What Really Happened To The Roman Ninth Legion?

The legendary Ninth Legion – Legio IX Hispana (The “Spanish Legion”) – was one of the oldest and most feared units in the Roman army by the early 2nd century AD. Raised by Pompey in 65 BC, it had fought victorious campaigns across the Empire, from Gaul to Africa, Sicily to and Spain and Germania to Britain.

No one knows for sure why, but sometime after 108/9 AD, the legion all but disappeared from the records. The popular version of events – propagated by numerous books, television programmes and films – is that the Ninth, at the time numbering some 4,000 men, was sent to vanquish the Picts of modern day Scotland, and mysteriously never returned.

The real explanation is very likely much more mundane – the unit was probably either simply disbanded, or continued to serve elsewhere, before finally being destroyed at another battle some years later. The myth, as is so often the case, tends to overshadow the truth.

Rome’s Most Fearsome Fighting Machine

Legio IX Hispana was put together in Spain alongside the Sixth, Seventh and Eight Legions in 65 BC, and first came under the command of Julius Caesar, then the Governor of Further Spain, in 61 BC. Expert at inspiring loyalty in his troops, he found one of his most devoted veteran armies in the Ninth. Although no record of the legion’s emblem exists, we can deduce that it was probably a bull, like all of Caesar’s faithful legions.

It served in Gaul throughout the Gallic Wars from 58-51 BC, and during Caesar’s Civil War against Pompey and the Senate from 49-48 BC. Victory at Pharsalus was decisive in ensuring Caesar’s ultimate grip on the Republic, and the Ninth played a key role. He repaid its service by – after his African campaign of 46 BC, and ultimate triumph at the Battle of Thapsus – disbanding the legion, and settling its veterans at Picenum and Histria.

The Ninth’s service didn’t end there, however. After Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, it was recalled by his adopted son Octavian, and sent into battle against the rebellious Sextus Pompeius in Siciliy. Victory took until 36 BC; the legion was then stationed in Macedonia, before promptly being launched into another campaign, the Final War of The Roman Republic, as Octavian faced off against Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, eventually defeating them at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.

A legionnaire’s work never done, the Ninth was next posted in Spain, where it fought with distinction in the long battle against the Cantabrians from 25-13 BC, which eventually ensured Roman dominance in the region. This was probably the campaign that earned the all-conquering Ninth its title “Hispana”.

The Last Campaign?

After Spain, the Legio IX Hispana was likely pitched into the imperial army stationed in the Rhine area, to battle against Germanic tribes, then relocated to Pannonia (an area lying roughly within the boundaries of modern Hungary) for a relatively long period sometime after 9 AD. It wasn’t until 43 AD that the legion was on the move again, joining with other Roman forces, under Emperor Claudius and general Aulus Plautius, in invading Britain, where it was eventually stationed at two camps at Longthorpe and Newton-on-Trent.

Roman historians could be very reticent in recording the facts about legions that had been disgraced, and officials weren’t adverse to covering up the fate of vanquished armies for sake of public morale.

The Ninth suffered terribly in the revolt led by Boudicca in 60 BC, suffering as much as 50-80% casualties (the battle was recorded by Tacitus as the Massacre of the Ninth). The unit’s pride evidently remained intact, however, because the legion’s commander Quintas Petillius Cerialis wasn’t removed from his post. Restored to strength with reinforcements and regrouped at Lincoln in 65 AD, the legion was next sent to guard the northern fringes of the Empire in York, where it helped build the imperial fortress Eboracum, in its last recorded and datable action on the basis of legionary stamps.

Legend has it that the Ninth later embarked on its fateful march against the Picts, a confederation of tribes located in modern day eastern and northern Scotland, and was annihilated, prompting Emperor Hadrian to cut his losses in the north of Britain and build his famous wall from coast to coast. This appears to be the point where myth overtakes reality however – numerous scraps of evidence suggest the Legio IX Hispana met a different fate.

What Really Happened

Certainly its true that Roman historians could be very reticent in recording the facts about legions that had been disgraced, and officials weren’t adverse to covering up as best as possible the fate of vanquished armies, for purposes of preserving public morale. The Legio IX Hispana may have even been crushed so completely and so mercilessly that Hadrian deemed that telling the true story of its fate should be constitutionally banned. But more likely, the Ninth was just moved on again, as it had been so many times before.

