Legio IX Hispana: Difference between revisions

Legio IX Hispana
Legio IX Hispana
	Map of the Roman empire in 125 AD, under emperor Hadrian, showing the Legio IX Hispana, then stationed (from 121 AD 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	Gallic Wars (58–51 BC); Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC);
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Julius Caesar;

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 12:46, 28 September 2011

Legio Nona Hispana (Ninth Spanish Legion)^[1] was a Roman legion, which operated from the first century BC until mid 2nd century AD. The Spanish Legion's disappearance has raised speculations over its fate, largely of its alleged destruction in Scotland in about 117 AD, though some scholars believe it was destroyed in the Roman-Parthian Wars or during the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132–136 AD. There is no evidence of what happened to the famous Legion, as it simply drops out of records around early second century AD. The last concrete information of its whereabouts is in 107–108 AD, where they are mentioned being stationed to help rebuild the legionary fortress at York (Eboracum). There exists no concrete evidence at this time that either theory on the fate of the legion is correct or otherwise.

History

The origin of the legion is uncertain, but Caesar is known to have found a Ninth Legion already based in Gaul in 58 BC,^[2] where it remained during the whole campaign of the Gallic wars.

According to Stephen Dando-Collins the legion was raised, along with the 6th, 7th and 8th, by Pompey in Hispania in 65 BC.^[3]

Caesar's Ninth Legion fought in the battles of Dyrrhachium and Pharsalus (48 BC) and in the African campaign of 46 BC. After his final victory, Caesar disbanded the legion and settled the veterans in the area of Picenum.^[4]

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 BC 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 BC). The nickname Hispana ("stationed in Spain") is first found during the reign of Augustus and probably originated at this time.

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 — 9 AD), the Ninth was relocated in Pannonia.

Invasion of Britain

In 43 AD 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 71 AD they constructed a new fortress at York (Eboracum), as shown by finds of tile-stamps from the site.^[5]

Disappearance

It is often said that the legion disappeared in Britain about 117 AD.^[6]^[7] 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.^[8]

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 AD. 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.^[9] 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.

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 160s AD, 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”.^[10] Details of these casualties remain unknown, but, as the emperor Hadrian himself visited Britain around 122 AD, because, “the Britons could not be kept under Roman control”,^[11] it is plausible that Hadrian was responding to a military disaster.^[12] 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 (161–180 AD) fails to mention it. Sheppard Frere, an eminent Romano-British authority, has concluded that, "further evidence is needed before more can be said".^[13] Nevertheless, Miles Russell (senior lecturer in Roman Archaeology at Bournemouth University) has claimed that "by far the most plausible answer to the question "what happened to the Ninth" is that they fought and died in Britain, disappearing in the late 110s or early 120s when the province was in disarray".^[14]^[15] This is a minority view in Romano-British and Roman military studies.

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).^[16] 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 (117–138 AD).^[17]

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 Alan Garner's 1973 novel Red Shift, one narrative involves a group of Roman soldiers who are survivors of the Legion's destruction, trying to survive in hostile, second-century Cheshire.
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 David Gemmell's 1991 fantasy novel Dark Prince, the Ninth have been trapped in a demon realm and are released by Alexander the Great.
In David Gemmell's 1988 fantasy novel Ghost King, the Ninth have been trapped in an alternate realm and are released by the protagonists to help in battle.
N. M. Browne's 2000 Warriors of Alavna accounts for the disappearance of the Legion by transporting it to an alternative reality.
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^{[citation needed]}
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.

References

^ "York's Spanish connection". BBC.co.uk. 13 January 2008.
^ Keppie, Lawrence (1984). The Making of the Roman Army, from Republic to Empire. London: Batsford. p. 208. ISBN 0713436514.
^ 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.
^ Keppie, Lawrence (1983). Colonisation and veteran Settlement in Italy, 47-14 BC. London: British School at Rome. p. 54. ISBN 0904152065.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Miles Russell, pages 41–45 BBC History Magazine, May 2011
^ M. Russell Bloodline: the Celtic Kings of Roman Britain p 180-5 (2010)
^ 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".

External links

livius.org account of Legio IX Hispana
[1] York Tile Stamp

[gods-1] "York's Spanish connection". BBC.co.uk. 13 January 2008.

