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'''Legio Nona Hispana''' ('''Ninth Spanish Legion''')<ref name="gods">{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/iloveny/romans/2004/spanish_legion/index.shtml|publisher=BBC.co.uk|title=York's Spanish connection|date=13 January 2008}}</ref> was a [[Roman legion]], which operated from the first century |
'''Legio Nona Hispana''' ('''Ninth Spanish Legion''')<ref name="gods">{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/iloveny/romans/2004/spanish_legion/index.shtml|publisher=BBC.co.uk|title=York's Spanish connection|date=13 January 2008}}</ref> was a [[Roman legion]], which operated from the first century BCE until mid 2nd century CE. The Spanish Legion's disappearance has raised speculations over its fate, largely of its alleged destruction in [[Scotland]] in about AD 117, though some scholars believe it was destroyed in the [[Roman-Parthian Wars]] or during the [[Bar Kokhba Revolt]] of CE 132–136. There is no evidence of what happened to the famous Legion, as it simply drops out of records around early second century CE. The last concrete information of its whereabouts is in 107-108 CE, where they are mentioned being stationed to help rebuild the legionary fortress at York ([Eburacum]). There exists no concrete evidence at this time that either theory on the fate of the legion is correct or otherwise. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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The legion was raised, along with the [[Legio VI Ferrata|6th]], [[Legio VII Claudia|7th]] and [[Legio VIII Augusta|8th]], by [[Pompey]] in Hispania in 65 |
The legion was raised, along with the [[Legio VI Ferrata|6th]], [[Legio VII Claudia|7th]] and [[Legio VIII Augusta|8th]], by [[Pompey]] in Hispania in 65 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome |first=Stephen |last=Dando-Collins |location=New York |publisher=Wiley |year=2002 |pages=269–270 |isbn=0471095702 }}</ref> Julius Caesar first commanded them as Governor of [[Further Spain]] in 61 BCE. He brought them over to Gaul around 58 BCE, where they were present during the whole campaign of the [[Gallic wars]]. |
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The 9th was withdrawn to Hispania in 49 |
The 9th was withdrawn to Hispania in 49 BCE where it earned the title “Hispaniensis” (according to Caesar’s ''[[Gallic Wars]]''). They fought in the battles of [[Dyrrhachium]] and [[Battle of Pharsalus|Pharsalus]] (48 BCE) and in the African campaign of 46 BCE. After his final victory, Caesar disbanded the legion and settled the veterans in the area of [[Picenum]]. |
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Following Caesar's assassination, [[Augustus|Octavian]] recalled the veterans of the Ninth to fight against the rebellion of [[Sextus Pompeius]] in Sicily. After defeating Sextus, they were sent to the province of [[Macedon]]ia. The Ninth remained with Octavian in his war of [[31 |
Following Caesar's assassination, [[Augustus|Octavian]] recalled the veterans of the Ninth to fight against the rebellion of [[Sextus Pompeius]] in Sicily. After defeating Sextus, they were sent to the province of [[Macedon]]ia. The Ninth remained with Octavian in his war of [[31 BCE]] against [[Mark Antony]] and fought by his side in the [[battle of Actium]]. With Octavian as sole ruler of the Roman world, the legion was sent to Hispania to take part in the large scale [[Cantabrian Wars|campaign against the Cantabrians]] ([[25 BCE|25]]–[[13 BCE]]). |
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After this, the legion was probably a member of the imperial army in the [[Rhine]] border that was campaigning against the Germanic tribes. Following the abandonment of the Eastern Rhine area (after the disaster of the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] — AD 9), the Ninth was relocated in [[Pannonia]]. |
After this, the legion was probably a member of the imperial army in the [[Rhine]] border that was campaigning against the Germanic tribes. Following the abandonment of the Eastern Rhine area (after the disaster of the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] — AD 9), the Ninth was relocated in [[Pannonia]]. |
