Send Gift Baskets to Leon, Spain

León was founded in the 1st century B.C. by the legion Legio VI Victrix, which served under Caesar Augustus during the Cantabrian Wars (29-19 B.C.), the last phase of the Roman conquest of Hispania. It is thought that the Legio VII Gemina, recruited from the Hispanics by Galba, settled in a permanent military camp in 74 A.D., eventually becoming the city’s foundation. The city’s modern name, León, comes from its Latin name, Castra Legionis.

The Romans established the site of the city to protect the recently conquered territories of northwestern Hispania from the Astures and Cantabria and to secure the transportation of gold extracted in the province -especially in the enormous nearby mines of Las Médulas- that was taken to Rome through Asturica Augusta (modern-day Astorga)).

As a means of distinguishing it from the old Legio VII Claudia, Tacitus calls the legion Galbiana; however, no such designation appears on any inscriptions. As a result of Vespasian’s amalgamation of Gemina with one of the German legions, probably Legio I Germanica received the appellation Gemina. There was a Legio VII named Gemina Felix in its full name. Vespasian settled it in Hispania Tarraconensis, after serving in Pannonia and fighting in the civil wars, as a replacement for Legio VI Victrix and Legio X Gemina, typically stationed in the province, but had been withdrawn.

According to the Itinerary, Ptolemy, and Notitiae Imperii, as well as a few inscriptions, its regular winter quarters under later emperors were at León; however, numerous descriptions indicate that a strong contingent of the army was stationed in Tarraco (modern Tarragona), the chief city of the area.

It is possible to see portions of the original Roman encampment in the modern layout of the city. In the Roman world (built between the first century B.C. and the fourth century A.D.), long sections of Roman walls remain standing. Additionally, archaeological exhibitions show the remains of the walls, gates, baths, and theater.