Institution

Legion

Also known as legionary

A legion was the principal unit of the Roman army, made up of several thousand heavy infantry citizen soldiers with supporting troops. Its discipline, training and engineering skill underpinned the expansion and defence of the Roman Empire. The Byzantine Empire inherited Roman military traditions, and the French Empire's Foreign Legion, founded in 1831, later borrowed the name.

Mentioned in 14 profiles

French EmpireMilitaryRoman EmpireMilitaryGran ColombiaMilitaryAfrica ProconsularisMilitaryRoman EgyptMilitaryFrench AlgeriaMilitary, SummaryHispania TarraconensisMilitaryRussian SFSRMilitaryCzechoslovakiaFoundationRepublic of LatviaMilitaryNazi GermanyMilitaryCaucasian AlbaniaMilitaryFrench IndochinaMilitaryLatinSpeakers

Mentioned in 16 state histories

CavaresMoesiScordisciSugambriCornoviiSiluresBructeriVeniconesRoman NumidiaFree Imperial City of RegensburgMangkunegaranThird Republic of Venezuelaand 4 more

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Legion. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/legion
MLA
“Legion.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/legion. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Legion.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/legion.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Legion’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/legion (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