[2] Keppie, Lawrence (1984). The Making of the Roman Army, from Republic to Empire. London: Batsford. p. 208. ISBN 0713436514.

[3] 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.

[4] Keppie, Lawrence (1983). Colonisation and veteran Settlement in Italy, 47-14 BC. London: British School at Rome. p. 54. ISBN 0904152065.

[5] Wright, R. P. (1978). "Tile-Stamps of the Ninth Legion found in Britain". Britannia. 9: 379–382.

[6] E.g., Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, vol.1 (1956).

[7] 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.

[8] ttp://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/ix_hispana.html

[9] 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.

[10] Fronto Parthian War 2, 220

[11] Scriptores Historiae Augustae Hadrian, 5, 1

[12] 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)

[13] Frere, S. S. (1987). Britannia. A History of Roman Britain (Third, extensively revised ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 124. ISBN 0710212151.

[14] Miles Russell, pages 41–45 BBC History Magazine, May 2011

[15] M. Russell Bloodline: the Celtic Kings of Roman Britain p 180-5 (2010)

[16] Roman Inscriptions of Britain, vol. 3 (Oxford 2009) no. 3364

[17] B. Dobson Die Primipilares (Cologne/Bonn, 1978) no. 117, where the connection with Hadrian's visit is considered "likely".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 |unit_name=Legio IX Hispana
 |image=[[Image:Roman Empire 125.png|300px]]
-|caption=Map of the Roman empire in 125 CE, under emperor [[Hadrian]], showing the '''Legio IX Hispana''', then stationed (from 121 CE to ca. 132){{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} on the river [[Rhine]] at [[Nijmegen|Noviomagus]] (Nijmegen, Netherlands), in [[Germania Inferior]] province
+|caption=Map of the Roman empire in 125 AD, under emperor [[Hadrian]], showing the '''Legio IX Hispana''', then stationed (from 121 AD to ca. 132){{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} on the river [[Rhine]] at [[Nijmegen|Noviomagus]] (Nijmegen, Netherlands), in [[Germania Inferior]] province
-|dates= Before 58 BCE to sometime in the 2nd century
+|dates= Before 58 BC to sometime in the 2nd century
 |country= [[Roman Republic]] and [[Roman Empire]]
 |type= [[Roman legion]] ([[Marian reforms|Marian]])
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 |anniversaries=
 }}
-'''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 117 CE, though some scholars believe it was destroyed in the [[Roman-Parthian Wars]] or during the [[Bar Kokhba Revolt]] of 132–136 CE. 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 (Eboracum). There exists no concrete evidence at this time that either theory on the fate of the legion is correct or otherwise.
+'''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 BC until mid 2nd century AD. The Spanish Legion's disappearance has raised speculations over its fate, largely of its alleged destruction in [[Scotland]] in about 117 AD, though some scholars believe it was destroyed in the [[Roman-Parthian Wars]] or during the [[Bar Kokhba Revolt]] of 132–136 AD. There is no evidence of what happened to the famous Legion, as it simply drops out of records around early second century AD. The last concrete information of its whereabouts is in 107–108 AD, where they are mentioned being stationed to help rebuild the legionary fortress at York (Eboracum). There exists no concrete evidence at this time that either theory on the fate of the legion is correct or otherwise.
 ==History==
@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 The origin of the legion is uncertain, but Caesar is known to have found a Ninth Legion already based in Gaul in 58 BC,<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Making of the Roman Army, from Republic to Empire |first=Lawrence |last=Keppie |location=London |publisher=Batsford |year=1984 |pages=208 |isbn=0713436514 }}</ref> where it remained during the whole campaign of the [[Gallic wars]].
-According to [[Stephen Dando-Collins]] 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>
+According to [[Stephen Dando-Collins]] 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 BC.<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>
 Caesar's Ninth Legion fought in the battles of [[Dyrrhachium]] and [[Battle of Pharsalus|Pharsalus]] (48 BC) and in the African campaign of 46 BC. After his final victory, Caesar disbanded the legion and settled the veterans in the area of [[Picenum]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Colonisation and veteran Settlement in Italy, 47-14 BC |first=Lawrence |last=Keppie |location=London |publisher=British School at Rome |year=1983 |pages=54 |isbn=0904152065 }}</ref>
-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]]). The nickname Hispana ("stationed in Spain") is first found during the reign of Augustus and probably originated at this time.