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===Invasion of Britain=== |
===Invasion of Britain=== |
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In |
In 43 CE they probably participated in the [[Roman invasion of Britain]] led by emperor [[Claudius]] and general [[Aulus Plautius]], because they soon appear amongst the provincial garrison. Under the command of [[Caesius Nasica]] they put down the first revolt of [[Venutius]] between 52 and 57. The Ninth suffered [[Massacre of the Ninth Legion|a serious defeat]] under [[Quintus Petillius Cerialis]] in the rebellion of [[Boudica]] (61) and was later reinforced with [[legionary|legionaries]] from the Germania provinces. Around AD 71 they constructed a new fortress at [[York]] ([[Eboracum]]), as shown by finds of tile-stamps from the site.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/pss/525953|last=Wright|first=R. P.|authorlink=R. P. Wright|title=Tile-Stamps of the Ninth Legion found in Britain|journal=Britannia|volume=9|pages=379–382|year=1978}}</ref> |
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===Disappearance=== |
===Disappearance=== |
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It is often said that the legion disappeared in Britain about |
It is often said that the legion disappeared in Britain about 117 CE.<ref>E.g., [[Winston Churchill]], ''[[A History of the English-Speaking Peoples]]'', vol.1 (1956).</ref><ref>On this whole question, see: {{cite journal|url=https://www.ancient-warfare.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&catid=7&id=283&view=article&Itemid=102|last=Campbell|first=Duncan B.|authorlink=Duncan B. Campbell|title=The fate of the Ninth: the curious disappearance of Legio VIIII Hispana|journal=Ancient Warfare|volume=IV.5|pages=48–53|year=2010}}</ref> However, the names of several high ranking officers of the Ninth are known who probably served with the legion after ca. 120 (e.g., Lucius Aemilius Karus, governor of Arabia in 142/143), which suggests that the legion continued in existence after this date. It has been suggested that the legion may have been destroyed during the [[Bar Kochba Revolt]] in [[Iudaea Province]], or possibly in the ongoing conflict with the [[Parthian Empire]] but there is no firm evidence for this.<ref>http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/ix_hispana.html</ref> |
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That the fate of the 9th was settled somewhere in the East, following a strategic transfer, rather than being lost in a British catastrophe, has now become the preferred scenario, although ultimately the evidence for this is rather insubstantial. The last testified activity of the Ninth in Britain is during the rebuilding in stone of the legionary fortress at [[York]] (Eboracum) in |
That the fate of the 9th was settled somewhere in the East, following a strategic transfer, rather than being lost in a British catastrophe, has now become the preferred scenario, although ultimately the evidence for this is rather insubstantial. The last testified activity of the Ninth in Britain is during the rebuilding in stone of the legionary fortress at [[York]] (Eboracum) in 108 CE. Its subsequent movements remain unknown, but there is crucial evidence, in the form of two stamped tiles, of the Legion's presence at [[Nijmegen]] (Noviomagus) in the [[Netherlands]], which had been evacuated by [[Legio X Gemina|X Gemina]].<ref>{{Cite book |first=Jan Kees |last=Haalebos |chapter={{lang|de|Römische Truppen in Nijmegen}} |editor-first=Yann |editor-last=Le Bohec |title={{lang|fr|Les légions de Rome sous le Haut-Empire}} |year=2000 |location=Lyon |publisher=Diffusion De Boccard |pages=465–489 |isbn=2904974199 }}</ref> As these were stamped by the legion, and not by a vexillation of the legion, they cannot relate to the known presence of a sub unit of the legion on the Rhine frontier during the mid 80s when the emperor [[Domitian]] was fighting his war against the [[Chatti]]. Nevertheless, some continue to support the scenario that the Ninth was destroyed in Britain after all.<ref> M. Russell ''Bloodline: the Celtic Kings of Roman Britain'' p 180-5 (2010)</ref> |
