Posted on 03/16/2011 4:28:52 AM PDT by decimon
The disappearance of Rome's Ninth Legion has long baffled historians, but could a brutal ambush have been the event that forged the England-Scotland border, asks archaeologist Dr Miles Russell.
One of the most enduring legends of Roman Britain concerns the disappearance of the Ninth Legion.
The theory that 5,000 of Rome's finest soldiers were lost in the swirling mists of Caledonia, as they marched north to put down a rebellion, forms the basis of a new film, The Eagle, but how much of it is true?
>
Hadrian's Wall was designed to keep invaders out of Roman territory as well ensuring that potential insurgents within the province had no hope of receiving support from their allies to the north. From this point, cultures on either side of the great divide developed at different rates and in very different ways.
The ultimate legacy of the Ninth was the creation of a permanent border, forever dividing Britain. The origins of what were to become the independent kingdoms of England and Scotland may be traced to the loss of this unluckiest of Roman legions.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Ninth telling ping.
ping
Someone was watching “Centurian”, weren’t they?
Damned GPS. Probably wasn’t worth a damn back then either.
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The tale is in the telling, I guess. The history seems murky enough.
The loss of an Eagle was a national disgrace for the Romans. It seems unlikely that the loss of one would be unrecorded. On the other hand the fact that the legion number was not reused is suggestive of the legion being wiped out. There are at least a couple of examples where legions (and their Eagles) were lost and the legion numbers were never reused.
This is the kind of stuff that makes me wish I had become an archeologist.
CENTURIAN was a pretty good movie. Different twist and all. 117AD. Ninth Legion wiped out. Rome so embarrassed, they had to take out survivors.
Pretty good movie. I enjoyed the way it ended.
The guy on the right bears a striking resemblance to the young Steve McQueen — at least he does in that profile on the poster.
very interesting- thanks for posting
ping for future reading
From the photo on the linked story, the Roman legionaires were apparently Greek hoplites too stupid to put their helmets on. LOL
The Romans almost always fought in open order. The gladius was not intended to be used above the shield, but rather to its side. It was normally used to thrust either straight forwards or in an upwards direction.
Were they led by General Georgious Bushius?
There was a trilogy, "The Centurions" by Damion Hunter which was absolutely fascinating. The Roman Army was years ahead and quite remarkable.
Nothing stops you from being an archeologist, as a matter of fact, you may already be one. Most work of Archeology is done through research. It sounds like you are well read. Continue to read and think, at some point a question will come to your mind that you can not answer from research and you will be forced to work in the field. There are plenty of amateur archeologist out there, just become one. You don’t need a whip and a fedora to start. You have started, now get to it.
I agree with the steve mcqueen thing.
It was so effective as an institution it almost always won despite the command being handed out to politicians rather than professional soldiers.
Imagine how our army would have fared if the invasion of Iraq had been under the command of John Kerry or Chris Dodd.
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