MEGIDDO, ISRAEL—The second and third century A.D. permanent headquarters of Rome’s Sixth Legion Ferrata have been discovered at the site of Legio, located near Tel Megiddo in northern Israel. One of two imperial legions sent to the region, the Sixth Legion Ferrata helped keep order in Galilee during the Bar Kochba Revolt between A.D. 132 and 135. Conducted by the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research as part of the Jezreel Valley Regional Project, the excavations have uncovered ceramic roofing tiles marked with the sign of the Sixth Ironclad Legion, clay pipes, sewer channels, streets, and several buildings, including one that may have been the residence of the commander. “We’re talking about a large camp, an imperial camp, one of about 5,000 soldiers, about 984 feet by 1,640 feet,” Yotam Tepper of the Israel Antiquities Authority told The Times of Israel. “Our entire understanding about Roman military architecture, and especially Roman legionary bases for this particular period…comes from the western empire—Germany, Britain, and Gaul,” added Matthew J. Adams of the Albright Institute. To read more about Roman military fortifications, go to "Rome's Earliest Fort."