At least a detachment of the Ninth is known to have served in the Germania Inferior province of the Roman Empire – near modern Nijmegen, Holland – around 121 AD (possibly trading places with the legion VI Victrix, which arrived in Britain from Germania Inferior around the same time). The main force wasn’t present though, and since detachments had fought separately in Germania before – for instance near Mainz against the Chatti in 83 AD – this arguably could have been the same detachment.

Yet, several high-ranking officers, who could only have served after 117 AD, are well known to us from their later actions – such as Lucius Aemilius Karus, governor of Arabia in 142/143 AD. We can safely assume that the core of the unit was still operating in the reign of Hadrian (117-138 AD). Some voices even speculate that the Ninth may even have assisted in building segments of Hadrian’s Wall, although this seems fanciful.

The one certainty is that Legio IX Hispana had been disbanded or wiped out altogether by the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180), because a listing of active legions by that Emperor makes no mention of the Ninth. Probably it was annihilated in Iudaea Province during the Bar Kochba Revolt, or at some stage in the long-running battle between Rome and the Parthian Empire.

The Ninth Legion in Popular Culture

No good storyteller would let something trivial like the facts get in the way of a good yarn, of course, and the legend of Legio IX Hispana’s mysterious destruction at the hands of Scots savages is certainly a gripping tale. Little surprise, then, that it’s continues to be retold in novels and on the big and small screen.

Red Shift by Alan Garner, Engine City by Ken MacLeod, Warriors of Alavna by N. M. Browne, Legion From the Shadows by Karl Edward Wagner and La IX Legione by Giorgio Cafasso are just a few of the many books that touch on the legendary destruction of the Ninth in some way. The most famous novel to deal with the legion’s story – The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, published in 1954 – is one of the most celebrated children’s books of the 20th century, and has sold over a million copies worldwide. A BBC TV serial of the book was aired in 1977.

A film called The Eagle of the Ninth, based on Sutcliff's book, directed by Kevin Macdonald and starring Channing Tatum and Donald Sutherland is due to shoot in Scotland in autumn 2009. Another movie about the Ninth, Centurion – directed by Neil Marshall and starring Dominic West and Olga Kurylenko – has coincidentally also been filmed in Scotland recently, and is slated for release in late 2009. Whatever the true story is about the demise of the Legio IX Hispana, popular fascination with its perceived mysterious and macabre fate will probably never be usurped.

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Malcolm Jack (follow me: e-mail or

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Last three pieces by this author:

10 Reasons Why Socrates is Still Relevant Today | Top 10 Ancient Greek Philosophers | Interview: Bettany Hughes on The Hemlock Cup and Bringing Ancient History Into the 21st Century

Malcolm Jack is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 with an MA Honours Degree in History.

Comments

Thormod Morrisson:

I think it is time certain academics dropped this fantasy of the Ninth being suddenly disbanded or slaughtered elsewhere than Scotland. If they were such a crack legion, with a strong reputation as soldiers for the empire, why disband them at all? And why the argument for them being slaughtered elsewhere, at a later time? The Roman war in Scotland was far from successful, otherwise they would not have had to go to the ridiculous length of building not one, but two walls from coast to coast as a double defensive measure. According to Roman sources 40,000 troops were lost in wars with the Caledonians and Maeatae. The walls were stormed and breached several times, otherwise the Picts could not have mounted an invasion that reached London, a historical fact. The Caledonians were paid a fortune in tribute or protection money just to stop attacking Roman Britain. See link below for more information:

http://www.romanscotland.org.uk/pages/campaigns/Lost_Legion/Lost_Legion_...

Sat, 27-02-2010 14:21

nic sworde:

dude above is a dufus!

Sun, 22-08-2010 05:01

Zoot:

Dufus defined as anyone brighter then Nic. XD

Sun, 22-08-2010 09:46

Helen James:

The correct term is LEGIONARY not LEGONAIRE ! They were Roman not French.

Fri, 27-08-2010 19:40

Ann:

Helen, yes, I _so_ agree. Of course we should use the English word, everybody knows the ancient Roman tongue was English. Oh wait...

Fri, 27-08-2010 20:39

Hal Sherman:

On one of the History Channel's many programs on the Romans, an officer of one of the British groups re-enacting the Romans was addressing his troops, and the H.C. added a caption about the Romans not being bashful about adopting the best that the barbarians had to offer, like Spanish swords and British accents ;-)

Sat, 28-08-2010 03:22

Michael Kavanagh:

id like to think that they were slaughtered by the picts in Scotland! if they were the most feared roman legion y would u send them elsewhere or disband them? we no the romans were good at propoganda and lying so y is'nt it plausable to some historians that the picts wiped them out? it was Scotland after all fighting is all the Scots have ever done!!

