Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎32r] (66/154)

A JOURNEY IN THE VALLEY OF THE UPPER EUPHRATES.
469
to its former rulers under Caligula. The northern districts which lie along and
above the western Euphrates as far as Trapezus, were first made Roman probably
in 63 a.d.* During the wars of Corbulo it seems probable that Melitene was
used as one of the bases of operations for the campaigns beyond the river (Tac.,
* Ann.,’ xv. 26), but whether a camp was established here as early as this is not
certain.f In these wars the two legions, XII. Fulminata and XV. Apollinaris,
which, at least from Hadrian’s time, were both always stationed in Cappadocia,
were first employed in Asia Minor; but at this time they were attached to the
army of Corbulo for special duty, and did not belong in any way to Cappadocia,
the legate of which had no army in times of peace.t Under Corbulo we learn
that a fort was established at Ziata,§ near Kharput, on the further side of the
Euphrates; but for the establishment of other forts cn the nearer bank evidence
is wanting.
In the Jewish war under Titus both the twelfth and the fifteenth legions took
part, and, after the capture of Jerusalem in 70 a.d., the twelfth was sent to
Melitene, but the fifteenth was ordered back to its old quarters in Pannonia. ||
Of Vespasian we are told that he “addidit legiones” to Cappadocia, and gave
a legate of consular instead of one of equestrian rank to the province. He also
brought Commagene again under direct Roman administration, adding it to
the province of Syria. In this province he also raised the number of legions
from four to seven; one of these being the new legion, XVI. Flavia Firma, of
which we found two inscriptions at Samosata^p. 322). Whether this legion was
stationed from the first at Samosata—which was certainly afterwards for some
time its head-quarters—is not known, but Mommsen inclines to the view that it
was.^f The milestone near Melik Sherif, and most probably on the line of the
Melitene—Satala road, to which allusion has already been made, seems to prove
that Vespasian laid out a portion of this road. Its date, if Mommsen’s restora
tion of the inscription is right, is 75 a.d., in which year a Roman garrison is
known to have been stationed at Harmozica (Tiflis).** It is thought probable by
Mommsen tt that Satala was a station of troops as early as this reign, but, except
for the milestone, there is little evidence to support his view. Legio XV. Apolli
naris was sent to Pannonia after the Jewish war, and the monuments of its stay
there are so abundant that, even if some of them are to be referred to an earlier
period, it is most probable that it remained here for a considerable number of years
after the war.
Thus, while there are no grounds for supposing any military post or road to
* Armenia Minor rather later, but at any rate by 75 a.d. (vide Mommsen, ‘ Provinces,’
vol. i. p. 324).
f It is possible that the ipvfia iv Terpayuiutfi, built by the Romans tv rdis avu xP ovols y
may have dated back to this time (Procop., ‘ De Aid.,’ iii. 5).
t Tacitus, ‘ Hist.,’ ii. § 1, “ Inermes legati regebant nondum additis Cappadocise
legionibus.” § ‘ C.I.L.,’ vol. iii. Suppl. 6741-6742.
|| Josephus, ‘Bell. Jud.,’ vii. 1. 3; vii. 5. 3.
Dion Cassius (Ixviii.) implies that Samosata was not held by the Romans at the
time when Trajan arrived there in 109 a.d., so that if the legion was stationed then at
Samosata, it must have left its post.
** ‘C.I.L.,’ vol. iii. 6052. tt ‘Provinces,’ vol. i. p. 324, note.
XX Mommsen’s view, stated in the Provinces loc. cit., is at variance with the conclusions
at which he arrived in discussing the history of the Pannonian legions (‘ C.I.L.,
vol. iii. p. 550). For the inscriptions of this legion at Carnuntum, vide ‘ Arch. Epigr.
Oester.,’ vol. v. pp. 208 ff. (Hirschfeld); and for a review of the whole question, ‘ Arch.
Epigr. Oester.,’ vol. x. pp. 12 ff. (Domaszewski).