THE LEGIO XXX ULPIA VICTRIX PIA FIDELIS AND SEVERUS EXPEDITIONES ASIANA AND MESOPOTAMENA

摘要

Exceedingly little is known for certain concerning which legions or vexillations thereof participated in Severus' expeditiones Asiana and Mesopotamena~1.The recent publication of a funerary monument for a legionary who died at Ancyra in 195AD thus makes a valuable addition to the meagre stock of evidence currently available 2 . However, what makes this document even more interesting is that the deceased belonged to the legio XXX Ulpia Victrix, a legion then based at Vetera in Germania Inferior: hitherto it was not thought that any of the German legions participated in Severus' initial eastern wars. Moreover, the text provides us with the earliest securely dated example of the legion bearing the cognomina Pia Fidelis, confirming the long-held belief that these titles were awarded by the same emperor. Such matters of interest aside, the—inscription and its contents may also be of relevance with regard to our current understanding of the careers of C. lunius Faustinus, legatus Aug(g)ustorum XXX Ulpia Victrix, and of C. Julius Septimius Castinus, dux vexillationum (legionum) 1111 Germaniarum.