After the Senate
appointed the title of Augustus upon Ocatavian in 27 BC, one
of his first actions was the reformation of Rome's standing
army which had been in disarray since the Civil Wars. He disbanded
those whose previous loyalties had brought them under suspicion,
creating colonies of the veteran soldiers and forming new
legions loyal to himself. The three imperial legions II, III
and VIII, which are all entitled Augusta or 'Augustan', specifically
identify them as formations during his principate.
The original emblem
of Legio II was the Capricorn which was adopted to indicate
its reconstruction by the Emperor. The Pegasus symbol was
later awarded for its service in Britain under the future
emperor Vespasian when the unit was known as 'Vespasian's
Best'.
Hispania
Invasion and Germania Transfer
Early in his reign
Augustus, in 25 BC, launched a series of lengthy campaigns
against the tribes of the Iberian Peninsula, notably the Cantabrians
and Asturians. These campaigns were to continue until 13 BC.
Seven legions are known to have been involved; I, II Augusta,
IIII Macedonica, V Alaudae, VI Victrix, IX Hispana, and X
Gemina. Only four of these legions survived; II Augusta was
one, and the others being IV Macedonia, VI Victrix and X Gemina,
but the final conquest of Hispania was complete and was firmly
in the control of Rome.
Hispania became
the permanent garrison for several years until the Varus disaster
in 9 AD. II Augusta was moved to the Rhine to shore up the
Germanic border after that defeat in the Teutoburger Forest.
After 17 AD it was based in Argentoratum (Strasbourg), where
they continued to garrison the fortress until the rule of
Claudius.
Claudian
Invasion of Britannia
In 43 AD, Emperor
Claudius ordered an invasion of Britain with Legio II Augusta,
IX Hispana, XIV Gemina and XX Valeria Victrix; the Legate
of the Second was the future emperor Flavius Vespasianus.
As with many of
the Roman military operations, the invasion of Britain was
conducted under the pretense of an appeal for help from a
local ruler. King Verica of the Atrebate tribe, an ally of
Rome, asked Rome's protection from the more powerful neighboring
Catuvellauni tribe. Claudius responded by assembling a 40,000
man force of four legions and auxiliary forces in Gaul under
Aulus Plautius. They crossed the Mare Britannicum (English
Channel) and landed unopposed at Rutupiae (Richborough) and
other points along the Kentish coastline.
Plautius attacked
the Celts assembling on a river bank at Medway. According
to the Roman writer Suetonius, Legio II was instrumental in
destroying the enemy force. That victory pacified a large
enough area that Emperor Claudius traveled to England to sign
treaties with eleven British Kings of the largest tribes.
After this initial success, much of the pacification of the
rest of the island fell to Vespasian's Legio II. Under his
command, they became elite troops and were known as Vespasian's
Best'. He fought thirty battles, capturing more than 20 towns
and Vectis (the Isle of Wight). His most significant battle
was the storming of the massive Celtic fortress of Maiden
Hill.
With the relative
pacification of the local tribes, the legion was apparently
split into several smaller vexilli (detachments), which were
stationed in several forts in the south-west of Britain. In
48 AD, the legionary base at Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) was
built and the legion was again concentrated on one place.
Boudiccan
Revolt
When Queen Boudicca
of the Iceni revolted against Roman rule in 60 AD, II Augusta
was caught in a state of indecision and controversy. In the
opening days of the revolt, Legio IX Hispania was ambushed
and massacred and several cities, Londinium among them, were
destroyed by the rebels. When governor Suetonius Postumius
asked for help, Legio II was apparently without a Legate and
the acting commander, the Praefectus Castorum, Poenius Postumius,
ignored the request, and with a stained reputation later committed
suicide.
Eager to clear their record, Legio II fought valiantly at
the final battle of the rebellion. While the site of the battle
is disputed, Tacitus records that 12,000 Romans faced 100,000
Celts, but at the end of the battle, the Romans claimed 80,000
enemy dead at a cost of only 400 of their own men. The victory
over the Iceni ensured Roman dominance of southern Britain
for the next three and a half centuries.
Civil War
After the success
against Boudicca, the legion was transferred to Glevum (Gloucester)
in 67 AD. The post was short term, however, when, in 69 AD,
the succession of the Emperor Nero sparked a civil war between
several would be rulers; Galba, Otho and Vitellius. II Augusta
sided initially with the emperor Vitellius and several units
may have taken part in his march on Rome, and victory over
Otho. They were soon disillusioned with the man they had supported,
and when their former commander Vespasian made his claim,
they openly supported him.
Vitellius demoted
all of II Augusta's centurions for their betrayal, but
they were subsequently re-instated at their former ranks by
Vespasian following his final victory. Legio II Augusta, however,
had little real involvement in the entire affair.
Gnaeus
Julius Agricola
In 75 AD II Augusta
was transferred to Isca Silurum (Caerleon) in Southern Wales.
Between 78 and 84 AD, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Governor
of Britain, undertook invasions of the Celtic controlled regions
in the north to stop raids on farms and towns. Legio II Augusta
was involved in several of these campaigns including the defeat
of the Ordivice tribe in north Wales and the destruction of
the Druid stronghold of Mona (Anglesey). In 84 AD at the battle
of Mons Graupius, (believed to be near Inverurie, Scotland)
he defeated the last large Celtic Army. Tacitus, (biased in
the favor of Agricola as he was his son-in-law) provided the
only known literary evidence of the battle:
He [Agricola] sent
his fleet ahead to plunder at various points and thus spread
uncertainty and terror, and, with an army marching light,
which he had reinforced with the bravest of the Britons and
those whose loyalty had been proved during a long peace, reached
the Graupian Mountain, which he found occupied by the enemy.
