Legio II Parthica ("Parthian-conquering Second Legion") was a
legion of the
Imperial Roman army founded in AD 197 by the emperor
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
(r. 193–211), for his campaign against the
Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conqu ...
, hence the ''
cognomen'' ''Parthica''. The legion was still active in the beginning of the 5th century. The legion's symbol was a
centaur.
Parthian campaign and Castra Albana (197–4th century)
Together with its twin legions
I ''Parthica'' and
III ''Parthica'', the Second Parthian legion was levied for the attack on the eastern frontier. The campaign was a success and
Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modi ...
, the Parthian capital was taken and sacked. After this war, II ''Parthica'' returned to
Italia, and was stationed near Rome, in ''
Castra Albana
The Castra Albana was a permanent legionary fortress of the ''Legio II Parthica'', founded by the Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211) on the modern site of Albano Laziale. Today, the ruins of the structures inside the castra, such as the so-call ...
'' (
Albano Laziale) – it was the first legion stationed in Italia for several centuries. Since it was not garrisoning a
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
, it functioned both as a reserve that could be used in afflicted parts of the
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
, as well as a security element against possible internal rebellions. Emperors in the 3rd century were very likely to have problems with usurpers, and Severus, by stationing the II ''Parthica'' near the capital, was aware of it.
Nevertheless, the legion served in the Severan campaign in Britain of 208–211 and afterwards, under
Caracalla
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor ...
against the Germanic tribe of the
Alamanni in 213. Next, the legion was again sent to Parthia and their commander
Macrinus was responsible for Caracalla's murder in that region in 217. In the following year, however, the II ''Parthica'', stationed in
Apamea (
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
), abandoned Macrinus and sided with
Elagabalus; the Second supported Elagabalus' rise to purple, defeating Macrinus in the
Battle of Antioch. The new emperor awarded the legion with the cognomina ''Pia Fidelis Felix Aeterna'' (forever faithful, loyal and pious).
Under Severus Alexander and Maximinus
In 231, the legion fought under
Alexander Severus
Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself wa ...
against the
Sassanid Empire, and returned with the emperor to the German provinces. The legion was at ''Moguntiacum'' (modern
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
), when Alexander was assassinated in 235. In the following fight for the power, the II ''Parthica'' sided with
Maximinus Thrax. In 238, the
Roman senate
The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...
declared Maximinus ''persona non grata'' and nominated
Gordian III as emperor. Maximinus then marched on Rome to fight for his rights, taking the II ''Parthica'', among other legions, with him. What happened next is a good example of the political power of the legions in the 3rd century. The II ''Parthica'' weighed the chances of its commander and, concluding that supporting him was not a good move, they killed Maximinus before he could harass the senate. As a reward, they were pardoned for supporting a public enemy and allowed to return to their base and families in the Alban Hills.
Whittling away
In the next decades they were used as reinforcements in several provinces within the empire and continued to be used as pawns in the constant battles for the imperial throne of the 3rd century. Emperor
Gallienus (253-268) awarded the legion with the titles ''V Fidelis V Pia'' and ''VI Fidelis VI Pia'' (respectively, "Five" and "Six times loyal and faithful").
Where the legion was based when it received these titles from Gallienus is uncertain. Other things being equal one would have thought that
Valerian, father and co-regent with Gallienus, would have wanted to take it to the east with him in the late 250s and that it would have been involved in his defeat and capture by King
Sapor of the Persians at
Edessa in 260. Since it continued as a functioning unit and avoided the subsequent pitfalls of over-identification with the rebellion of the
Macrianii and
Palmyra's bid for autonomy under
Zenobia
Septimia Zenobia ( Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the cit ...
, and given the honorific title appearing on coins of Gallienus, it is probable that it was under the command of Gallienus, not his father. However unlikely, it is possible that it would have returned to Europe as part of the army of the Macrianii and was forgiven by Gallienus after the latter were defeated. Besides an inscription from Macedonia giving thanks to the god Jupiter for the safety and well-being, "pro salute et incolumitate," of Gallienus, and an inscription from Rome dating to AD 242 giving thanks to the legion's "Genius Gordiana and to Fortuna" for keeping safe emperor Gordian and his spouse, there is little known regarding its fortunes in this period.
Under Constantine I
The II Parthica was in Italy at the end of the third century, but was almost certainly disbanded by Constantine I the Great after his victory at the Milvian bridge in 312, as we know that this emperor disbanded the imperial guard as a punishment for its support of the usurper Maxentius, and it is likely that this also meant the end of II Parthica.
In Mesopotamia
In the next century, a legion with the same name was garrisoned, together with
II ''Armeniaca'' and
II ''Flavia Virtutis'', at the Roman fortified city of
Bezabde (modern
Cizre) on the Tigris and from the beginning of the 4th century II ''Parthica'' had abandoned Italy.
In 360, the Sassanid King
Shapur II
Shapur II ( pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 ; New Persian: , ''Šāpur'', 309 – 379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth Sasanian King of Kings ( Shahanshah) of Iran. The longest-reigning monarch in Iranian history, he reign ...
attacked and conquered Bezabde.
According to ''
Notitia Dignitatum'', II ''Parthica'' was in
Cepha
Hasankeyf ( ar, حصن كيفا, translit=Ḥiṣn Kayfa‘, ku, Heskîf, hy, Հասանքեյֆ, translit=, el, Κιφας, translit=Kifas, lat, Cepha, syr, ܚܣܢܐ ܕܟܐܦܐ, Ḥesno d-Kifo) is a town and district located along the Ti ...
, Turkey, around 400, under the command of the ''
Dux Mesopotamiae''.
[''Not. Dign'', ''in partibus orientis'', xxxvi.]
See also
*
List of Roman legions
Notes
References
livius.org account of Legio II Parthica
External links
Castra AlbanaLanciarii: Elite Roman Light Troops?Legio II Parthica and the Apamea PhalangariusNisibis AD 217: Last Battle of the Parthian Wars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legio Ii Parthica
02 Parthica
197 establishments
Roman–Parthian Wars
Roman–Persian Wars
Military units and formations established in the 2nd century
Septimius Severus