Bible Dictionaries
Legion

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Legion. A division of the Roman army. The number of men in it differed at various times. Originally a legion consisted of about 3000; but in the time of Augustus it contained about 6000: there were also cavalry attached, to the amount of one-tenth of the infantry. Each legion was divided into ten cohorts, each cohort into three maniples, and each maniple into two centuries, which, according to the name, should comprise 100 men. The word legion came in the course of time to express indefinitely a large number; so it is used in Matthew 26:53; Mark 5:9; Mark 5:15; Luke 8:30; and so we frequently now use it.

Bibliography Information
Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Legion'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​rpd/​l/legion.html. 1893.