02 Vespasian's 2nd Roman Legion Pegasus T-shirt

This Legion was raised by Emperor Vespasian in 70 AD from marines in Rome's Navy at Ravenna. Conscripting them as Legionaries was a reward for their serving under him in his war against the former Emperor, Vitellius. Their service under Vespasian in that brief Civil War was also why they were surnamed Pia Fidelis (loyal and faithful to). It was initially stationed in Batavia, then it went to Britain to put down a Brigantes rebellion there. It would remain stationed in Britain until 87, when it was transferred to the lower Danube to serve under Domitian in his Dacian Campaigns. One of the Legion's officers during this time was Publius Aelius Hadrianus, the future Emperor Hadrian. The Legion was at Singidunum during Trajan's Dacian Wars, and was later sent to Aquincum (modern Budapest), where it built a new legionary fort and stayed for centuries. The Legion was involved in several campaigns along the Danube under the Emperor Hadrian, and in 118 it defeated Sarmatians that had annihilated the XXI Rapax Legion in 92. It served under the Emperor Verus in his Parthian Campaigns from 162-166, and was active in Marcus Aurelius' Northern Campaigns afterwards. It took part in the campaigns against the Alamanni in 213, and Emperor Caracalla's Parthian War of 214-17. Emperor Gordian also used this Legion against the Sasanian Empire in 238, and Emperor Claudius II used the Legion against the Visigoths in 269. Its emblem was primarily the Pegasus, and sometimes the Capricorn.