Eagle of the Legion

• Eagle in Latin is Aquila. The Eagle was the symbol of each Legio carried as its Standard by the Aquilifer (Eagle bearer) who walked in front of the army.
• The Eagle was made of Gold or Silver gilt and positioned on top of a pole adorned with images of the Roman Emperor.

History

• After the Marian Reforms of 104 BCE, the Eagle was adopted as the unique symbol of each Legion.
• Prior to this 5 symbols were used, the Eagle, the Wolf, the Ox with a man’s head, the Boar and the Horse.

Lost Standards known to have been recovered

Because the Standard was the symbol of the Legion, if lost in battle, it would be the cause of future battles until it had been returned, either by force or by negotiation. The enemies of Rome knew this:

• 53 BCE Battle of Carrhae
  • After Crassus lost the Battle, the Eagles of 7 legions were captured by the Persians. 33 years later, Augustus negotiated their return in 20 BCE along with the surviving prisoners.
• 17 BCE ‘Clades Lolliana’ The ‘Lollian Disaster’
  • The Consul Marcus Lollius Paulinus, with the Legio V Macedonica was defeated by an alliance of Germanic Tribes, the Sicambri, the Tencteri and the Usipetes, who had crossed the Rhine. The Standard was recovered in 16 BCE.
• 9 CE, Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
  • 3 legions were defeated and their Standards captured. Germanicus recaptured 2 Standards in 15 and 16 CE. The other was recaptured in 41 CE.
• 86 CE, Battle of Tapae
  • The Legio V Alaudae was destroyed and its Standard taken. The Standard was recaptured during 101 or 102 CE during Trajan's Dacian Wars.

The Temple of Mars in the Forum of Augustus

• The Standards lost to the Parthians by Crassus after the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE, were returned in 20 BCE and placed here.
• The 3 Standards lost to the Germanic Tribes after the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE were returned in 14 CE and placed here.

Napoleon Bonaparte

• Napoleon Bonaparte repeated the idea of Eagle Standards during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 CE).
• French Imperial Eagles were carried on a staff into battle ahead of each Regiment of the Grande Armee.

Copies in Museums

• Louvre, Paris
  • A copy of a Napoleonic Eagle is held in the Louvre, Paris.
• Chelmsford Museum, Chelmsford
  • An original Napoleonic Eagle is held in the Museum of the Essex Regiment and Essex Yeomanry, which is inside the Chelmsford Museum.

Temple of Mars, Rome