+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 BC]] 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 BC|25]]–[[13 BC]]). The nickname Hispana ("stationed in Spain") is first found during the reign of Augustus and probably originated at this time.
-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]] — 9 CE), 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]] — 9 AD), 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 [[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 71 CE 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>
+In 43 AD 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 71 AD 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>
 ===Disappearance===
-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>
+It is often said that the legion disappeared in Britain about 117 AD.<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>
-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]].
+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 AD. 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]].
-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 160s CE, 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 122 CE, 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 160s AD, 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 122 AD, 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.
-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 (161–180 CE) fails to mention it. [[Sheppard Frere]], an eminent Romano-British authority, has concluded that, "further evidence is needed before more can be said".<ref>{{Cite book |first=S. S. |last=Frere |year=1987 |title=Britannia. A History of Roman Britain |edition=Third, extensively revised |location=London |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |page=124 |isbn=0710212151 }}</ref> Nevertheless, Miles Russell (senior lecturer in Roman Archaeology at Bournemouth University) has claimed that "by far the most plausible answer to the question "what happened to the Ninth" is that they fought and died in Britain, disappearing in the late 110s or early 120s when the province was in disarray".<ref> Miles Russell, pages 41–45 BBC History Magazine, May 2011</ref><ref> M. Russell ''Bloodline: the Celtic Kings of Roman Britain'' p 180-5 (2010)</ref> This is a minority view in Romano-British and Roman military studies.
+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 (161–180 AD) fails to mention it. [[Sheppard Frere]], an eminent Romano-British authority, has concluded that, "further evidence is needed before more can be said".<ref>{{Cite book |first=S. S. |last=Frere |year=1987 |title=Britannia. A History of Roman Britain |edition=Third, extensively revised |location=London |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |page=124 |isbn=0710212151 }}</ref> Nevertheless, Miles Russell (senior lecturer in Roman Archaeology at Bournemouth University) has claimed that "by far the most plausible answer to the question "what happened to the Ninth" is that they fought and died in Britain, disappearing in the late 110s or early 120s when the province was in disarray".<ref> Miles Russell, pages 41–45 BBC History Magazine, May 2011</ref><ref> M. Russell ''Bloodline: the Celtic Kings of Roman Britain'' p 180-5 (2010)</ref> This is a minority view in Romano-British and Roman military studies.
-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).<ref>Roman Inscriptions of Britain, vol. 3 (Oxford 2009) no. 3364</ref> Further afield, a tombstone from [[Ferentinum]] in Italy was set up to Titus Pontius Sabinus, who, amongst other things, had commanded detachments of the [[Legio VII Gemina|VII Gemina]], [[Legio VIII Augusta|VIII Augusta]] and [[Legio XXII Primigenia|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 (117–138 CE).<ref>B. Dobson ''Die Primipilares'' (Cologne/Bonn, 1978) no. 117, where the connection with Hadrian's visit is considered "likely".</ref>
+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).<ref>Roman Inscriptions of Britain, vol. 3 (Oxford 2009) no. 3364</ref> Further afield, a tombstone from [[Ferentinum]] in Italy was set up to Titus Pontius Sabinus, who, amongst other things, had commanded detachments of the [[Legio VII Gemina|VII Gemina]], [[Legio VIII Augusta|VIII Augusta]] and [[Legio XXII Primigenia|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 (117–138 AD).<ref>B. Dobson ''Die Primipilares'' (Cologne/Bonn, 1978) no. 117, where the connection with Hadrian's visit is considered "likely".</ref>
 == In fiction ==
@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 * [[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{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}
 * The 2007 movie ''[[The Last Legion]]'' based upon the [[Valerio Massimo Manfredi| 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 CE.
+* 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 (film)|Centurion]]'' follows the destiny of the Ninth Legion seen from the perspective of centurion Quintus Dias.
 * The 2011 movie ''[[The_Eagle_(2011_film)|The Eagle]]'' is based on the book ''The Eagle of the Ninth''.