Wed, 01-09-2010 00:28

MalcolmJ:

It's true, Michael, that the Romans did sometimes keep details of major defeats from their people. But wouldn't we have found some physical remains of the battle site by now? As the Battle of Teutoburg Forest proves, when several thousand soldiers are slaughtered, a bit of a mess tends to be left behind.

Wed, 01-09-2010 10:28

Hal Sherman:

And one good reason to transfer the 9th would be that there were more important frontiers in the Empire than the northern frontier of an backwater island at the edge of the world..the same reason the 20th legion was finally pulled out.

Wed, 01-09-2010 12:17

Hal Sherman:

Michael, you might want to read "How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It" by Arthur Herman to learn something about all the other things the Scots have done.

Wed, 01-09-2010 12:24

Robin Shelley:

The movie: Centurion, is a good and worthwhile action movie.

Zero, you'll see either the real or a replica of the Aberlemno Serpent Stone, where the general's helmet is left, but the stone was probably not carved for another 600 to 700 years after the movie events.

First, I object to constant use of the "F" word which is done to show the rough, uncultured and uneducated level of typical Roman infantry soldiers.
Please, we all know what undereducated people are like, without having to include that kind of language in heroes for kids to emulate;

Second, does anyone believe that the Romans were so stupid so as to build enclosed forts that their enemies could simply climb over from the back of a horse, let alone spear someone from the ground?

Third, how did the Picts get so many big, strong horses? Import them from Arabia? Did they have grassland plains to feed them on?

Fourth, Picts started with about 30 horsemen chasing the Roman remnants, and just how did they get whittled down, so that there got to be so few Picts for the final fort battle?

Fifth, shows part of Hadrian's Wall. Everyone else in the world, it seems, knew that a wall would stop incursions, but not our elected government leaders.

Sixth reservation about the movie: Centurion that I'm recommending that you see. Who thinks the Romans didn't have tactics to side step oil soaked burning global branches, (like the Trojans used in 1100 BCE, against the Mycenaean Greeks on the beach facing their ships in the movie Troy) and then close ranks after they had passed? The Romans had side stepped elephants and burning oil soaked logs before too, hadn't they?

Seventh reservation, how come their superior Roman armor, (which even Hannibal stripped from the dead of the first Roman army he defeated in Italy to put his own men in,) was not protection against the crude weapons of the naked Celtic Picts? They might as well not have been wearing any armor.

Eighth reservation, how come the Romans didn't have flankers out to check on and forestall surprise attack as they always did on march?

Ninth reservation, how come Roman soldiers, and even a general!!! didn't know enough about old iron to shatter it, instead of only bend it? Noise didn't matter because they were already discovered.

Tenth reservation, Romans only thrust with their swords, not slashed with them as the general portrays.

Eleventh reservation, how could an uneducated in war farmer, develop or have superior tactics to a Roman general, who had been a professional soldier all of his life?

Twelfth reservation, the Romans were carrying wooden spears instead of two Pila each.

Thirteenth reservation, it's illogical that anyone who captured Roman Eagles would do anything but keep them as a memorial to their skill, rather than melt them down.

Fourteenth reservation, Romans would only order the silence of one of their obviously brave centurions, not try to murder him as portrayed in the movie, murdering him would only have made ten more people know about the ninth legion being destroyed by the Picts, and then you have to kill the ten, and so on, but the writer - director had to make the disappearance mysterious, as in history.

I don't think the writer - director knows about war, or knew as much about war as he should have, he had to get rid of the IX Legion Espana, started by Pompey the Great, and led by Caesar, in some way, so making them turn stupid was just as good as any other, I guess.

Just as George Lucas didn't know about governmental structure, as portrayed in the Star Wars series; but because people have no clue about governmental structure either, the movies still made him a billionaire.

"To defeat your enemy, you must know that enemy better than you know yourself." movie: Centurion.

Mon, 06-09-2010 23:06

Frooble:

Errrrrr... Robin, I hate to mention this but the movie was just that, a movie (I noticed your first line lol)! We all spot these stupid mistakes in movies, from cooking to making war, depending on what your "area" is, most of us can spot the silly errors. Oh and most of us (and I'm giving the general movie going public the benefit of the doubt here) don't believe movies are based on real events and even when they are we take them with a pinch of salt... .. hopefully. ;)

I, in fact was fascinated by the idea that the 9th Legion was "lost" in Scotland, so I had a look around on the web even though the film never mentioned it "may" be based on fact (I thought it was a scene change/retelling/re-branding of the earlier defeat of the 9th by the Iceni many years before, shows you what I know lol).

