Legio II Augusta
Legio II Augusta was a
Roman legion, levied by
Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus in
43 BC, and still operative in
Britannia in
4th century. Its emblems were the
Capricornus,
Pegasus and
Mars.
II
Augusta was originally raised by
Octavian and
consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus in
43 BC, to fight against
Mark Anthony; II
Augusta fought in the
battle of Philippi and in the
battle of Perugia. At the beginning of Augustus rule, in
25 BC, this legion 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), II
Augusta moved to
Germania, possibly in the area of
Mainz. After
17, it was at Argentorate (modern
Strasbourg).
The invasion of Britannia
The legion participated in the
Roman invasion of Britain in
43. The future Emperor
Vespasian was the legion's commander at the time and led the campaign against the
Durotriges tribe. 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, who was then its acting commander (its
legatus and tribunes probably being absent with the governor
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 Silurum (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 second century at Abonae (Sea Mills, Bristol) on the tidal shore of the Avon (
Princeton Encyclopedia).
In
122, II
Augusta helped to build
Hadrian's Wall.
In
196, II
Augusta supported the claim for the purple of the governor of Britannia,
Clodius Albinus, who was defeated by
Septimius Severus. In occasion of the Scottish campaign of Severus, the Second moved to
Carpow, to return to Caerleon under
Alexander Severus.
In his fantasy novel
Grail, the author
Stephen R. Lawhead states that the legion was ensnared by the black magic of the witch
Morgan le Fay, doomed to perpetually wander the mists of
Lyonesse.
Lindsey Davis' character
Marcus Didius Falco and his sidekick
Petronius Longinus both served in the legion during the
Boudicca uprising in 60/61, while they were little more than boys (probably 19/20 years old). Marcus or Petronius have only referred to their service in asides, due to the bad memories of the uprising and the boredom in a cold, unfriendly country. The scenes of carnage and destruction in
Londinium left a deep impression on both of them, with neither keen to return to
Britain. Novels that most directly refer to their service in
Britain are
The Silver Pigs,
A Body in the Bath House and
The Jupiter Myth.
It is also the Legion in which Centurions Quintus Licinius Cato and Lucius Cornelius Macro serve in during the First 5 books of the
Eagle series by
Simon Scarrow. The books also cover
Vespasian's career as commander of the legion and the invasion of Briton.
*
List of Roman legions*
Roman legion*
livius.org account*
LEGIO SECVNDA AVGVSTA, British 1st - 2nd Century AD ~ Roman Living History Society
*
Second Legion Augusta (NZ), New Zealand re-enactment group
*
Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Abonae (Sea Mills, Bristol), England"
