Legio II Parthica

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Antoninian from Billon , minted in Mediolanum with the inscriptions GALLIENVS AVGustus and LEGio II PARThica VI Pia VI Fidelis as well as a centaur, the legion symbol of Legio II Parthica .

The Legio II Parthica , like the I and III Parthica , was a legion of the Roman army that was raised in 197 by the Emperor Septimius Severus for a campaign against the Parthians in Pannonia, Illyricum and Thrace. Their presence in the Middle East is documented until the middle of the 4th century. The legion symbol was the centaur .

Severan epoch

After it was raised in 197, the Legio II Parthica was used in the generally successful Parthian campaign and then moved to Italy around 202 and stationed near Rome in the Alban Hills in the Castra Albana legion camp , which is why it was also known as the Legio Albana . It is therefore to be seen on the one hand as a reserve and on the other hand as a security element in internal disputes. Third-century emperors often had to deal with usurpers and the stationing of Parthica II near the capital was a means of countering this. It also represented a weakening of the senatorial power. Nevertheless, the Legion was used in Severus' campaign in Britain 208-211, as well as later, 213 under Caracalla against the Alemanni .

In the spring of 214 the legion reinforced by equites extraordinarii (additional cavalry) accompanied Caracalla first to Alexandria and on to Parthia, where they moved into their winter quarters in Apamea in Syria. Its commander, the Praetorian prefect Macrinus, was involved in the assassination of Caracalla in 217. In 218 the legion switched to Elagabal's side , who then became the new emperor and awarded the legion the honorary titles of Antoniana and Pia Fidelis Felix Aeterna ("always loyal, loyal and happy"). In 218/219 the Legion returned to Italy with Elagabal.

In the years 231-233, the Legion fought against the Sassanids under Severus Alexander . Again she had her winter camp in Apamea and was able to hold the Euphrates border. In 234 she returned with the emperor via Illyria and the Danube to the Rhine border in the Germanic provinces threatened by the Alemanni . She was stationed in Mogontiacum ( Mainz ) when the emperor was murdered in 235.

Soldier emperors and tetrarchy

At the request of the legions, the new emperor Maximinus Thrax led the German war, which his predecessor wanted to avoid, and brought the 235 campaign to a successful conclusion. Then the Legio II Parthica was moved to Pannonia and fought there against the Sarmatians under the command of the emperor . In the power struggle between the Senate and Maximinus (see Six Imperial Year ), the Legio II Parthica initially sided with the Emperor, who was declared an enemy of the state ( hostis publicus ) by the Senate in 238 and Pupienus and Balbinus were challenged. Maximinus marched into Italy with the Legio II Parthica and other legions. Along the way, however, Legio II Parthica soldiers , concerned about their families near Rome, wavered in their support for Maximinus, and they killed him during the protracted siege of Aquileia before he could face the Senate. In return, they were forgiven for the support of an enemy of the state and allowed to return to the Alban Hills.

In the years 242 to 244 the Legion took under Gordian III. participated in his Sassanid War and was honored with the nickname Gordiana Pia Fidelis Aeterna . Again she had her winter camp in Apamea. After that, the Legion fought under Gordian's successor Philip the Arabs, presumably against the Carps , before it was transferred to Italy in February 249 and fought against the usurper Decius , who was defeated at Verona.

In the following decades, the legionaries were deployed as reinforcements in various provinces, but at the same time, due to the proximity of their main camp to Rome, they remain players in the constant battles for the imperial throne. For the support in the fight against the usurper Postumus (260-268) the legion of Emperor Gallienus received the surnames Pia V Fidelis V , Pia VI Fidelis VI and Pia VII Fidelis VII ("seven times dutiful and seven times loyal"). Under Aurelian it was probably used around 272 in Arabia Petraea against Zenobia of Palmyra and under Emperor Probus (276–282) in Cilicia against Isaurian rebels (see Lydius ). Other missions in the Gallic Bordeaux, Thrace and Numidia are documented by inscriptions, but can only generally be dated to the late 3rd century.

Late antiquity

Around 360 the Legio II Parthica , together with the Legio II Armeniaca and a Legio II Flavia , which may have been identical to the Legio II Flavia Virtutis , was surrounded by an army of the Sassanids in the city of Bezabde (today Cizre ) on the Tigris . When the besiegers were finally able to penetrate the heavily fortified city through a wall breach, their defenders were killed in street fights or taken prisoner.

In the early 5th century the legion was then stationed in Cepha ( Hasankeyf ), a strategically important fortress on the Tigris, and was under the dux Mesopotamiae . Then their traces are lost; it was probably taken over by the Eastern Roman armed forces and dissolved in the 7th century at the latest.

literature

Web links

Commons : Legio II Parthica  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gabriele Wesch-Klein: Social Aspects of the Roman Army in the Imperial Era , p. 124.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Jona Lendering: Legio II Parthica . In: Livius.org (English).
  3. ↑ Gabriele Wesch-Klein: Social aspects of the Roman army in the imperial era , p. 20f.
  4. ^ Paul Erdkamp (ed.): A companion to the Roman army. Blackwell, Malden MA et al. 2007, ISBN 978-1-405-12153-8 , p. 275.
  5. ↑ Christer Bruun: "Pericula Alexandrina": The Adventures of a Recently Discovered Centurion of the "Legio II Parthica". In: Arctos. Acta philologica Fennica. 29, 1995, ISSN  0570-734X , pp. 9-27.
  6. ↑ a b c Oliver Stoll: Römisches Heer und Gesellschaft , p. 131 .
  7. ↑ CIL 6,3734 .
  8. ↑ Oliver Stoll: Roman Army and Society , p. 44.
  9. ↑ Ammianus Marcellinus : Res gestae XX, 7
  10. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum in partibus orientis, XXXVI.