It was levied in Transalpine Gaul to fight the armies of Vercingetorix, and was the first Roman legion to comprise non-citizens.

When the two men earlier cooperated, they defeated the Liberators Brutus and Cassius, who were seeking to restore the Republic after they had killed Caesar, in the Battle of Philippi the V Alaudae was there.

While in Gaul the legion may have temporarily lost its standard when its commander Marcus Lollius was defeated by the Germanic Sugambri.

Although we cannot be precise, it is likely that the transfer from Hispania Ulterior to Belgica had taken place in 19 BC, when Augustus' friend Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa invaded Germania.

[2] Commander Lucius Nonius Asprenas used the First legion Germanica and the Fifth legion Alaudae to occupy the fortresses of Germania Inferior and prevent a Germanic raid on Belgica After the disaster, V Alaudae was stationed at Xanten, together with XXI Rapax, keeping an eye on the nearby tribe of the Cugerni and guarding the confluence of the Rhine and Lippe.

The famous anecdote, told by Suetonius, about the emperor commanding soldiers to collect shells on the beach, refers to the visit of the fifth to Lugdunum.

The V Alaudae and XV Primigenia are thought to have been part of the expeditionary force that was led against the Frisians and Chauci by the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo in 47 AD.

Among these were Lucius Clodius Macer of Africa and Gaius Julius Vindex of one of the provinces in Gaul, who supported the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, Servius Sulpicius Galba, when he proclaimed that he wanted to dethrone Nero.

The army of Germania Inferior, which included the Legio V Alaudae marched to the south and defeated Gaius Julius Vindex.

A Roman expeditionary force, consisting of the remains of V Alaudae and XV Primigenia, was defeated near Nijmegen, and not much later, these two legions found themselves besieged at Xanten.

It took several months before the new emperor Vespasian could send a strong Roman army to recover the Rhineland and suppress the Batavian revolt, commanded by his relative Quintus Petillius Cerialis.