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See also:LEGION (See also:Lat. legio) , in See also:early See also:Rome, the See also:levy of citizens marching out en masse to See also:war, like the See also:citizen-See also:army of any other See also:primitive See also:state. As Rome came to need more than one army at once and warfare See also:grew more complex, legio came to denote a unit of 4000-6000 heavy See also:infantry (including, however, at first some See also:light infantry and at various times a handful of See also:cavalry) who were by See also:political status See also:Roman citizens and were distinct from the " See also:allies," auxilia, and other troops of the second class. The legionaries were regarded as the best and most characteristic Roman soldiers, the most trustworthy and truly Roman; they enjoyed better pay and conditions of service than the " auxiliaries." In A.D. 14 (See also:death of See also:Augustus) there were 25 such legions: later, the number was slightly increased; finally about A.D. 290 See also:Diocletian reduced the See also:size and greatly increased the number of the legions. Throughout, the dominant features of the legions were heavy infantry and Roman citizenship. They lost their importance when the See also:Barbarian invasions altered the See also:character of See also:ancient warfare and made cavalry a more important See also:arm than infantry, in the See also:late 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. In the See also:middle ages the word " legion " seems not to have been used as a technical See also:term. In See also:modern times it has been employed for organizations of an unusual or exceptional character, such as a See also:corps of See also:foreign See also:volunteers or mercenaries. See further ROMAN ARMY. (F. J. H.)
The term legion has been used to designate regiments or corps of all arms in modern times, perhaps the earliest example of this being the Provincial Legions formed in See also:France by See also:Francis I. (see INFANTRY). See also:Napoleon, in accordance with this precedent, employed the word to designate the second-See also:line formations which he maintained in France and which supplied the Grande Armee with drafts. The term " Foreign Legion " is often used for irregular volunteer corps of foreign sympathizers raised by states at war, often by smaller states fighting for See also:independence. Unlike most foreign legions the " See also:British Legion " which, raised in See also:Great See also:Britain and commanded by See also:Sir de See also:Lacy See also:Evans (q.v.), fought in the Carlist See also:wars, was a regularly enlisted and paid force. The term " foreign legion ' is colloquially but incorrectly applied to-See also:day to the Regiments (drangers in the See also:French service, which are composed of adventurous See also:spirits of all nationalities and have been employed in many arduous colonial See also:campaigns.
The most famous of the corps that have See also:borne the name of legion in modern times was the See also: Its services included the abortive German expedition of See also:November 1805, the expedition to See also:Copenhagen in 1807, the See also:minor sieges and combats in See also:Sicily 1808-14, the Walcheren expedition of 18o9, the expedition to See also:Sweden under Sir See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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