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Two passages from ancient literature are thought to have a bearing on the problem. Evidence for substantial troop losses in Britain is supplied by the Roman historian Marcus Cornelius [[Fronto]], writing in the AD 160s, who consoled the emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]], by reminding him of past tragedies, “Indeed, when your grandfather Hadrian held imperial power, what great numbers of soldiers were killed by the Jews, what great numbers by the Britons”.<ref>Fronto ''Parthian War'' 2, 220</ref> Details of these casualties remain unknown, but, as the emperor [[Hadrian]] himself visited Britain around AD 122, because, “the Britons could not be kept under Roman control”,<ref>''Scriptores Historiae Augustae'' Hadrian, 5, 1</ref> it is plausible that Hadrian was responding to a military disaster.<ref>E.g. {{Cite book |first=D. |last=Breeze |lastauthoramp=yes |first2=B. |last2=Dobson |title=Hadrian's Wall |edition=4th |year=2000 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |page=25 |isbn=0140271821 }}</ref> It is equally likely that the building of Hadrian's Wall stirred up trouble in the area. |
Two passages from ancient literature are thought to have a bearing on the problem. Evidence for substantial troop losses in Britain is supplied by the Roman historian Marcus Cornelius [[Fronto]], writing in the AD 160s, who consoled the emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]], by reminding him of past tragedies, “Indeed, when your grandfather Hadrian held imperial power, what great numbers of soldiers were killed by the Jews, what great numbers by the Britons”.<ref>Fronto ''Parthian War'' 2, 220</ref> Details of these casualties remain unknown, but, as the emperor [[Hadrian]] himself visited Britain around AD 122, because, “the Britons could not be kept under Roman control”,<ref>''Scriptores Historiae Augustae'' Hadrian, 5, 1</ref> it is plausible that Hadrian was responding to a military disaster.<ref>E.g. {{Cite book |first=D. |last=Breeze |lastauthoramp=yes |first2=B. |last2=Dobson |title=Hadrian's Wall |edition=4th |year=2000 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |page=25 |isbn=0140271821 }}</ref> It is equally likely that the building of Hadrian's Wall stirred up trouble in the area. |
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Revision as of 19:56, 13 June 2011
| Legio IX Hispana | |
|---|---|
 Map of the Roman empire in AD 125, under emperor Hadrian, showing the Legio IX Hispana, then stationed (from AD 121 to ca. 132)[citation needed] on the river Rhine at Noviomagus (Nijmegen, Netherlands), in Germania Inferior province | |
| Active | Before 58 BC to sometime in the 2nd century |
| Country | Roman Republic and Roman Empire |
| Type | Roman legion (Marian) |
| Role | Infantry assault |
| Garrison/HQ | Eboracum (71 - ?) |
| Mascot(s) | Bull (likely) |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | |
Legio Nona Hispana (Ninth Spanish Legion)[1] was a Roman legion, which operated from the first century BCE until mid 2nd century CE. The Spanish Legion's disappearance has raised speculations over its fate, largely of its alleged destruction in Scotland in about AD 117, though some scholars believe it was destroyed in the Roman-Parthian Wars or during the Bar Kokhba Revolt of CE 132–136. There is no evidence of what happened to the famous Legion, as it simply drops out of records around early second century CE. The last concrete information of its whereabouts is in 107-108 CE, where they are mentioned being stationed to help rebuild the legionary fortress at York ([Eburacum]). There exists no concrete evidence at this time that either theory on the fate of the legion is correct or otherwise.
History
The legion was raised, along with the 6th, 7th and 8th, by Pompey in Hispania in 65 BCE.[2] Julius Caesar first commanded them as Governor of Further Spain in 61 BCE. He brought them over to Gaul around 58 BCE, where they were present during the whole campaign of the Gallic wars.
The 9th was withdrawn to Hispania in 49 BCE where it earned the title “Hispaniensis” (according to Caesar’s Gallic Wars). They fought in the battles of Dyrrhachium and Pharsalus (48 BCE) and in the African campaign of 46 BCE. After his final victory, Caesar disbanded the legion and settled the veterans in the area of Picenum.
