Elements of the Eighth Augustan Legion (Legio VIII Augusta) rebuilt sections of the Antonine Wall and were at Dumfries. It is a legion raised by Julius Caesar–it had no permanent base in Britain, but detachments (vexillationes) and individual soldiers did serve there sporadically from the Republic through the Empire. Julius Caesar’s invasions (55–54 BC) included his VIII Legion, and during Claudius’s conquest of Britain (43–47 AD) scholars argue an VIII Augusta detachment took part. After 47 AD, the legion remained on the Rhine, but vexillations visited Britain in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries. For example, an eagle-bearer’s shield-boss found in the River Tyne names LEG·VIII·AVG, implying an early-2nd-century detachment under Hadrian. An inscription at Birrens (Scotland) dated c. 142 AD explicitly records detachments of VIII Aug. and XXII Primigenia rebuilding the Antonine Wall. There are also personal epitaphs (e.g. at Chester) showing a veteran served with VIII Aug before finishing his career in Britain.
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References
- Legio VIII Augusta and the Claudian Invasion -Lawrence J. F. Keppie Britannia, Vol. 2 (1971), pp. 149-155 (7 pages)
- RIB 3486 found at Birrens – “[… detachments] of the Eighth Legion Augusta and the Twenty-Second Legion Primigenia made (this).”
- Shield from 8th Legion (British Museum)
