IX: Britannia's Lost Legion

by Stephen Donald Huff

Near the turn of the First Century, the Ninth Legion disappeared from frontier borderlands separating Romanized Britannia from the uncivilized lowlands of Caledonia. Between its first deployment there during Agricola’s invasion in 84AD and the return of Emperor Hadrian in 122AD, all mention of the Ninth fades from memory. Although history speaks clearly of a massive uprising in the same region during 119AD, no authenticated record confirms the legion’s military annihilation on a field of battle, and no evidence confirms its reassignment to any other region of the empire. Contemporary Rome, and all of history, seems to have simply forgotten the Ninth. Until now.Recent archeological discoveries clarify the legion’s fate. As outlined in a unique letter penned two-thousand-years ago on a carefully preserved swatch of parchment, Legio IX’s mysterious destiny is a tale of political intrigue, financial mismanagement, familial in-fighting, and social upheaval, all intermixed with the unyielding discipline required to keep a Roman legion safe in the field. For the first time since these events unfolded, the fully restored “Governor’s Letter” identifies the men, women and children that collectively contrived the disaster. More informatively, the famed missive also clearly implicates its author as a central conspiratorial architect of the plot that resulted in the bloody revolt of 119AD and Legio IX’s puzzling disappearance. Bold and thought-provoking, this account of the Ninth’s intriguing doom rises from factual foundations constructed of moldering parchments, crumbling bones and toppled stones, all base materials of history’s reconstruction.

329 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 19, 2017

Reviews

[CM Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

great for fans of Roman history

As someone who's read a lot about Roman Britain, appreciated how much detail went into the setting here. the mystery of the legion's disappearance kept me turning pages even though I already knew the historical debate around it

[AA Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always been curious about what actually happened to the Ninth Legion so was excited to see a novel tackle it. Stephen does such a good job blending real history with an actual narrative, felt well researched throughout

[Cameron Trepp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping historical fiction.

[Dustin Villars · Rating 5 out of 5]

depth


Read this after visiting Hadrian's Wall last year and it added so much depth to that trip in hindsight, wish I'd read it before actually seeing the wall myself

[EV Wilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

solid read
I love the backstory aspect and love the untold history within. Truly a wow factor here!