Posted on 07/31/2005 12:31:23 PM PDT by blam
Roman legion founded Chinese city
Survivors of Crassus's routed army said to have built town
(ANSA) - Florence, July 25 - Roman soldiers who disappeared after a famous defeat founded a city in eastern China, archaeologists say .
The phantom legion was part of the defeated forces of Marcus Licinius Crassus, according to the current edition of the Italian magazine Archeologia Viva .
The famously wealthy Crassus needed glory to rival the exploits of the two men with whom he ruled Rome as the First Triumvirate, Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar .
Crassus decided to bring down the Parthian Empire - a fatal choice .
His forces were routed in 53 BC outside the Mesopotamian city of Carre - today's Harran - and he was beheaded .
According to the Roman historian Pliny, the Romans who survived were taken to a prison camp in what is now northern Afghanistan .
When Rome and Parthia sued for peace in 20 BC - 33 years after Crassus's last battle - all trace of the prisoners had disappeared .
The survivors of Crassus's legion became a mystery, walking ghosts in Roman legends. A Chinese historian in the Han Empire, China's second dynasty, provided an answer to the riddle in the early 3rd century AD .
The historian, Bau Gau, wrote that a Chinese war leader defeated a group of soldiers drawn up in typical Roman formation .
Crassus's old troops must now have been in their fifties and sixties .
Bau Gau said the foreigners were moved to China to defend the strategically important eastern region of Gansu, near today's city of Yongchang .
This is where the survivors founded the city of Liquian, the only site in China where the mark of Ancient Rome can be seen. 'Liquian' is said to mean 'Roman' .
The city has been virtually unknown outside China although hundreds of people visit it each year, admiring traces of defensive wallworks and pieces of broken pottery .
The number of visitors is certain to rise. Crassus, celebrated as the richest Roman of them all in pre-Imperial days, was never satisfied with his wealth and had an undying lust for glory .
Eighteen years before his doomed expedition to Parthia he put down a slave revolt led by the Thracian slave Spartacus. In Stanley Kubrick's epic film he was played by Laurence Olivier .
Also, some believe Europeans originated from this region and migrated to Europe.
GGG Ping.
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That's not very politically correct, is it?
Ping.
Ah, those Roman Legions really did a lot of roaming.
OK, and where did they get the women from?
Crassus met with disaster in the battle with the Parthians. Their mounted archers tore into the Roman formations and anhilated them. Crassus' son was also killed in the attack by the mounted cavalry.
Interesting post...military history legend has it that a Chinese diplomatic delegation watched the battle between the Romans and the Parthians. Your post indicates that this legend is rooted in fact.
They were an army. Did you really have to ask that question?
As I recall, Crassus had molten gold poured down his throat, as a mockery of his wealth. Beheading would have been kinder.
Seems like this would have led to TWO lost legions.
***Seems like this would have led to TWO lost legions.***
Add those of Varus to these.
"Varus! Give me back my legions!"
Sounds to me like its promoters have a tourist trap scheme in mind, as this hopeful little aside implies: The number of visitors is certain to rise.
Not while alive though. IIRC, he was killed after the battle when a truce negotiation went bad.
earlier, similar topic:
Romans in China?
Archaeology | Volume 52 Number 3, May/June 1999 | Erling Hoh
Posted on 07/18/2004 8:43:09 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1173944/posts
related:
Nestorian Tablet in China
Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University | July1998 | ed Paul Halsall
Posted on 07/21/2004 11:04:48 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1175726/posts
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Very probable. It wasn't unusual for men to die from old age in the legions.
Gansu Province -- that's where Gansu Knives are made I believe. ;')
"a truce negotiation went bad"
That's a polite way of saying, the Parthians said they'd negotiate the surrender, then violated the truce and slaughtered everyone they could get their hands on.
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