Caesar's Legion

Caesar's Legion is a faction based on large scale slavery and tribal dominance. Founded in 2247 by Edward Sallow and Joshua Graham, the Legion models itself after the ancient Roman Empire to create a unifying identity. As of 2281, the Legion operates east of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon, primarily in what was once Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.

Ideology
Caesar wishes to dedicate its members to a higher ideal, he seeks to prevent humanity from fracturing and destroying itself again. As Caesar conquers the peoples of the wasteland, he strips them of their tribal identities and merges them into his forces. The non-tribal people who live in Legion-controlled territory are not considered legionaries. He believes that the only way to achieve this is through enforcing a culture that obliterates the identity of every group it conquers. The individual has no value beyond his utility to the state, whether as an instrument of war or production. Caesar firmly believes that mankind requires warriors and their sacrifice, rather than gadgets that allow for bloodless victories. Caesar describes the Legion's culture as one that "forbids painkillers and is largely ignorant of medical science."

Caesar cites the NCR as an example of government corruption by wealthy brahmin barons and landowners, greed permeating every level of society. The Legion is intended to be the Republic's opposite, shunning democracy in favor of a strong, centralized rule that would prevent fragmentation and internal weakness.

This opposition is based on his interpretation of Hegelian dialectics, where the thesis (NCR) and the antithesis (Caesar's Legion) will inevitably form a synthesis at the resolution of the conflict, eliminating flaws and leaving a new quality, with common elements and ideas. He likens the situation between the NCR and the Legion to the transformation of the ancient Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.

Society
Cassandra Moore mentions that she has heard the Legion doesn't allow women in the military, considering them nothing more than breeding stock. Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition pp. 460-461: "True to Caesar" "Many years have passed, and by post-apocalyptic standards, Caesar's accomplishments have been prodigious. But the man's hunger for greatness has never been sated. Having assembled a loose nation of slavers and slaves, having won countless "wars" against inferior peoples, secretly he still feels like an upstart, an amateur-a barbaric King of the Gauls, instead of a lofty emperor of Rome. ''To advance, he needs two things: a Carthage and a Rome. In the NCR he has at last found a great adversary, against which he can wage a military campaign worthy of history books. (Indeed, worth teaching his subordinates how to read and write, so that future generations can read his own Commentarii.) And in Vegas, powered and watered by its great dam, he has found a capital worthy of, well, a Caesar. Contrary to the old saw, Rome will be built in a day. With that out of the way, the next step will be to proclaim his apotheosis. All good Roman emperors became gods, although that was usually done posthumously...'' ''Besides a (highly unlikely) military defeat, Caesar fears one thing only: exposure. The denizens of the wastes are too ignorant to realize that his entire empire is a grand act of plagiarism, but the Followers of the Apocalypse know exactly who he is and what he has done. Should his tribe discover that he cribbed the entire culture from books about ancient Rome, rather than having its customs dictates dictated to him by Mars...well, it's very unlikely that could happen. And he won't let it happen. That is why his forces have a standing order to kill all Followers of the Apocalypse on sight, and to brutalize all 'civilized' or learned captives and haul them before Caesar's interrogators. Those who make the mistake of saying, 'Hey, you guys, it's like you're emulating the ancient Roman empire,' end up as severed heads on poles."'' (Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide; Behind the Bright Lights & Big City) Jimmy states that women are treated as a form of currency. Veronica, when asked about the Legion, states that they "Mount their soldiers as much as they mount their women." Cass also states to a male Courier with the Confirmed Bachelor perk Courier that she "doesn't like soft living or soft men" to which Cass states that he has a "Legion outlook on things". Major Knight also confides to a male homosexual Courier that the Legion is "a little more forgiving about... friendships." Some NCR citizens believe the Legion practices cannibalism.

Slavery
Anyone outside the Legion ranks or under their rule is considered to be "dissolute" or are called "profligates," referring to those lacking morals. Freshly caught individuals are called "captures." They are given a new name and wear rags with a bright red X painted over the chest. Some captures and slaves are forced to wear slave collars to ensure their docility. Slavery is managed by the Consul Officiorum ab Famulatus. Consul Officiorum typically acts through his representatives or administrators, who handle sales, bargaining, and issuing legal documents, such as bills of sale.

Trade
Dale Barton often prefers to trade in Legion territories, saying that he finds it cheaper as he doesn't have to hire protection on most occasions, nor does he have to pay taxes, due to the effectiveness of Legion suppression of raiders and wasteland creatures. Rose of Sharon Cassidy admits that caravan life would be much easier if the Legion controlled the roadways instead of the NCR. She states that if towns could be provided the same level of security as roads, they would likewise be tempted to capitulate. The Legion does not allow the trading of drugs and alcohol, punishing those they capture with the illicit substances.

Equipment
Lower ranks typically use either simple firearms (typically revolvers or lever-action rifles), power fists, or melee weapons in the form of machetes and throwing spears. Higher ranks, such as prime legionaries, decani, and centurions have access to superior weapons, such as Anti-Materiel Rifles, marksman carbines, and super sledges. The personal guards of Caesar themselves are equipped with high tech ballistic fists. The Legion's lack of technical expertise means that many legionaries are untrained in the use of certain weapons, with some unaware that land mines can be disarmed.

While no Legion member wields energy weapons, they show interest in purchasing them from the Van Graffs. The Legion has a large number of Stealth Boys. These Stealth Boys are never seen used by Legion soldiers in the Mojave but are used by the Legion at Dry Wells and the Legion Marked Men in the Divide. Centurions make their own armor, crafted from elements of body armor scavenged from felled foes. Beyond that, the Legion is opportunistic and will use any kind of technology to further its goals, whether it be using a howitzer to suppress NCR snipers or occupying HELIOS One after the Courier wipes the NCR out with ARCHIMEDES.

Appearances
Caesar's Legion appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.