Station and others which connect the capital to other regions of
406-574: The Legion during his meeting with Caiaphas . He threatens using the Legion in bloody pacification of possible future Jewish rebellion, along with auxiliary Arab cavalry. The fiction book Rome: The Eagle of the Twelfth by M.C. Scott is based on the legion during the Jewish rebellion. Thunderbolt A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by
435-541: The XII Fulminata was in the Caucasus , where Emperor Vespasian had sent the legion to support the allied kingdoms of Iberia and Albania. An inscription presumably from this period has been found in modern-day Azerbaijan which reads: IMP DOMITIANO CAESARE AVG GERMANIC, LVCIVS IVLIVS MAXIMVS CENTVRIO LEG XII FVL (To Imp(erator) Domitianus Caesar Aug(ustus) Germanicus , (by) Lucius Julius Maximus, Centurion of Leg(ion) XII Ful(minata).) Some historians argue that
464-491: The city of Apsheronsk in Russia . According to Conrad Malte-Brun in 1810, an alternative name for the peninsula was Okoressa. During the late 19th century exploitation of the peninsula's petroleum resources caused large scale migrations of Iranian laborers to the Caucasus and Central Asia . The Absheron peninsula is located in eastern Azerbaijan, along the western coast of the Caspian Sea with layers of deposits from
493-546: The civil war, the legion was named Victrix , and enlisted in 43 BC by Lepidus and Mark Antony . Mark Antony led the Twelfth, renamed XII Antiqua during his campaign against the Parthian Empire . During the latest part of Augustus ' principality, XII Fulminata served in Syria , camping at Raphana . From his eastern Parthian Empire in present-day Iran and Iraq , King Vologeses I in 58 AD invaded Armenia ,
522-534: The emperor issuing a decree forbidding the persecution of the Christians, but this seems to have been based on a forgery. In 175, the legion was in Melitene, when Avidius Cassius revolted; the Twelfth, having been loyal to the Emperor, obtained the cognomen Certa Constans , "surely constant". After the death of Emperor Pertinax , 193, XII Fulminata supported the governor of Syria , Pescennius Niger , who
551-477: The fossilised rostra of belemnoids . The origin of these bullet-shaped stones was not understood, and thus a mythological explanation of stones created where a lightning struck has arisen. The thunderbolt or lightning bolt continues into the modern world as a prominent symbol; it has entered modern heraldry and military iconography. Related forms have these code points : Absheron region The Absheron Peninsula ( Azerbaijani : Abşeron yarımadası )
580-475: The newly conquered Armenian capital Artaxata . Emperor Marcus Aurelius commanded the XII Fulminata in his campaign against the Quadi , a people inhabiting an area in modern-day Slovakia , and an episode of a miraculous rain and lightning saving a Twelfth subunit from defeat is reported by the sources. At this time, most of the Twelfth was composed chiefly of Christians. There was a belief that this had led to
609-625: The settlement of Ramana near Baku was possibly founded by the Roman troops of Lucius Julius Maximus from Legio XII Fulminata in circa 84-96 AD and derives its name from the Latin Romana . Facts that strengthen this hypothesis include: a military-topographical map of the Caucasus published in 1903 by Russian administrators, which refers to the town as "Romana"; various Roman artifacts found in Absheron region ; and records that old(er) inhabitants referred to their town as Romani . The legion
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#1732775510711638-508: The survivors to return to Syria. On its way back, XII Fulminata was ambushed and defeated by Eleazar ben Simon in the Battle of Beth Horon . However, XII Fulminata fought well in the last part of the war, and supported its commander T. Flavius Vespasian in his successful bid for the imperial throne. At the end of the war, XII Fulminata and XVI Flavia Firma were sent to guard the Euphrates border, camping at Melitene . In 75 AD,
667-434: The thunderbolt is often found in military symbolism and semiotic representations of electricity. Lightning plays a role in many mythologies, often as the weapon of a sky god and weather god . As such, it is an unsurpassed method of dramatic instantaneous retributive destruction: thunderbolts as divine weapons can be found in many mythologies. The name "thunderbolt" or "thunderstone" has also been traditionally applied to
696-460: The word may also have been a description of the consequences of a close approach between two planetary cosmic bodies, as Plato suggested in Timaeus , or, according to Victor Clube , meteors, though this is not currently the case. As a divine manifestation the thunderbolt has been a powerful symbol throughout history, and has appeared in many mythologies . Drawing from this powerful association,
725-475: The world. Beginning in the 1870s, the Absheron Peninsula was the site of some of the world's earliest petroleum production. Much of the landscape remains scarred with rusting oil derricks. Despite serious problems with environmental damage and pollution, the Absheron is known for its flowers, horticulture, mulberries and figs. The northern coast has wide though less-than-pristine beaches which are popular local tourist attractions. Wealthy people have settled in
754-624: Was a major threat to the Roman power in the East. King Shapur I conquered the base of the XV Apollinaris , Satala (256), and sacked Trapezus (258). Emperor Valerian moved against Shapur, but was defeated and captured. The defeat caused the partial collapse of the Empire, with the secessionistic Gallic Empire in the West and Palmyrene Empire in the East. It is known that the XII Fulminata
783-525: Was in the end defeated by Emperor Septimius Severus . When the Eastern frontier of the Empire was moved from the Euphrates to the Tigris , the Twelfth stayed in the reserve, possibly as a punishment for its support of Severus' rival. The region around Melitene was one of the first in which Christian faith spread. Polyeuctes is a martyr under Valerian who was a soldier of the Twelfth. The Sassanid Empire
812-660: Was probably in Armenia during Trajan 's campaign of 114 AD, that ended with the annexation of the Kingdom of Armenia. In 134, the threat of the Alans was subdued by the governor of Cappadocia , Arrian , who defeated the invaders with the aid of XII Fulminata and XV Apollinaris . The Twelfth probably fought in the Parthian campaign of Emperor Lucius Verus , in 162–166, if a mixed unit of XII and XV controlled for some time
841-603: Was under the command of Odaenathus , ruler of the Palmyrene Empire, but also that Emperor Gallienus awarded the legion with the cognomen Galliena . After these episodes, the records of the Fulminata are scarce. The Palmyrene Empire was reconquered by Aurelian ; Emperor Diocletian defeated the Sassanids and moved the frontier to Northern Mesopotamia . The Twelfth, which probably took part to these campaigns,
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