I'd like to point out that having reviewed the evidence thus far I'm not convinced at all. I read the info at the link "Thormod" gave before I found this page, they are trying to prove positives with negatives and history can't be dealt with in this way....wild speculation and supposition at best... far too many "may" words in that article. I know history isn't an exact science but you have to have at least one or two "facts" you can look back on, then you can speculate and/or extrapolate...

Ann, just to confuse the issue further..., the language of the elite in Rome was actually Greek and even those that spoke latin spoke a very different version of the latin we see today. ;)

One question I would like to ask: Thormod, sorry for showing my ignorance but when did the Picts reach London exactly? I've never heard about this! (Though I should point out I'm not overly educated lol)

Froobs :D

Wed, 22-09-2010 06:16

Hector:

In the Roman Empire the modern day Spanish land was called Hispania, and that the legionary and legionaire are the same thing the real name is legio which mean a band of solders or a legion of men. Also what is not known was that Agricola was the governor of Britain at the time and was a famous military general himself. He earned the respect of his people throughout Britain, but the Picts were a zealous band of people who were against Roman Rule. This is correct except for the fact that the Roman Legions of the north were also equipped with auxilia or help which consisted of celtic people.

Thu, 07-10-2010 22:33

Michael Welch:

No Roman army set foot in Britain, or fought Boudicca in 60 BC. Julius Caesar hadn't invaded and Boudicca wasn't even thought of. We need to update this account to AD.

Thu, 25-11-2010 07:29

Lynn Wood:

The flag of Wales, and the bagpipes were brought to Britain by Roman Legions.

Can you picture a Legion marching to bag pipes?

Hmm. Since this is a site visited by many interested in Romans a question comes to mind. Is there any depiction or record of bagpipes in or on any roman record or monument?

Thu, 02-12-2010 14:17

Deon de Wet:

i would think that the roman ninth was probally a defacto cohort serving in england as it was a island that really had no value and was no threat to the empire but became a trophy in the cabinet. i am sure the battle vetrans were kept elsewhere on station ready to advance on any threat to rome at the time.

Sun, 02-01-2011 10:48

Jord Au Nord:

Im norwegian so im not biased but i think you will find your wrong the scots have fought alot of battles, but unfortunatly for the scots has lost the vast majority of them, espesially against england they took the scots freedom for almost a thousand years and i think that you will find in the famouse story of barveheart (if you dont know facts the movie has some good points) the scots won there freedom at the end. LOL! for 2 months then the english sent a absolutly humungus army from calae (modern day france) and absolutley wiped them out for there rebelious ways against english rule and plus the scots only won there freedom for 2 months because it was the kings sons (who was left in charge while the king edward was away fighting a campaign for territories in france) first battle and he had no military experiance, when king edward found out of his sons failure he came to england then went to scotland and absolutly slaughtered the scottish rebels. and for the english people liking this you shoudn't because norwegian vikings invaded england scotland wales ireland france, germany, italy, scicily, greece, the byzantine empire (whp after fighting againt the norse admired the fighting capability so hired the to protect there emporer (the byzantines was the latter name for the eastern roman empire) turkey, russia, finland, spain, portugal, north africa, and theres even evidance to say they went as far as asia (they have found statues of bhudda in norway dating from the 11th - 12th century and cant understand why, so i think you will find that norwegians are hard core! and also scandanvia was pretty much the only part of europe left unconquared because any emisarrys or diplomates that went there, simly never came back so pwned bitches, and yeah the roman ninth legion was bad ass and dispite all the speculating we will never really know what happend to them and maybe thats the best way to leave it to the imagination so everyone can make up there own ending of what happend to them to suit them. JORD Au Stavanger

Thu, 27-01-2011 21:39

Jord Au Nord:

Thu, 27-01-2011 21:39

Padraic McGaugh:

fascinating topic. I majored in Classics ages ago and never learned this stuff. Anyhow, lovely pictures...cheers

Fri, 28-01-2011 03:02

Nuno Teles:

The legendary Ninth Legion – Legio IX Hispana (The “Spanish Legion”) ???????? you have watch the legionary movie to many times, Hispana means Iberia not Spanish, Spanish did not exist until XV century, and if you read the right books most of the soldiers in the formation of the IX came from the Lusitania people. Calling to Hispana Spanish, is like i call great britain as ireland

Tue, 01-02-2011 17:07

ITALIANPOWER:

After the winning Mons Graupius battle the Romans changed leadership and imperial plans and saved the Picts from the death kiss. This is the real history. The Romans had always to re balance their forces to control all the empire and probably decided to change their targets, so they built the walls. The legend of the IX legion is just folklore, there aren't any documented proofs.

