The Legio IV Italica' ("Italian Fourth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 231 by emperor Alexander Severus. The legion remained in existence in ca. 400.
History
The legion was Formed during the reign of Alexander Severus in 231, with Italian and Pannonian soldiers, and perhaps took soon part in the expedition against the Sassanids in 231-231
Its first commander, IV Italica and some legions at this time were commanded by Equestrian Praefectus Legionis compared to the Senatorial Legatus Legionis, was Maximinus Thrax, the former common soldier and future emperor.
It participated in all Maximinus' campaigns in the Danubian area in 235-238. Under Gordian III, it returned to the eastern frontier in 242-244 to fight the Sassanids, under the prefect Serapamo, with its base set perhaps in the province of Mesopotamia. Later, Nischer speculates it may have been based in the Gaul under Diocletian.
It is mentioned in the Notitia dignitatum, as a pseudo-comitatenses legion under the magister militum per Orientem. It perhaps survived until the reformation of Justinian in 545.