Legio II Adiutrix

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The Legio II Adiutrix ("the helper") was a legion of the Roman army, which was set up by Emperor Vespasian in 70 AD from naval units in Ravenna . It later had its headquarters in Aquincum (Budapest) in the Lower Pannonian region for centuries . Reports about the troops on the Rhine border go back to the 4th century. The symbols of the Legion were a Capricorn (mythological figure: half ibex, half fish) or boar and Pegasus . The Legion has received several honorable epithets: Legio II Adiutrix ter Pia ter Fidelis Constans (“three times loyal, three times devoted and steadfast”).

Legionary denarius of Emperor Septimius Severus from 193
IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG
LEG II ADIVT, TR P COS

Legion history

Four imperial year and Flavian dynasty

The legion rider Titus Flavius, who came from the Cologne Tribus Claudia, died in the early 2nd century as an honorable discharged veteran north of his former Pannonian barracks Aquincum ( CIL 3, 3642 ).

First, the Legion was stationed in Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum ( Nijmegen ) in Germania inferior . The first task of the II Adiutrix was the suppression of the Batavian revolt . It was probably formed for this purpose in the first place: After the civil war of the four-emperor year , there was a temporary lack of regular troops, which is why the emergency measure was taken to turn naval soldiers into legionaries. After the suppression of the rebellion, the II Adiutrix was replaced by the Legio X Gemina in 71 and followed their general Quintus Petilius Cerialis to Britain to put down the uprising of the brigands under their king Venutius . It was probably initially stationed in Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln ), where it replaced the Legio VIIII Hispana . For the next few years the II Adiutrix stayed in the British Isles to subdue rebellious tribes in Wales from their base camp , which was probably moved to Deva ( Chester ) around 78 AD . The Legion was directly involved in the subjugation of the Ordovieans and the occupation of the island of Mona ( Anglesey ). Later, when the governor Gnaeus Iulius Agricola attempted to conquer Scotland , it appears to have remained in Wales as a reserve.

It is possible that the Legion was briefly stationed in Pinnata Castra (Inchtuthil), Scotland, on the River Tay from 83/84 , before it was ordered to the eastern Danube region in 87. There they came perhaps in Moesian Acumincum (at the confluence of the Tisza and Danube) or Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) in garrison to the Dacian wars of emperor Domitian participate (81-96). However, the transfer of the troops to Moesia during the last years of Domitian's reign is scientifically disputable. Under the general Lucius Tettius Iulianus , the legion took part in the Battle of Tapae in 88 . Probably already 94 but certainly 95, the later emperor Hadrian (117-138) led his first military tribunate in the legion. During this time, Quintus Marcius Turbo , who later became governor of Pannonia (117–118), also served as the centurion .

Adoptive Emperor and Antonine Dynasty

During Trajan's Dacer Wars from 101 to 106, the Legio II Adiutrix and the Legio IIII Flavia Felix were stationed in Singidunum (Belgrade). Then the legion was moved to the Lower Pannonian provincial capital Aquincum (Budapest). It was there that it received its headquarters for the next few centuries. The governor Quintus Marcius Turbo led the II Adiutrix, a campaign led by Emperor Hadrian, which began in the autumn of 117 in Lower Moesia and was successfully shot down in 118. The opponents were in particular the Jazygens living in the Great Hungarian Plain , who had allied themselves with their Sarmatic brother people, the Roxolans, in order to attack the Roman border area in Dacia from the beginning of 117. The cause of these persistent tensions was still in the pre-Roman times of Dacia. Its last king, Decebalus , had wrested their eastern territories from the Jazygen. On the side of Rome, the Jazygens had therefore gone to war against Dacia. But contrary to the promises made previously by the Romans, the Sarmatians did not get their territories back after the victory, which they responded to with several campaigns of revenge against Dacia. Until well into the 4th century, the Jazygens also remained the most dangerous opponents of the Roman provinces there along the Pannonian Danube border.