Tue, 08-02-2011 22:25

David L. Monnastes:

Interesting, Al Bore must have been a Scot.

Tue, 08-02-2011 22:47

Gildas:

I have a little education in history, and the foregoing comments seem thoughtful. Now, I'm going to have to research the evidence available about the 9th Legion since I watched the film "Centurion" today. I know I can't argue historical facts on Rome--hit me with law and religion in Western Europe; however, I give "Centurion" 5-stars for mainstream historical story-telling. I remind everyone of the historical and "swashbuckler" films from the 1930's -- 1950's: "The Vikings" with Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis comes to mind. Compared to our modern stories like "The Thirteenth Warrior," Kirk's eye patch looks a little silly. : ) So, whatever anachronistic boo-boos were made in "Centurion," I'm sure that people who only know that Rome is a city in Italy will take away a little more "history" about Romans. "You mean Romans were in Scotland?!!" : ) I think I'm going to register on this site.

Thu, 24-02-2011 00:19

Drum Major:

The Romans were the first great users of propoganda. Generally they were great at everything and never had failures. The opposition were always barbarians and savages who ate their children. To be beaten by an army of Britons/Celts had already happened with Boadicea. The Picts new not to take on the Romans in a fixed battle on an open battlefield but to have a series of ambushes in close country. To use cavalry with lances (javelins not thrown) while Romans on horseback only had their short swords was a sure winner for the Picts. The Roman Army was only invincible on ground they had chosen to fight upon. Modern history shows us that the greatest armies can be defeated by guerilla tactics and whole columns can be destroyed if they do not receive relief in time. The fighting qualities of troops from Scotland have been recognized by the British Army and used as their shock troops. Similarly Roman forces could not conquer Caledonia even if they won some battles. They lost more battles than they won and the loss of the Ninth was the last straw so they withdrew. 600+ years later Rome was still rewriting British history with Rome as the great leader. Look past this and find the facts from the Celtic/Briton side of history.

Fri, 18-03-2011 01:55

Laymon Kennedy:

I think you guys might find this article interesting. It seems to have a lot more facts about what happened rather than oppinions of people who either want or don't want the legion to have been lost in Scotland. After reading quite a bit about it in the last few days I am under the impression that they were lost in Scotland but I am fully aware I am no expert and that anything you read is unlikely to change most of your oppinions.

http://www.romanscotland.org.uk/pages/narratives/IXth.asp

Wed, 23-03-2011 23:53

liam :

i would of like to have fought that the 9th legion died there because dying in battle is a noble deaf

Sun, 27-03-2011 18:55

Recovery:

Hi all

The popular version of events propagated by numerous books, television programmes and films – is that the Ninth, at the time numbering some 4,000 men, was sent to vanquish the Picts of modern day Scotland, and mysteriously never returned. :)

Fri, 01-04-2011 13:33

Aaron:

Quote: "they have found statues of bhudda in norway dating from the 11th - 12th century and cant understand why"

I think that was when Norway was overrun and occupied by Thailand.

Mon, 18-04-2011 08:08

TonyBurtch:

balance point inches of height to 2.5 inches high, Tory Burch Handbags so you can be comfortable walking. It weighs sized,

Mon, 25-04-2011 03:48

julis:

dude u werent there so you dont know what happened

Thu, 12-05-2011 00:01

julis:

the ninth probally died because they had there orders and would not want to tarnish the reputation of the ninth

Thu, 12-05-2011 00:02

julis:

dude they are the spanish legion thats what there called legio hispana

Thu, 12-05-2011 00:04

NelsaRespa:

To me, I would rather use some common platform based appication to be installed in any devices in my home. I do not want to risk myself with some new application without having a good standard. This is just something risky to me. Toronto Party bus

Mon, 16-05-2011 07:36

LondoJerika:

Many countries have been joining their hands to side by side fighting counterfeiting in their countries. America has been the main stream and a good role example of these anti counterfeiting groups have been established in many countries to overcome this problem. respostas

Sun, 22-05-2011 07:34

Seán MacKenna:

<p>There was no such thing as Roman Scotland, the Scots at that time were still in Ireland.</p>
<p>Roman Caledonia yes!</p>

Fri, 19-08-2011 18:40

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