View source for Legio II Flavia Constantia

{{short description|Roman legion}}
[[Image:Secunda Flavia Constantia Thebaeorum.svg|thumb|200px|Shield pattern of the ''Secunda Flavia Constantia Thebaeorum'', according to ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]''.]]
The '''Legio II ''Flavia Constantia''''' (''reliable Flavian legion'') was a [[comitatensis]] [[Roman legion]], created by [[Diocletian]] or [[Galerius]], probably in the years 293, 296 or 297.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Legio II Flavia Constantia - Livius|url=https://www.livius.org/articles/legion/legio-ii-flavia-constantia/|access-date=2020-08-06|website=www.livius.org}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

Since [[Late Roman army|Roman strategy]] at the time required each province to have two legions, and the [[Thebaid]] province had none, the II ''Flavia Constantia'' was formed together with [[Legio I Maximiana|I ''Maximiana'']] to garrison the newly created province Thebaid which became part of the new diocese of [[Diocese of Egypt|Aegyptus]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Vandorpe|first=Katelijn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f2-MDwAAQBAJ&dq=Legio+II+Flavia+Constantia&pg=PA172|title=A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt|date=2019-06-05|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-42847-4|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Esposito|first=Gabriele|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UZzSDwAAQBAJ&dq=Legio+II+Flavia+Constantia&pg=PT202|title=Armies of the Late Roman Empire, AD 284–476: History, Organization & Equipment|date=2018-10-30|publisher=Casemate Publishers|isbn=978-1-5267-3038-1|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

Possibly in 293, a new military camp was built around the [[Amun|Amun temple]] in [[Luxor]] to be the base of the legion.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Spiedel|first1=M.P.|last2=Pavkovic|first2=M.F.|date=1989|title=Legion II Flavia Constantia at Luxor|journal=[[The American Journal of Philology]]|publisher=Johns Hopkins University|volume=110|issue=1 |pages=151–154|doi=10.2307/294958|jstor=294958}}</ref> Until the time of the ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]'' the legion was stationed in [[Cusae]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Milne|first=Joseph Grafton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-x8NAAAAIAAJ&dq=Legio+II+Flavia+Constantia&pg=PA170|title=A History of Egypt Under Roman Rule|date=1898|publisher=Methuen & Company|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Guidetti|first1=Fabio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jXf2DwAAQBAJ&dq=Legio+II+Flavia+Constantia&pg=PT197|title=A Globalised Visual Culture?: Towards a Geography of Late Antique Art|last2=Meinecke|first2=Katharina|date=2020-07-31|publisher=Oxbow Books|isbn=978-1-78925-447-1|language=en}}</ref> The Thebaid province faced south against the enemies the Romans, such as the [[Nubians]], Kush, [[Meroë|Meroe]] and [[Axum]]. The name of the legion is related to [[Constantius Chlorus]], who was one of the four emperors at the time of the [[Tetrarchy|tetrarchs]].

Over the course of time, probably under [[Constantine I]], when the troops of the Egyptian provinces were united under the command of a ''[[dux]]'' (CIL II 12073), the legionary troops of the province were increased with units from both legions of Aegyptus [[Legio I Iovia|I ''Iovia'']], [[Legio II Traiana Fortis|II ''Traiana'']], and [[Legio III Diocletiana|III ''Diocletiana'']], the latter gradually being divided into three garrisons (''Not. or.'' XXXI 31. 33. 38).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2007-03-14|title=Romanarmy.com - A history, archaeological and reenactment community - Legio II Flavia Constantia|url=http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/content/view/29/114/|access-date=2020-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314101333/http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/content/view/29/114/|archive-date=2007-03-14}}</ref> The legion, which was named after Constantine, received large sums of money in the form of [[Donativum|Donatives]] from the emperor. One depiction of them on a wall in a legionary fortress showcases the officers of this legion with expensive tunics.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cowan|first=Ross|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lWOICwAAQBAJ&dq=Legio+II+Flavia+Constantia&pg=PT137|title=Roman Legionary AD 284-337: The age of Diocletian and Constantine the Great|date=2015-04-20|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-0668-0|language=en}}</ref>

'''II ''Flavia Constantia Thebaeorum''''', which belonged, at the time of the ''Notitia'', to the [[Comitatenses|comitatus]] of the ''[[magister militum per Orientem]]'' (''Not. or.'' VII 10 = 45), was certainly a split off from II ''Flavia Constantia'', which was, for more than a century, an established border-legion. The impulse for this split was probably given by a measure of [[Theodosius I]], to mix a part of the Barbarians, which were passed over to him, with the troops in Egypt. These barbarians were added to the Egyptian troops and their accompanying commander in Macedonia (Zosimus IV 30 and 31), who resided at that time in [[Thessalonica]]. A part of II ''Flavia Constantia'' belonged to these ''Aiguptioi'' (Egyptians). It is fitting that at this time the legion II ''Flavia Valentis Thebaeorum'' (''Not or.'' VII 11 = 46), which accompanied the troops in the Notitia and was named after and probably raised by Emperor [[Valens]], was no longer mentioned with the garrison of Thebaidos (''Not. or.'' XXXI), because of the short time it stayed in the province.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Woolley|first1=Sir Leonard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30ZIAAAAMAAJ&dq=Legio+II+Flavia+Constantia&pg=PA113|title=Karanòg: The Romano-Nubian Cemetery|last2=Randall-MacIver|first2=David|date=1910|publisher=University museum|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

== Attested members ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Name
!Rank
!Time Frame
!Province
!Source
|-
|Aurelius or Flavius
|[[Tribune|Tribunus]], [[Prefect|Praefectus]], [[Praepositus sacri cubiculi|Praepositus]], or [[Centurion|Centurio]]. 
|Around 300 CE
|[[Roman Egypt|Aegyptus]]
|<ref name=":3"/>
|}

==See also==
*[[List of Roman legions]]

== References ==
<references />

{{Roman Legion|}}

[[Category:Roman legions|02 Flavia Constantia]]
[[Category:290s establishments in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Comitatenses|02 Flavia Constantia]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in the 3rd century]]