The Britons were, in fact, undaunted by the loss of the previous
battle, and welcomed the choice between revenge and enslavement.
They had realized at last that common action was needed to
meet the common danger, and had sent round embassies and drawn
up treaties to rally the full force of all their states. Already
more than 30,000 men made a gallant show....
The troops were made for action and ready to rush into it,
but Agricola marshalled them with care. The auxiliary infantry,
8,000 in number, made a strong centre, while 3,000 cavalry
were thrown out on the flanks. The legions were stationed
in front of the camp wall; victory would be vastly more glorious
if it cost no Roman blood, whilst, in case of repulse, the
legions could restore the day. The British army was stationed
on higher ground in a manner calculated to impress and intimidate
its enemy. Its van was on the level ground, but the other
ranks rose, as it were in tiers, up the gentle slope. The
space between the two armies was taken up by the charioteers,
clattering on in their wild career. At this point, Agricola,
fearing that the enemy with their great superiority in numbers
might fall simultaneously on his front and flanks, opened
out his ranks. The line now looked dangerously thin, and many
urged him to bring up the legions....
The spectacle that
followed over the open country was awe-inspiring and grim.
Our men followed hard, took prisoners and then killed them,
as new enemies appeared. On the enemy's side each man now
followed his bent, Some bands, though armed, fled before inferior
numbers, some men, though unarmed, insisted on charging to
their deaths. Arms, bodies, severed limbs lay all around and
the earth reeked of blood; and the vanquished now and then
found their fury and their courage again. Indeed, when they
reached the woods, they rallied and profited by their local
knowledge to ambush the first rash pursuers....Only night
and exhaustion ended the pursuit. Of the enemy some 10,000
fell, on our side 360.
Despite this victory,
Roman subjugation of the highland tribes of Scotland was never
complete and occupation was near impossible. The Emperor Domitian,
jealous of Agricola's success, recalled him to Rome
and forced him into retirement, ending the farthest reaching
northern campaigns of the Legions.
The Hadrian
and Antonine Walls
In 120 AD, Emperor
Hadrian, understanding both the inability to conquer the northern
tribes and the need to protect Roman territory from them,
ordered that a 73 mile long wall be built from modern day
Wallsend-on-Tyne in the east to Bowness on the Solway Firth
in the west. For this unprecedented task of building a wall
spanning the entire length of northern Britain, at 13 to 15
high and with interspaced forts; detachments of Legio II Augusta,
XX Valeria and VI Victrix were given the job. The construction
started in 122 AD and took 6 years to complete.
A further attempt
to subdue southern 'Scotland' was made between 139 and 142
AD on the orders of Emperor Antoninus Pius. Across the narrowest
neck of land between the Forth and the Clyde a second wall
was built - this time of turf, stone and wood. The Antonine
Wall was thirty-seven miles long, four meters wide and fronted
by a ditch approximately twelve meters in width. It had forts
on the same pattern as Hadrian's Wall but was occupied only
for a short time. The years between 155 and 158 AD, brought
a widespread revolt in northern Britain which involved heavy
fighting by the British legions. They suffered severely, and
reinforcements had to be brought in from the two Germanic
provinces. By 160 AD, these losses and continued pressure
by the northern tribes forced the Roman to abandon their gains
north of Hadrian's Wall as too difficult to maintain and so
returned to the first wall.
Clodius
Albinus and Septimius Severus
In 196 AD, Clodius
Albinus, Governor of Britannia, rebelled and claimed the Imperial
throne for himself. The British legions were ferried to the
continent, but were defeated in 197 AD by Emperor Septimius
Severus. Several indecisive and destructive battles leading
up to it would have serious consequences in Britain. When
the British legions were returned, they found the province
overrun by northern tribes. Punitive actions did not deter
the northern tribesmen, and in 208 AD, Septimius came to Britain
in an attempt to conquer Scotland. II Augusta moved to the
north, where it shared a large fortress with VI Victrix, at
Carpow on the river Tay. Severus' campaigns were not
to last and ended with the eventual abandonment of any gains
and the re-fortification of Hadrian's Wall.
Under Caracalla, Severus' heir, II Augusta received
the name Antonina, as a reward for faithful service to him
and his father in Britain. Soon after the end of the Scotland
campaigns the legion was moved back to Isca Silurum (Caerleon)
and would remain on guard there until the eventual collapse
of Roman occupation.
Withdrawal
from Britannia
While Britain remained
at relative comparative peace for centuries, the same could
not be said of the rest of the Roman Empire. Political and
religious unrest fragmented the empire into East and West
in 364 AD. Rival claimants to the Imperial throne often pulled
Legions out of the provinces to support their claims further
weakening the borders.
At the beginning
of the 4th Century, II Augusta was part of the coastal defense
of southern Britain at Rutupiae (Richborough). Ironically
it was the same place that the Claudian Invasion of Britannia
began. In 407 AD, the last of the regular Legions were drawn
out of Britain. Beyond that, their history is unknown, but
for 400 years Legio II Augusta advanced and defended Roman
civilization.
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