What Happened to the Lost Roman Legion? The Ninth Legion (Legio IX Hispana)
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 2023-08-06

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What Happened to the Lost Roman Legion? The Ninth Legion (Legio IX Hispana)

Chapters:
0:00 Intro and Context 
1:37 Caledonia 
5:22 Brigantes and Public Relations 
7:05 Mutiny 
7:27 Transferred Out of Britain 
8:44 Conclusion 

How can a legion of the Roman Army just disappear from history? Well this is case when it comes to the Legio IX Hispana, or the ninth legion, a mystery that has puzzled historians for centuries. This video will go through some of the main theories about this mystery. Please also let me know your thoughts in the comments below…

For a little context, the ninth legion existed from at least 58 BC until sometime in the 2nd century AD, with the last concrete evidence of their existence dated to 108 AD. What is clear is that the ninth legion did not exist during the reign of the emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211 AD), as it is not included in two identical but independent lists of the 33 legions existing in this period. Between 108 AD and the reign of Severus, the ninth legion vanishes. 

The legion first came to Britian during the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD under the Emperor Claudius, and it was involved in various conflicts in the following decades, from helping to suppress Boudica’s revolt in around 60 AD, to participating in the Roman victory against the Caledonians at the Battle of Mons Graupius in 83 or 84 AD. 

One popular theory for the legions disappearance is that it was wiped out by the Caledonians, a fierce tribal confederation that made up part of ancient Scotland. The story goes that the Roman legion was sent north to put down a Caledonian rebellion, but they were ultimately picked off and wiped out. It’s a story of an underdog conquering a bully, a native people defeating a foreign imperial force. This narrative was popularised in a novel of historical adventure written by Rosemary Sutcliff in the 1950s, called The Eagle of the Ninth.

But is there much truth to this? The context of the situation in Britian lends support to this theory that were wiped out by the natives. The early years of the 2nd Century were deeply traumatic for the Romans in Britain. The Roman writer Fronto observed that, in the reign of the emperor Hadrian (AD 117 - 138), large numbers of Roman soldiers were killed in Britannia. A tombstone recovered from Italy tells us that emergency reinforcements of over 3,000 men were rushed to Britian early in Hadrian's reign. The anonymous author of the Scriptores Historiae Augustae tells us that: "The Britons could not be kept under Roman control."

Furthermore, we obviously know that during the 2nd century AD, the Romans built two walls, one in Scotland (Antonine’s Wall) and one in the north of England (Hadrian’s Wall).

Sources:

Legio IX Hispana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legio_IX_Hispana 

What happened to Legio IX Hispana? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9hyV7mX2Lk 

Dr Miles Russell, The Roman Ninth Legion's mysterious loss https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12752497 

History Extra, What happened to Britain’s lost Roman legion? https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/what-happened-to-britains-lost-roman-legion/ 

The Mystery of the Ninth Legion, The Ancient/Dan Snow's History Hit
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-mystery-of-the-ninth-legion/id1042631089?i=1000523361416 

Timeline - The Mystery Of The Vanished Roman Legion | The Ninth | Timeline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK45PRm4zTo 

Celtic History Decoded - The Truth About Hadrian’s Wall, Rome's False Northern Frontier (History Documentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogxw-rbePh8 

Nick Hodgson - The End of the Ninth Legion, War in Britain and the Building of Hadrian's Wall The End of the Ninth Legion, War in Britain and the Building of Hadrian's Wall | Britannia | Cambridge Core 

Battle of Mons Graupius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mons_Graupius 

Hadrian https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/Hadrian 

Brigantes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigantes 

Bar Kokhba revolt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Kokhba_revolt 
 
Roman–Parthian War of 161–166 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman%E2%80%93Parthian_War_of_161%E2%80%93166 

#romanempire #history #britain