Following Caesar's assassination, Octavian recalled the veterans of the Ninth to fight against the rebellion of Sextus Pompeius in Sicily. After defeating Sextus, they were sent to the province of Macedonia. The Ninth remained with Octavian in his war of 31 BCE against Mark Antony and fought by his side in the battle of Actium. With Octavian as sole ruler of the Roman world, the legion was sent to Hispania to take part in the large scale campaign against the Cantabrians (25–13 BCE).
After this, the legion was probably a member of the imperial army in the Rhine border that was campaigning against the Germanic tribes. Following the abandonment of the Eastern Rhine area (after the disaster of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest — AD 9), the Ninth was relocated in Pannonia.
Invasion of Britain
In 43 CE they probably participated in the Roman invasion of Britain led by emperor Claudius and general Aulus Plautius, because they soon appear amongst the provincial garrison. Under the command of Caesius Nasica they put down the first revolt of Venutius between 52 and 57. The Ninth suffered a serious defeat under Quintus Petillius Cerialis in the rebellion of Boudica (61) and was later reinforced with legionaries from the Germania provinces. Around AD 71 they constructed a new fortress at York (Eboracum), as shown by finds of tile-stamps from the site.[3]
Disappearance
It is often said that the legion disappeared in Britain about 117 CE.[4][5] However, the names of several high ranking officers of the Ninth are known who probably served with the legion after ca. 120 (e.g., Lucius Aemilius Karus, governor of Arabia in 142/143), which suggests that the legion continued in existence after this date. It has been suggested that the legion may have been destroyed during the Bar Kochba Revolt in Iudaea Province, or possibly in the ongoing conflict with the Parthian Empire but there is no firm evidence for this.[6]
That the fate of the 9th was settled somewhere in the East, following a strategic transfer, rather than being lost in a British catastrophe, has now become the preferred scenario, although ultimately the evidence for this is rather insubstantial. The last testified activity of the Ninth in Britain is during the rebuilding in stone of the legionary fortress at York (Eboracum) in 108 CE. Its subsequent movements remain unknown, but there is crucial evidence, in the form of two stamped tiles, of the Legion's presence at Nijmegen (Noviomagus) in the Netherlands, which had been evacuated by X Gemina.[7] As these were stamped by the legion, and not by a vexillation of the legion, they cannot relate to the known presence of a sub unit of the legion on the Rhine frontier during the mid 80s when the emperor Domitian was fighting his war against the Chatti. Nevertheless, some continue to support the scenario that the Ninth was destroyed in Britain after all.[8]
Two passages from ancient literature are thought to have a bearing on the problem. Evidence for substantial troop losses in Britain is supplied by the Roman historian Marcus Cornelius Fronto, writing in the AD 160s, who consoled the emperor Marcus Aurelius, by reminding him of past tragedies, “Indeed, when your grandfather Hadrian held imperial power, what great numbers of soldiers were killed by the Jews, what great numbers by the Britons”.[9] Details of these casualties remain unknown, but, as the emperor Hadrian himself visited Britain around AD 122, because, “the Britons could not be kept under Roman control”,[10] it is plausible that Hadrian was responding to a military disaster.[11] It is equally likely that the building of Hadrian's Wall stirred up trouble in the area.
The Ninth was certainly no longer in existence by the mid 2nd century as a list of legions compiled during the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 161 – 180) fails to mention it. Sheppard Frere, an eminent Romano-British authority, has concluded that, "further evidence is needed before more can be said".[12]
Further speculation about a serious British war during the reign of Hadrian may be supported by a tombstone recovered from Vindolanda, Chesterholm in Northumberland. Here, the man commemorated, Titus Annius, a centurion of the First Cohort of Tungrians, had been, “killed in ... war” (in bello ... interfectus).[13] Further afield, a tombstone from Ferentinum in Italy was set up to Titus Pontius Sabinus, who, amongst other things, had commanded detachments of the VII Gemina, VIII Augusta and XXII Primigenia Legions on the “British expedition”, taking reinforcements to the island after (or even during) a major conflict, probably early in the emperor Hadrian’s reign (AD 117 – 138).[14]
In fiction
- In Rosemary Sutcliff's 1954 historical novel The Eagle of the Ninth, a young Roman officer, Marcus Flavius Aquila, is trying to recover the Eagle standard of his father's legion beyond Hadrian's Wall.
