Legio II

There were two military units with the number Legio II in Roman Britain; Legio II Augusta and Legio II Adiutrix. In fact, there were at least eleven legions whose name had the form "Second Legion (N-)"

II Augusta
Legio II Augusta, ("Second Augustan Legion") may have been recruited by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa and Octavian (the later emperor Augustus) in 43 BCE and at that time called "Legio II Sabina" ("from the Sabine country"). If this is correct, it first fought against Mark Antony on the eastern plains of the Po, and later, when Mark Antony, Octavian and Lepidus had allied themselves in the Second Triumvirate, against the murderers of Julius Caesar, Cassius and Brutus, in the Battle of Philippi (42 BCE). A sling stone perhaps mentioning Caesar Leg II seems to prove that the Second was present at Perugia in 41 BCE, where Octavian besieged Mark Antony's brother Lucius.

The Second Sabine legion legion may be identical to the Legio II Gallica; if so, this is a clue to its location in the years before 30 - in Gaul. The settlement of veterans at Arausio (Orange) may confirm this. Arausio was named after the local Celtic water-god, and is "Colonia Julia Firma Secundanorum Arausio" in full. A previous Celtic settlement with that name existed in the same place, and a major battle, which is generally known as the Battle of Arausio, had been fought in 105 BC between two Roman armies and the Cimbri and Teutones tribes.

At the beginning of Augustus' rule, in 25 BC, II Augusta was relocated in Hispania, to fight in the Cantabrian Wars, which definitively established Roman power in Hispania, and later camped in Hispania Tarraconensis. With the annihilation of Legio XVII, XVIII and XIX in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (AD 9: see Legio XX), II Augusta moved to Germania, possibly in the area of Moguntiacum. After 17, it was at Argentoratum (modern Strasbourg).

The legion participated in the Roman conquest of Britain in 43. Future emperor Vespasian was the legion's commander at the time, and led the campaign against the Durotriges (in modern Dorset, south Wiltshire, south Somerset and Devon) and their neighbours the Dumnonii (Devon and Cornwall). Although it was recorded as suffering a defeat at the hands of the Silures in 52, the II Augusta proved to be one of the best legions, even after its disgrace during the uprising of queen Boudica, when its praefectus castrorum (Poenius Postumus), who was then its acting commander (its legatus and tribunes probably being absent with the governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus), contravened Suetonius' orders to join him and so later committed suicide.

After the defeat of Boudica, the legion was dispersed over several bases; from 66 to around 74 it was stationed at Glevum (modern Gloucester), and then moved to Isca Augusta (modern Caerleon), building a stone fortress that the soldiers occupied until the end of the 3rd century. The legion also had connections with the camp at Alchester in Oxfordshire; stamped tiles record it in the 2nd century at Portus Abonae (Sea Mills, Bristol) on the tidal shore of the Avon.

II Adiutrix
Legio II Adiutrix, ("Rescuer Second Legion"), was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded c.AD 70 by the emperor Vespasian (r. 69–79), originally composed of Roman navy marines of the classis Ravennatis. The first assignment of II Adiutrix was in Germania Inferior, where the Batavian rebellion was at its peak. After the defeat of the rebels, II Adiutrix followed general Quintus Petillius Cerialis to Britain to deal with another rebellion led by Venutius. During the next years, the legion was to stay in the British Islands to subdue the rebel tribes of Scotland and Wales, with base camp probably at Chester.

Related Pages

 * Roman Chester;

Augusta

 * Legio II Augusta at Wikipedia;

Adiutrix

 * Legio II Adiutrix at Wikipedia;