Imperial Roman Army - Legio XV Apollinaris Coffee Mug

Legio XV Apollinaris ("Apollo's Fifteenth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was recruited by Octavian in 41/40 BC. Octavianus (later Emperor Augustus) raised XV Apollinaris in order to end the occupation of Sicily by Sextus Pompeius, who was threatening Rome's grain supply. After the Battle of Actium, where the legion probably gained its epitaph Apollinaris, it was sent to garrison Illyricum, where it probably remained until 6 BC, though it might have seen action in the Cantabrian Wars. In 6 AD, Apollinaris was part of the huge campaign by Tiberius against the Marcomanni that was obstructed by a revolt in Pannonia. Apollinaris saw a good deal of fighting in the suppression of the revolt. According to the historian Balduin Saria, this legion erected a camp on the site of the Colonia Iulia Aemona, which was established as a camp in 14 or 15, after the legion left for Carnuntum. This hypothesis has been rejected by the researcher Marjeta Šašel Kos as unfounded. By the year 9 the legion was headquartered in Pannonia, in the town of Carnuntum.