Legio XXII Deiotariana

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Map of the Roman empire in AD 125, under emperor Hadrian, showing the Legio XXII Deiotariana, stationed at Alexandria (Alexandria, Egypt), in Aegyptus province, from 8 BC to ca. 123 AD

Legio XXII Deiotariana ("Deiotarus' Twenty-Second Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army, founded ca. 48 BC and disbanded or destroyed during the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136. Its cognomen comes from Deiotarus, a Celtic king of Galatia. Its emblem is unknown.

Legion history

Origin of the legion

The legion was levied by Deiotarus, king of the

Mithridates VI of Pontus, and contributed to Roman victory in the Third Mithridatic War
.

After a

Battle of Zela
(47 BC).

Early history (BC)

On the death of

Caesar Augustus had already 21 legions, the legion received the number XXII.[1]

The Twenty-second was assigned to

Aegyptus) together with III Cyrenaica
. These two legions had the role of garrisoning the Egyptian province from threats both within and without, given the multi-ethnic nature of Alexandria.

In 26 BC,

praefectus Aegypti (praefectus of Egypt), led a campaign against the Nubian kingdoms and another to find Arabia Felix (Yemen
). The campaign came quickly to a halt (25 BC) because of the heavy losses in the troops (Romans, Hebrews and Nabateans), due to hunger and epidemics.

The losses were not recovered, so in 23 BC the Nubians, led by queen

Candace Amanirenas, took the initiative and attacked the Romans moving towards Elephantine. The new praefectus of Egypt, Gaius Petronius, obtained reinforcements, and after blocking the Nubians, marched up the Nile to the Nubian capital of Napata
, which was sacked in 22 BC. It is highly probable that XXII fought in these wars.

After these actions, the Nubian front remained calm for a long time, so the legions could be employed otherwise. The legionaries were used not only as soldiers, but also as workers, as some of them were sent to the granite mines of Mons Claudianus. Other legionaries were sent in the deepest south of the Egyptian province and scratched their names on the stones of the Colossi of Memnon.

Later history

Under

Syria. Corbulo, with the legions XV Apollinaris, III Gallica, V Macedonica, X Fretensis and XXII, forced Vologases I of Parthia to a compromise peace in 63, whereby his brother Tiridates
would become king of Armenia as a Roman client.

In 66,

year of the four emperors", Flavius Vespasianus senior returned to Italy to conquer the imperial throne after Nero's death and Galba
's rebellion. The Twenty-second sided with Flavius Vespasianus, who eventually became emperor.

Under Trajan, the legion was officially known as Deiotariana, even if this was its unofficial name since Claudian times.

The last certain record of XXII Deiotariana is from the year 119. In 145, when a list of all existing legions was made, XXII Deiotariana was not included.[2] Whether the legion was disbanded on administrative grounds or was destroyed during conflict remains uncertain.

It is generally proposed that XXII Deiotariana suffered serious losses during the Jewish rebellion of Simon bar Kokhba.[3] According to Peter Schafer's 2003 book "The disappearance of the Legio XXII Deiotariana in connection with the Bar Kokhba Revolt is uncertain and not generally accepted as fact."[4] Evidence from Caesarea Maritima gained support from a number of scholars interpreting the aqueduct reparation inscription made c.133-134 as mentioning Legio XXII Deiotariana.[5] If indeed connected with the legion, the inscription sets the last known location to Judean province during the Bar Kokhba revolt and making the war the most plausible explanation to the legion's disappearance. According to Isaac and Roll [who?], the fact the inscription was apparently deliberately erased was an intentional damnatio memoriae because of Legio XXII's defeat.[5] However, according to Negev [who?], the inscription may be attributed to either Legio Ferrata or Legio Deiotariana. [citation needed]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Parker, The Roman Legions (1957), pp. 88-90
  2. ^ CIL VI, 3492 = ILS 2288
  3. ISBN 3-515-07744-8
    pp. 228–229
  4. ISBN 3-16-148076-7
    p. 118
  5. ^ a b Mor, M. (2016) The Second Jewish Revolt: The Bar Kokhba War, 132-136 CE. p. 200-201.
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