Brick stamps testify to building activities of the Legion. Here is a stamp from Ulcisia Castra .

The wood and earth fort Ulcisia Castra ("Wolfslager", Fort Szentendre ) located on the northern Pannonian Danube Limes was probably converted into a stone fort in the late Trajan period by the Cohors I Thracum ("1st Cohort of Thracians") and a building department of the Legio II Adiutrix .

Inscription from Trenčín (179 AD), ( CIL 3, 13439 )
Victoriae / Augustoru (m) / exercitus cui Lau / garicione sedit mil (ites) / l (egionis) II DCCCLV / [M (arcus) Val (erius ) Maximi] an (u) s leg (atus) leg (ionis) II Ad (iutricis) cur (avit)
“Dedicated to the victory of the emperors out of 855 legionaries of Legio II of the army stationed in Laugaricio ( Trenčín ). Erected under the supervision of Marcus Valerius Maximianus, legate of the Legio II Adiutrix "

Civilian activities such as For example, the construction of a public building in Mursa ( Osijek ) or administrative tasks at the seat of the governor were carried out by members of the legion. During the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161), the situation on the Danube was largely calm, so that a vexillatio (department) was relocated to the African continent in Mauretania to fight the Moors. In the further course of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the main burden of the fighting seems to have been on the Legio II Adiutrix and the numerous auxiliary troops, while the Flavia Felix served as a reserve. So the II Adiutrix under Emperor Lucius Verus (162-166) in Aquincum was replaced on one of these occasions by vexillations of the Legio IIII Flavia Felix and moved to the east to take part in the Parthian campaign under the command of the legate Quintus Antistius Adventus Postumius Aquilinus . During the Marcomann Wars of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180), the Legion suffered so great losses that it had to be refreshed by parts of the African Legio III Augusta . In the winter of 179/180, Marcus Valerius Maximianus overwintered with some contingents of troops from the II Adiutrix near Laugaricio ( Trenčín ) in today's Slovakia . Lucius Artorius Castus , who is believed to be the historical model of the legendary King Arthur , served as a centurion in this legion around 170.

Second year of the four emperors and Severer

In the second year of the four emperors, in 193, the II Adiutrix supported Septimius Severus (193-211), the governor of Pannonia superior , on his way to the throne. In 193/194 she probably took part in the campaign against the usurper Pescennius Niger in Thrace and Asia Minor , as well as in the Parthian Wars in 195 and 197/198. In 202 the Legion returned to Aquincum . The Legion or at least Vexillationem ( Detachements ) of her took part in 213 in the Caracallas campaigns (211-217) against the Alamanni and 214-217 against the Parthians . At that time the Legion was building a road from Singidunum (Belgrade) to Aquincum (Budapest). In the 3rd century, divisions of the Legion were stationed near the Danube Bend in Cirpi ( Dunabogdány Castle ) and apparently also in Szentendre-Hunka Castle .

Soldier emperor

In the foreground is the Lugio / Florentia fort; on the opposite side of the river, in the small clearing of the bank, was the Burgus contra Florentiam

238 the Legion was probably on the campaign of Gordian III. (238–244) involved against the Sassanids . The Legio II Adiutrix and the Legio II Italica took part in the Dacian War of Emperor Maximinus Thrax (244–249) . Gallienus (253–268) honored the Legion by minting coins. In 268 the Legio II Adiutrix Claudiana rebuilt the Thermae maiores ("Great Baths") in Aquincum under their praefectus Aurelius Frontinus . She fought for Claudius II Gothicus in 269 ​​against the Visigoths .

