II Undaunted Trayan Legion

Age of the Antonin Dynasty

II Undaunted Trajanov and XXX Victorious Ulpiev Legions were founded in 105 (according to another version, the II Legion was founded around 108 ^[1] ) by Emperor Trajan ^[3] . The nickname Fortis ( Greek ισχυρά ) was received by him either for some feat, or given at the time of creation as a happy omen ^[1] .

The new unit was sent to the war in Dacia , where large reinforcements were required. After the accession of Dacia to the Roman Empire, the legion was transferred, but it is not known exactly where. It remains only to make an assumption that he was sent to the east, where Arabia of Petraia was occupied in 106. It is possible that the II Undaunted Trajan Legion formed the garrison of the new province along with the III Cyrenaic Legion . According to another version, he was transferred to Judea ^[4] . On the other hand, his stay on the Danube border seems more likely ^[2] . It is possible that for some time the legion was stationed in Egypt ^[1] .

In 114, on the orders of Trajan, the legion was transferred to Syria, where he joined the army, which participated in the Parthian campaign ^[5] . After the war ended, the unit was sent to Judea, where it supported the X Guardian Legion in suppressing local unrest ^[6] . Presumably, at this time he was deployed in Kaparkotn in the Galilee ^[7] . During the reign of Emperor Hadrian, the vexillations of the X Guardian Strait, II Trajanov, III Cyrenaica, and VI Iron Legions were engaged in the construction of a water supply system to the Prima Flavius ​​Augustus Caesarean Colony not far from Caesarea Palestine ^[8] . Around 120, the legion built a road from Kaparkotny through Diokesaria to Ptolemaida ^[9] . In 123, the threat of the Roman-Parthian conflict arose. Then the emperor Hadrian and Tiberius Claudius Quartin transferred II Trajan and III Cyrenaic legion to the Euphrates border. But the differences were resolved through diplomacy and military threats ^[10] .

Around 125, the II Undaunted Trajan Legion was replaced in his camp in Kaparkotn with the VI Iron Legion ^[6] and after that was relocated to the suburb of the Egyptian capital Alexandria Nikopol ^[5] , where it remained for the next three and a half centuries. During the Bar Kochba rebellion , the XXII Dayotarov Legion was sent along with units of the II Trayan Legion to Judea to crush the rebellion. Several cohorts of II Trayanov were left in Nikopol, because there were fears of rebellion on the part of the local large Jewish community ^[2] .

After defeating the rebellious Jews, the soldiers of the II Trayanov Legion returned with heavy losses in personnel (XXII Deiotarov legion was completely destroyed). Now II Undaunted Trajan Legion was the main military force in all of Egypt. Legion soldiers were used not only in Alexandria, but throughout the province: in the cities of Upper Egypt they stood as a garrison ^[2] . Even in Pselhis, the southernmost city of the empire, there were legionnaires of II Trayanov, who served there as tax collectors on the Nubian border. Parts of the legion were stationed in Panopolis , Thebes and Siena ^{[11] [12]} .

Most likely, the vexillations of the II Undaunted Trayanov Legion took part in the Parthian campaign of Lucius Vera ^[1] . The participation of Marcus Aurelius in the Moroccan War is not excluded, but it has not been proved either ^[2] . However, it is known that some soldiers in 170 expanded the fortifications of the port city of Salon ^[13] . Around 185, the Legion was awarded the honorary title “Germanic” ^{[14] [15]} , which may indicate participation in these wars.

There is no doubt that the II Undaunted Trajan Legion in 175 supported the rebel commander Avidia Cassius . His rebellion, however, was unsuccessful ^[2] .

The Year of the Five Emperors and the Northern Dynasty

Nineteen years later, the II Undaunted Trajan Legion supported the candidate for the throne of Pescennius Niger , the governor of Syria. But before the decisive battle against Septimius Severus in 194, the legion went over to his side and claimed since then that it was thanks to his support that the North won ^[2] .

The soldiers of the II Undaunted Trayanov Legion had the custom of writing on the tombstones of the legionnaires the Century where they served. This is almost a unique custom, which was known only to the II Trayanov and II Parthian legions. It is believed that the II Parthian Legion adopted this tradition, since it was partially recruited in Alexandria, where the II Trayan Legion was stationed ^[2] .

In the reign of Caracalla in 213/214 II Trayanov legion took part in the campaign against the Alemanni ^[2] . At the same time and / or under Heliogabal, the legion received the honorary nickname "Antoninov" ^[16] . Perhaps the vexillations of the II Trayanov Legion took part in the Persian campaign of Alexander Sever ^[17] . Parts of the legion rebelled against Alexander Severus, who crushed the rebellion. But apparently, but not the entire legion was punished, since he received the honorary nickname of "Severs" ^[18] .

The Age of Soldier Emperors and Late Antiquity

In 260, after the capture of Emperor Valerian I , Macrian the Younger and Quiet proclaimed themselves emperors. Perhaps they took with them the vexilation of the II Trayan legion on a campaign to the West, but in 261 in the battle of Serdik in Thrace they were defeated by the commander of the legitimate emperor Gallien Avreol . Perhaps Gallienus transferred part of the legion from Egypt to Gaul to fight the Gallic emperor Postumus . The Roman army was led by Avreol, who soon betrayed Gallienus. The successor of Postum, Victorin, minted gold coins in honor of the legion, on which II Trayan has the nickname Pia Fidelis , but is not found anywhere in the inscriptions ^{[1] [19]} . Under Aurelianus , who defeated the Gallic empire, part II of the Trayanov Legion returned to Egypt. The name of the legion is also present on the coins of Numerian and Karin ^{[1] [2]} .

In 296, Emperor Diocletian strengthened the garrison in Alexandria with the new III Diocletian Legion ^[2] . The situation in Upper Egypt remained turbulent, so in 297/298 Diocletian launched a campaign and reached Elephantine . Probably, the vexilation of the II Trayanov and III Diocletian's legions defended the province of Jupiters Egypt (western delta of the Nile) ^[20] . Perhaps the units of the legion participated in the fight against the Moors ^[2] .

According to the controversial opinion of individual historians, part of the legion was transferred to Gaul, where it became the basis of the legendary Thebaid Legion ^[21] . About 300 years, two vexillations of the legion were in the Upper Egyptian province of Thebaid , and about 320 years, one vexillation was in the province of Herkuliev Egypt ^[22] .

At the beginning of the 5th century, the Undaunted Trayan Legion was last mentioned in the sources. According to Notitia Dignitatum , part of the legion was stationed in Parembola on the southern border of Egypt under the command of the Egyptian border committee as a limitan (border army) ^[23] . Another part of the legion was located in Apollonopol the Great under the leadership of Dux Thebes ^[24] .

1. Emil Ritterling. Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Legio (II Traiana). Band XII, 2. - Stuttgart, 1925. - 1484–1493 p.
2. Edward Dabrowa. Legio X Fretensis. A Prosopographical Study of its Officers (I – III c. AD). - Stuttgart: Steiner, 1993.
3. Axel Gebhardt. Imperiale Politik und provinziale Entwicklung. - Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 2002.
4. Werner Eck. Rom und Judaea: fünf Vorträge zur römischen Herrschaft in Palaestina. - Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007.
5. Paul Erdkamp. A companion to the Roman army. - Malden MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2007.

1. R. Kanya. A brief history of various legions (Russian) . Legio 2001.
2. Jona Lendering. Legio II Traiana Fortis Livius.org . 2002.
3. Legio II Traiana Fortis (German) . imperiumromanum.com .

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