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Legio II Traiana, (lit. Second Legion "Trajan") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army raised by emperor Trajan, along with XXX Ulpia Victrix, for the campaigns in Dacia. Records of the II Traiana Fortis have been recovered from Egypt dating to the middle of the 5th century. The legion's emblem was the demi-god Hercules.
According to Cassius Dio, it was Trajan who raised both the II Traiana and the XXX Ulpia Victrix, [1] but the details and order are not clear. H.M.D. Parker has argued that the XXX Ulpia was raised first, at the time there were 29 legions, then after Legio XXI Rapax vanished—either destroyed in battle against barbarian invaders or in a civil disturbance—the II Traiana came into existence. [2]
The date of the legion's creation is also not certain, although Graham Webster assigns it to the year 101. [3] The earliest dated inscription referring to the legion, which lists the posts Lucius Cossonius Gallus held during his career, again entangles the XXI Rapax in the origins of this legion, for Gallus was first a military tribune with the first unit, then some years later commissioned commander of the II Traiana most likely after he had distinguished himself in Trajan's First Dacian War. [4] About the only firm date is that Legio II Traiana was in existence by 108, the year Gallus was suffect consul.
In 115, Legio II Traiana Fortis was added to the large army of Trajan's Parthian Campaign. In 117, the legion was allocated in Judaea, to ensure the peace. During a period of strife with Parthia in 123, Tiberius Claudius Quartinus led a vexillatio , or detachment, drawn from II Traiana and Legio III Cyrenaica to the banks of the Euphrates River ahead of the emperor Hadrian's entourage. [5] In 125, they were sent to Aegyptus for the first time, to share camp in Nicopolis (next to Alexandria), together with XXII Deiotariana. Between 132 and 136 they were again in Judaea to deal with the Bar Kokhba Revolt. An inscription dated to the reign of Marcus Aurelius attests that by that time the II Traiana was the only legion stationed in Roman Egypt. [6]
The legion was in its base in Nicopolis when south Egypt revolted against Roman rule. In the ensuing Bucolic War, Alexandria was besieged for months. Despite plague and famine, the defenders remained resolute. [7]
Rescue for the Traiana came when Avidius Cassius arrived with the legions of Syria in 172. The legion was awarded the cognomen "Fortis" ("valiant") for the valiant defense of "Rome's Bread Basket". Cassius was ruler of the east for a time, while Marcus Aurelius was busy in his Marcomannic Wars.
Thinking that his emperor was dead, Cassius declared himself emperor with the blessing of Aurelius' wife; however, the legion learned that Aurelius was leading the legions of the Danube to fight the rebels. The legion, with the others, cut off Cassius' head and sent it to Aurelius, who took no punitive action against the troops.
The history of II Traiana Fortis gives an example of the political role of the legions. In 194, Pescennius Niger, governor of the province of Syria, rebelled with the support of, among others, II Traiana Fortis. His rival was Septimius Severus who would become emperor. In the days before the final battle, the legion changed sides and vowed fidelity to Severus. This would prove to be decisive for Pescennius' defeat.
In the beginnings of the 3rd century, the legion was involved in Caracalla's campaign against Germanic tribes and received the cognomen Germanica.
According to Notitia Dignitatum (composed c. 400), in early 5th century II Traiana Fortis was moved to Apollonopolis Magna, in the southern part of Aegyptus, and later served, at least with some vexillationes, under the Comes limitis Aegypti.
Gaius Pescennius Niger was a Roman usurper from 193 to 194 during the Year of the Five Emperors. He claimed the imperial throne in response to the murder of Pertinax and the elevation of Didius Julianus, but was defeated by a rival claimant, Septimius Severus, and killed while attempting to flee from Antioch.
Legio XIV Gemina was a legion of the Imperial Roman army, levied by Julius Caesar in 57 BC. The cognomen Gemina (Twinned) was added when the legion was combined with another understrengthed legion after the Battle of Actium. The cognomen Martia Victrix was added following their service in the Pannonian War c. AD 9 and the defeat of Boudicca in AD 61. The emblem of the legion was the Capricorn, as with many of the legions levied by Caesar.
Legio XII Fulminata, also known as Paterna, Victrix, Antiqua, Certa Constans, and Galliena, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was originally levied by Julius Caesar in 58 BC, and the legion accompanied him during the Gallic Wars until 49 BC. The unit was still guarding the Euphrates River crossing near Melitene at the beginning of the 5th century.
Legio I Minervia was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 82 by emperor Domitian, for his campaign against the Germanic tribe of the Chatti. Its cognomen refers to the goddess Minerva, the legion's protector. There are still records of the I Minervia in the Rhine border region in the middle of the 4th century. The legion's emblem is an image of goddess Minerva.