- A Home Service radio dramatisation of The Eagle of the Ninth was broadcast on Children's Hour in about 1956.
- In Karl Edward Wagner's 1976 fantasy novel Legion from the Shadows (featuring Robert E. Howard's Bran Mak Morn), the survivors of the Ninth flee underground where they interbreed with the Worms of the Earth.
- A BBC television serial was made of The Eagle of the Ninth in 1977.
- In Susanna Kearsley's 1999 novel The Shadowy Horses, an archaeologist believes he's found the remains of a fort that housed the Ninth Legion in remote Eyemouth, Scotland. The main character, Verity Grey, is brought to Scotland to examine the Roman artifacts. While the novel is mostly a romance, the ghostly appearance of a lost soldier from the Ninth gives it a nicely Gothic feel[original research?].
- In Ken MacLeod's 2002 science fiction novel Dark Light, the government of the planet Nova Babylonia is descended from the Ninth Legion, the implication being that it was abducted by aliens and transported to that distant planet.
- Valerio Massimo Manfredi's 2002 historical novel L'ultima legione (The Last Legion) depicts the Ninth Legion as being part of the legend of King Arthur.
- Jim Butcher's Codex Alera fantasy series (2004–2009) is populated by the descendants of the Ninth Legion and its camp followers, which had been transported to the continent of Carna—a "drop chute for the Bermuda triangle."[15]
- The 2007 movie The Last Legion based upon the Manfredi novel.
- In Stephen Lorne Bennett's 2010 historical novel Last of the Ninth the Ninth Legion is destroyed by the Parthians under General Chosroes, in Cappadocia in 161 AD.
- The 2010 movie Centurion follows the destiny of the Ninth Legion seen from the perspective of centurion Quintus Dias.
- The 2011 movie The Eagle is based on the book The Eagle of the Ninth.
See also
References
- ^ "York's Spanish connection". BBC.co.uk. 13 January 2008.
- ^ Dando-Collins, Stephen (2002). Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome. New York: Wiley. pp. 269–270. ISBN 0471095702.
- ^ Wright, R. P. (1978). "Tile-Stamps of the Ninth Legion found in Britain". Britannia. 9: 379–382.
- ^ E.g., Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, vol.1 (1956).
- ^ On this whole question, see: Campbell, Duncan B. (2010). "The fate of the Ninth: the curious disappearance of Legio VIIII Hispana". Ancient Warfare. IV.5: 48–53.
- ^ http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/ix_hispana.html
- ^ Haalebos, Jan Kees (2000). "Römische Truppen in Nijmegen". In Le Bohec, Yann (ed.). Les légions de Rome sous le Haut-Empire. Lyon: Diffusion De Boccard. pp. 465–489. ISBN 2904974199.
- ^ M. Russell Bloodline: the Celtic Kings of Roman Britain p 180-5 (2010)
- ^ Fronto Parthian War 2, 220
- ^ Scriptores Historiae Augustae Hadrian, 5, 1
- ^ E.g. Breeze, D.; Dobson, B. (2000). Hadrian's Wall (4th ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 25. ISBN 0140271821.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|lastauthoramp=ignored (|name-list-style=suggested) (help) - ^ Frere, S. S. (1987). Britannia. A History of Roman Britain (Third, extensively revised ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 124. ISBN 0710212151.
- ^ Roman Inscriptions of Britain, vol. 3 (Oxford 2009) no. 3364
- ^ B. Dobson Die Primipilares (Cologne/Bonn, 1978) no. 117, where the connection with Hadrian's visit is considered "likely".
- ^ Jim Butcher (2008-10-21), Jim-Butcher.com Forum
External links
- livius.org account of Legio IX Hispana
- Reenactment website
- Legio IX Hispana, USA re-enactment group
- LEG VIIII HSPA, Australian re-enactment group
- Legio IX Hisp, Roman unit in 'The Vicus' re-enactment group.