Late antiquity

A vexillatio was stationed at the time of Constantius Chlorus (293-306) in Mogontiacum ( Mainz ). Probably around 395 the Acincenses , named after the garrison town of Aquincum , were detached from the Legion and subordinated to the magister equitum Galliarum as Pseudocomitatenses and to the Dux Mogontiacensis as Milites . From the late 4th century onwards, the II Adiutrix was subordinate to the Dux Valeriae ripensis (Western Hungary) as Limitanei (border army) and was each under a praefectus on the locations Alisca (perhaps in the presumed fort Szekszárd or in the nearby fort Őcsény-Szigetpuszta ), Florentia ( fort Dunaszekcső ), Aquincum (Budapest), Tautantus / Teutanus , Cirpi (Dunabogdány Castle) and Lussonium ( Dunakömlőd Castle ).

literature

Web links

Commons : Legio II Adiutrix  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Jona Lendering: Legio II Adiutrix . In: Livius.org (English).
  2. ^ Yann Le Bohec: The Roman army of Augustus to Constantine the Elder. Size Steiner, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-515-06300-5 , p. 286.
  3. ^ AE 1953, 12 .
  4. ^ Anthony Richard Birley : The Roman government of Britain. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2005, ISBN 0-19-925237-8 , p. 67.
  5. ^ A b Anthony Richard Birley: The Roman government of Britain. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2005, ISBN 0-19-925237-8 , p. 228.
  6. ↑ a b Tibor Nagy: Traian and Pannonia. A contribution to the history of Pannonia. In: Studies on the military borders of Rome III. 13th International Limes Congress, State Monuments Office Baden-Württemberg, Aalen 1983. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1986. ISBN 3806207763 . Pp. 377-383; here p. 379.
  7. ^ Graham Webster: The Roman Imperial Army. Of the first and second centuries AD 3rd edition. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK 1998, ISBN 0-8061-3000-8 , p. 52.
  8. ^ Paul Lambrechts, et al. (Ed.): Outline of the history of ancient marginal cultures. Oldenbourg-Verlag, Munich 1961. p. 141.
  9. ↑ Jörg Fündling: Commentary on the Vita Hadriani of the Historia Augusta (= Antiquitas. Series 4: Contributions to the Historia Augusta research. Series 3: Commentaries; Vol. 4.1, 4.2). 2 vol., Habelt, Bonn 2006, ISBN 978-3-7749-3390-3 . P. 405.
  10. ↑ Chr. M. Danov: The Thracians in the Eastern Balkans. In: Rise and Fall of the Roman World. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1979. ISBN 3-11-006875-3 . P. 169.
  11. ^ Karl Strobel: Investigations into the Dacer Wars Trajan. Studies on the history of the middle and lower Danube region in the High Imperial Era . Habelt, Bonn 1984 (Antiquitas, series 1, 33). ISBN 3-7749-2021-4 , p. 205.
  12. ^ Sándor Soproni: The late Roman Limes between Esztergom and Szentendre. Akadémiai Kiadó. Budapest 1978, ISBN 963-05-1307-2 , p. 68.
  13. ^ András Mócsy: Pannonia and Upper Moesia. A history of the middle Danube provinces of the Roman empire. Routledge, 1974, ISBN 0-7100-7714-9 , p. 99.
  14. ^ AE 1893, 88 .
  15. ↑ CIL 3, 1919 .
  16. ↑ Claude Lepelley (Ed.): Rome and the Empire in the High Imperial Era. Volume 2: The regions of the empire. de Gruyter, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-598-77449-4 , p. 296.
  17. ^ AE 1982, 800 = AE 1983, 776c ( illustration ).
  18. ↑ CIL 3, 3742 .
  19. ^ Yann Le Bohec: The Roman army of Augustus to Constantine the Elder. Size Steiner, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-515-06300-5 , p. 225.
  20. ↑ CIL 3, 3525 .
  21. ↑ Jürgen Oldenstein : Alzey Castle. Archaeological investigations in the late Roman camp and studies on border defense in the Mainz ducat. (Habilitation paper from the University of Mainz), 1992, pp. 298–299 ( PDF (14.5 MB) ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ubm.opus.hbz-nrw.de
  22. ^ Notitia dignitatum Occ. XXXIII.