Literary notes about LEGION (AI summary)
In literature, "legion" serves as both a specific military designation and a metaphor for vast multitude. In historical narratives, it denotes organized military units whose precise structure and strength are pivotal to the unfolding of events, as seen when regiments are identified by their number or purpose, underscoring the discipline and might of ancient armies [1][2]. Yet beyond its literal sense, the word often appears as a symbol of overwhelming quantity or uncontrollable force, as when a speaker exclaims, "My name is Legion, for we are many" [3] or when a writer uses it hyperbolically to evoke a swarm of troubles or adversaries [4][5]. This dual use—a concrete military formation and an expansive metaphor—illustrates the term's enduring power to convey both order and chaos within literary themes.
- [ This legion, which had been weakened by many engagements, was afterwards recruited, and then called Gemina.
— from The Germany and the Agricola of Tacitus by Cornelius Tacitus - XXI "Thine, Roman, is the pilum: Roman, the sword is thine, The even trench, the bristling mound, The legion's ordered line;
— from Lays of Ancient Rome by Baron Thomas Babington Macaulay Macaulay - And he saith to him: My name is Legion, for we are many.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - “But leaving out my arm, every inch of me is as sore as if I had been fighting with a legion of imps!”
— from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - Where was the drug that could still this legion of insurgent nerves?
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton