Roman Legion - Legio XXII Deiotarian

Багерман А.Я., Мыслевцев А.С.

Legio XXII Deiotariana The Twenty-Second Deiotar Legion was a Roman legion formed in 47 BC from the remnants of two Roman-modeled military units under King Deiotorus of Asia Minor. Deiotarus, king of Galatia (a historical region in Anatolia, Turkey), ruled in the middle of the 1st century BC.

Period of service: 47 BC - 119/123 AD

Emblem: is unknown. A Celtic emblem could have been used

Honorific title: Deiotarian (after the King of Galatia)

Service history

• The Legio XXII Deiotariana was created in 47 BC from the remnants of two Roman-modeled military detachments of King Deiotorusof Asia Minor. In honor of him, the Legio XXII Deiotarian received the cognomen Deiotarian.

• In August 47 BC, the newly formed Legio XXII Deiotarian fought at the Battle of Zela against Pharnaces II, son of King Mithridates. The Romans won.

• In the civil war between Mark Antony and Octavian Augustus’ Legio XXII Deiotarian fought on the side of Mark Antony.

• With the incorporation of Galatia into the Roman Empire as a province in 25 BC, the Legio XXII Deiotarian officially received its name and number. This name was given to it by the first Roman governor of Galatia

• Marcus Lollius. Such a number as the XXII legion received, since in the army of Octavian 21 legions were already recruited and operated.

• According to R. Cagnat, the Legio XXII Deiotarian received its number and official status of a legion in the Roman Army only after the defeat of the Romans in the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, before that it performed auxiliary functions, and its nickname (cognomen) Legio XXII Deiotarian received only under the Emperor Trajan (reigned 98-117 AD).

• In 25 BC, Emperor Octavian Augustus transferred the Legio XXII Deiotarian to Alexandria of Egypt, where the legion remained for more than a century. The first inscription about the stay of Legio XXII Deiotarian in Egypt dates back to 8 BC.

• Since the Legio XXII Deiotarian guarded an important province that provided Rome with grain, it was commanded not by a senator, but by a horseman with the rank of prefect.

• The Legio XXII Deiotarian, together with the Legio III Cyrenaica,was located in Alexandria. They guarded Egypt and were sometimes brought in to quell riots among the local multiethnic population.

• It is assumed that the Legio XXII Deiotarian vexillation took part in the Roman military campaign against Felix Arabia (modern Yemen) in 26-25 BC. e. At this time, the rulers of the Nubian kingdom of Meroe attacked upper Egypt and the Romans in 24 BC. e. undertook a punitive expedition against the Numidians, going up the Nile and reaching ancient Egypt. the capital of Nubia (the city of Napata, ancient ruins on the territory of Sudan). Although the presence of the Legio XXII Deiotarian is not attested, legionaries of the Legio XXII Deiotarian were required to take part in this campaign.

• In addition to their military tasks, the legionaries of the Legio XXII Deiotarian also dealt with civil issues throughout Egypt: they built a building in Akfahas, south of Memphis; quarried gray granite in the quarries of Mons Claudian; and left their inscriptions far to the south of Egypt on the colossi of Memnon. They suppressed anti-Semitic riots in Alexandria in 38 AD.

• In 39, the Legio XXII Deiotarian bill of exchange was sent to Germany for the planned campaign of the Emperor Caligula.

• In 63, the Legio XXII Deiotarian Vexillation took part in the Parthian campaign of Domtius Corbulo.

• Legio XXII Deiotarian, together with Legio III Cyrenaica, participated in the "cleansing" of Egypt from the rebellious Jews during the First Jewish War (66-73).

• In 69 AD, the Legio XXII Deiotarian, together with the Legio III Cyrenaica, supported the general Vespasian's claim to the imperial purple.

• In 115, an uprising of Jewish diasporas broke out in Egypt and neighboring Cyrenaica, but the forces of Legio XXII Deiotarian together with Legio III Cyrenaica were not enough to quickly suppress it, so at the end of 116, Quintus Marcius Turbon arrived with reinforcements, who by the summer of 117 was able to brutally suppress the uprising.

• The last datable evidence of a Legio XXII Deiotarian sojourn in Egypt dates back to the year 119. By the time of the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (reigned 161-180), there is no longer any information about Legio XXII Deiotarian and its fate is unknown.

The precise date and circumstances of Legio XXII Deiotariana’s disappearance are unknown. Proposed explanations include disbandment or the loss of the unit in a second-century eastern conflict, including the Bar Kokhba revolt. Neither the place nor the cause of its disappearance is securely established.

Hypotheses should not be presented as a sequence of documented events. The Bar Kokhba revolt began in AD 132, so a supposed transfer in AD 127 cannot be described as an expedition to suppress it. The story that the legion was destroyed with poisoned wine should not be presented as an established historical fact.

Related topics

List of Roman Legions, Legio III Cyrenaica, Legion, Legionary, Mark Antony, Legio XXI Rapax

Literature and sources

1. S. Daris,"Legio XXII Deiotariana", in: Yann Le Bohec, Les legions de Rome sous le Haut-Empire (2000, Lyon) 365-367

2. J. Kramer," Die Wiener Liste von Soldaten der III. und XXII. Legion (P. Vindob. L2) " in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 97 (1993) 147-158

3. Emil Ritterling. Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Legio (XXII Deiotariana). Band XII,2. — Stuttgart,1925. — 1791—1797 p.

4. Stephen Mitchell. Anatolia. Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor. Bd. 1. — Oxford: Oxford University Press,1995.

5. Lawrence J. F. Keppie. Legions and veterans: Roman army papers 1971-2000 (Mavors. Roman Army Researches Band 12). — Stuttgart: Steiner,2000.

6. Steven T. Katz. The Cambridge History of Judaism Volume 4: The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period. — Cambridge University Press,2006.

7. René Cagnat. A brief history of the various legions.

8. Dando-Collins. "The Legions of Rome. The complete history of all the legions of the Roman Empire. "M. Izd." Tsentrpoligraf”. 2017