The Ninth Legion: Did They Disappear?

Tristan Hughes (0:00)

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It's one of history's most compelling cold cases. The mystery of what happened to over 5,000 experienced Roman soldiers has captured the imagination of authors and filmmakers for decades. This was the Ninth Legion, Legio IX Hispana, the legion that helped Augustus become emperor and helped the Emperor Claudius begin his invasion of Britain.

The legion simply vanished from history in the 2nd century AD. But why? Were they wiped out in the bloody rebellion? Or were they discreetly deployed to a quiet corner of the empire to be forgotten and disbanded? Now, to help solve this ancient enigma, I'm pleased to welcome back friend of the podcast and 9th Legion expert, Dr. Simon Elliott. I'm Tristan Hughes. Welcome to The Ancients.

Simon, it is a pleasure to have you back on the show. It has been too long. How are you doing?

Simon Elliott (1:38)

I'm doing really well. I love coming on the show with you, mate.

Tristan Hughes (1:41)

You've come down to our new studio in our History Hit office.

Simon Elliott (1:45)

Beautiful.

Tristan Hughes (1:45)

Exactly. We're adding new stuff, new books, new artifacts to it every week.

Simon Elliott (1:50)

Where are my books, by the way?

Tristan Hughes (1:51)

I know. I know. Sorry. That was an oversight.

You keep churning out book after book after book, but one of your most popular, one of your favorites and one of our favorite topics that we've both covered together in the past, is the story of the 9th Legion. Rome's 9th Legion. This is one of the great debates slash mysteries of ancient Roman history, isn't it?

Simon Elliott (2:14)

It is. Absolutely. Yeah. Basically, it's the only Roman legion where we literally don't know what happened to it.

Tristan Hughes (2:20)

There is a lot of different theories around what might have happened to it and geographical locations as well. The big one is, was it lost in Britain? Was it lost elsewhere? Was it even lost at all?

Simon Elliott (2:31)

There are four broad theories about what might have happened to the 9th Legion. Firstly, it was lost in the far north of Britain.

Tristan Hughes (2:37)

Right.

Simon Elliott (2:38)

Secondly, it was lost in the south of Britain.

Third, it was lost in the northern empire along the Rhine and Danube. Finally, it may have been lost on the eastern frontier.

Tristan Hughes (2:48)

Those are the four big theories with the story of the 9th. That's what we all think of when someone mentions Legio IX Hispana or the 9th Legion. You go straight away to the mystery around why it disappears. Was it destroyed in a big defeat? Was it simply disbanded? Where?

But what we also really want to get into today is actually exploring how the 9th Legion, there's so much more than just the theories as to why it disappeared. You can explore so many parts of the Roman military story through what we have surviving about the 9th.

Simon Elliott (3:19)

Absolutely. It's worth reflecting actually why in popular culture today, it's so resonant with people of a certain generation actually, because it was the key feature, the core of the book which Rosemary Sutcliffe published in 1954, The Great Rosemary Sutcliffe.

In 1954, The Eagle of the Ninth, which is a children's book but incredibly well-written, well-researched, where she talked about what happened to the eagle of the missing 9th Legion. It influenced Hollywood movies. So you've got 2011, The Eagle with Channing Tatum. I've tried it. It's a great movie, by the way. Very good Lorica segmentata, even though it's leather, but it still looks very good.

Tristan Hughes (3:58)

Even though there's a running testudo, if I remember in that film.

Simon Elliott (4:00)

Talk about that, mate. Should have been a Cuenas wedge, but there you go. But it's very pretty. It's very pretty. But also you get the very gritty movie from 2010 with Michael Fassbender just before this, with the same kind of storyline, a bit grittier, The Centurion.

Tristan Hughes (4:13)

Yeah, that's like a Tudorberg Forest slash Ninth Legion slash Boudicca kind of mix that Centurion. We could do a whole other discussion on our reflections of that movie.

Simon Elliott (4:21)

All goes very, very wrong for the Romans.