Julius Caesar's Famed 10th Roman Legion Eagle Mug

(This history is printed on the side of the mug) This Legion, the most heavily favored and celebrated of all of Julius Caesar's Legions, was originally recruited by Caesar in Spain in 61 BC - the first Legion levied personally by Caesar, and another unit that would show how Spaniards were the toughest soldiers in the entire Roman Army. They marched with Caesar in Portugal as raw recruits, and by the encounter with the Germanic leader Ariovistus in 58 BC, Caesar already trusted this Legion implicitly. Thought it never became an official title, it didn't take long for the unit to become known as 'Equestris', as Caesar commonly used it both as a cavalry unit and as his personal bodyguard. Throughout the Gallic Campaign, both invasions of Britain, and the Civil War with Pompey, the Legion served with great distinction, always occupying the vital and dangerous right flank in battle. It was instrumental in wiping out the Nervians in 57, and displayed noted heroism again in Britain in 55, and at Gergovia in 52. At the Civil War's decisive Battle of Pharsalus in 48, Pompey had even specifically ordered his cavalry to cut off Caesar's 10th - by then universally known - from the rest of his army and destroy it, though they would fail miserably. At the Battle of Munda in 45, very few troops of the 10th would survive. Later in 45, Caesar would discharge these surviviors and allocate them generous portions of land in the new province of Narbonese Gaul, although nearly all of them would re-enlist for another 16 years of service in order to be able to fight in Caesar's planned Parthian Campaign. After Caesar's assassination, the entire Legion would be re-formed by Lepidus and soon passed to Mark Antony. This new 10th would be known as the 10th Gemina.