Mystic Britain: What Happened to Rome’s Ninth Legion?
Mysteriously Vanishing Into History, What Really Happened to the Lost Legion?
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Britain is an island awash with legends. From witches and bogarts to tales of giants and dragons, the mysteries of the ancients have enthralled for millennia. However, none of these legends is perhaps as significant as what happened to the Spanish Ninth Legion, one of the forces sent to occupy the land after the Roman Invasion. While historians have long debated the mysterious disappearance of the men, legends say that they were sent north to fight the Scots, marching into the mists and never being seen again…
It was in 43 AD that the Roman emperor Claudius instigated the empire’s invasion of Britain and it seems likely that the Ninth Legion were one of the units involved. In the year 50, the company is one of those who defeat the British chieftain Caratacus and the same year they begin the construction of a fort at modern-day Lincoln. They wouldn’t have it all their own way in Britain, however, suffering losses so severe at the Battle of Camulodunum that the event became known as the Massacre of the Ninth Legion. The battle was a significant victory during the revolt of Boudica around the year 60.
Reinforced with legionaries from Germany, the Ninth Legion was soon back to its previous strength and on the move, constructing a new fortress at Eboracum, modern-day York. Central to Roman military plans in the north, the Ninth were part of the war against the Caledonians of Scotland. The unit escaped a second near destruction around the year 82 when a surprise attack by the Scots found the Romans asleep their beds. Fierce fighting ensued and defeat was only averted by the timely intervention of the cavalry.
In 108, the Ninth Legion was involved in the reconstruction of their fort at Eboracum. This event was recorded on a tablet discovered in 1864, however, after that, history becomes clouded. Artefacts found at Noviomagus Batavorum in modern Nijmegen, Netherlands, suggest that at least a detachment of the unit was deployed to the region sometime between 104 and 120…