Legio I Adiutrix, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 68, possibly by Galba when he rebelled against emperor Nero. The last record mentioning the Adiutrix is in 344, when it was stationed at Brigetio, in the Roman province of Pannonia. The emblem of the legion was a capricorn, used along with the winged horse Pegasus, on the helmets the symbol used by I Adiutrix legionaries was a dolphin.
Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. Their emblems were the gods Neptune and Jupiter and the Capricorn. Ulpia is Trajan's own gens, while the cognomen "Victrix" means "victorious," and it was awarded after their valiant behaviour in the Dacian Wars. The legion was active until the disbandment of the Rhine frontier in the beginning of the 5th century.
Legio XXII Deiotariana was a legion of the Imperial Roman army, founded ca. 48 BC and disbanded or destroyed during the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136. Its cognomen comes from Deiotarus, a Celtic king of Galatia. Its emblem is unknown.
Legio II Adiutrix was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 70 by the emperor Vespasian, originally composed of Roman navy marines of the classis Ravennatis. There are still records of II Adiutrix in the Rhine border in the beginning of the 4th century. The legion's symbols were a Capricorn and Pegasus.
Legio XIII Gemina, in English the 13thTwin(s) Legion ; was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was one of Julius Caesar's key units in Gaul and in the civil war, and was the legion with which he crossed the Rubicon in January, perhaps on 10 January, in 49 BC. The legion appears to have still been in existence in the 5th century AD. Its symbol was the lion.
Legio III Cyrenaica, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The legion had its origins among the forces of Mark Antony during the civil wars of late first century BC. In the Imperial period it was stationed in Egypt, where it played a key role in campaigns against the Nubians and Jews. In the first century AD, it was usually located in Arabia Petraea. There are still records of the legion in Syria at the beginning of the 5th century. The legion symbol is unknown.
Legio III Gallica was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The cognomen Gallica suggests that its earliest recruits came from veterans of the Gallic legions of Gaius Julius Caesar, a supposition supported by its emblem, a bull, a symbol associated with Caesar. The legion was based for most of its existence at Raphanea, Roman Syria, and was still active in Egypt in the early 4th century.
Legio VI Victrix was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in 41 BC by the general Octavian. It was the twin legion of VI Ferrata and perhaps held veterans of that legion, and some soldiers kept to the traditions of the Caesarian legion.
Arabia Petraea or Petrea, also known as Rome's Arabian Province or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Empire beginning in the 2nd century. It consisted of the former Nabataean Kingdom in the southern Levant, the Sinai Peninsula, and the northwestern Arabian Peninsula. Its capital was Petra. It was bordered on the north by Syria, on the west by Judaea and Egypt, and on the south and east by the rest of Arabia, known as Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix.
Legio X Fretensis was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was founded by the young Gaius Octavius in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic. X Fretensis is then recorded to have existed at least until the 410s.
Legio V Macedonica was a Roman legion. It was probably originally levied in 43 BC by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. It was based in the Balkan provinces of Macedonia, Moesia and Dacia. In the Notitia Dignitatum records from beginning of the fifth century, the legion was still stationed in Dacia, with detachments stationed in the east and Egypt.
The Third Battle of Tapae (101) was the decisive battle of the first of Trajan's Dacian Wars, in which the Roman Emperor defeated the Dacian King Decebalus's army. Other setbacks in the campaign delayed its completion until 102. The battle is most likely the battle-scene depicted on Plate 22 of Trajan's column.
Trajan's First Dacian War took place from 101 to 102.
The gens Ulpia was a Roman family that rose to prominence during the first century AD. The gens is best known from the emperor Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, who reigned from AD 98 to 117. The Thirtieth Legion took its name, Ulpia, in his honor. The city of Serdica, modern day Sofia, was renamed as Ulpia Serdica.
The Roman presence in the Arabian Peninsula had its foundations in the expansion of the empire under Augustus, and continued until the Arab conquests of Eastern Roman territory from the 630s onward.
Marcus Sedatius Severianus was a Roman senator, suffect consul, and general during the 2nd century AD, originally from Gaul. Severianus was a provincial governor and later a provincial consul. The peak of his career was as suffect consul for the nundinium of July–September 153 as the colleague of Publius Septimius Aper. He was governor of Cappadocia at the start of the Roman war with Parthia, during which he was convinced by the untrustworthy oracle to invade Armenia in 161. Sedatius committed suicide while under siege in the Armenian city of Elegeia, on the upper Euphrates. The legion he led was wiped out shortly after. He was replaced as governor of Cappadocia by Marcus Statius Priscus.
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