History Main / LostRomanLegion

Many stories that use this plot are inspired by any of three particular cases of actual "lost legions" in Roman history: UsefulNotes/MarcusLiciniusCrassus' defeat at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carrhae the Battle of Carrhae]], the destruction of three legions in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest the Teutoberg Forest]], or the mysterious case of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legio_IX_Hispana the Ninth Legion]].

* ''Literature/TheEagleOfTheNinth'' deals with the aforementioned Ninth Legion.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] in AD 9 was a catastrophic defeat for UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire; the legions XVII, XVIII, and XIX being completely annihilated over the course of the three day engagement. Eighteen thousand legionnaires, plus an equivalent number of auxiliary formations, totaling ''one-tenth'' of the entire field army were permanently lost beyond recovery. The Romans themselves were thunderstruck by the disaster and the crisis nearly turned to general panic. The Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} saw the ruin of his ambition to conquer and assimilate middle Europe and later, on his deathbed, he advised his successor ''not'' to expand the empire for any reason. It was such an ignominious defeat that no Roman legions were ''ever'' named the 17th, 18th or 19th after that.

* In ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' (and broader [[Literature/CampHalfBloodSeries Camp Half-Blood Series]]), Frank Zhang is descended from Roman Legionaries who reached China and established themselves in a city called 'Li Jien'. More specifically, the Romans he's descended from were the ones captured at the Battle of Carrhae, who were then put to work by the Parthians...who were then attacked from the other direction by the Chinese.

** In ''Land of Long Juju'', the ButNotTooBlack nature of the royal family of an African nation is explained by them being the descendents of a lost Roman legion that invaded central Africa and interbred with the local tribes.

* The Alerans from ''Literature/CodexAlera'' are descended from a lost Roman legion that fell into AnotherDimension where a lot of other creatures fell, which include but are not limited to saber-tooth tigers, 8ft tall wolfmen, empathic yetis, magical spirits, and basically [[VideoGame/StarCraft the Zerg]]. The series actually started as part of a bet between Creator/JimButcher and an unnamed person on an internet chat board back in the late 90s, early 2000s. Butcher felt a good author can turn even the worst idea into a story, while the fan claimed some ideas are just unwritable. To prove a point, Butcher let the person choose two horrible cliches that he (Butcher) would write a story based on. The fan chose the LostRomanLegion...[[{{Crossover}} crossed with]] ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. The rest is history.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] in AD 9 was a catastrophic defeat for Rome; the legions XVII, XVIII, and XIX being completely annihilated over the course of the three day engagement. Eighteen thousand legionnaires, plus an equivalent number of auxiliary formations, totaling ''one-tenth'' of the entire field army were permanently lost beyond recovery. The Romans themselves were thunderstruck by the disaster and the crisis nearly turned to general panic. The Emperor Augustus saw the ruin of his ambition to conquer and assimilate middle Europe and later, on his deathbed, he advised his successor ''not'' to expand the empire for any reason. It was such an ignominious defeat that no Roman legions were ''ever'' named the 17th, 18th or 19th after that.

-->-- ''Literature/TheEagleOfTheNinth'', Introduction.

* The ''[[ComicBook/TheSandman Sandman]]'' issue "Exiles" concerns people becoming trapped in "soft places" where the world is not quite real; one such group is a lost Legion having suffered this fate.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

* The Legion IX Hispana themselves show up as an [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2012 SCP]]. Interestingly, conversations between one of the officers and [[Wiki/SCPFoundation Foundation personnel]] masquerading as Roman legionnaries indicate that [[spoiler: they disappeared when the entire legion somehow had gained the ability to uncontrollably teleport to wherever Rome was fighting]], which explains the evidence of them showing up in other Roman battlefields. [[spoiler: This new ability, however, severely disorients them and makes their memories very confused.]]

[[quoteright:246:[[Literature/RanksOBronze https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ranksofbronze.jpg]]]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Alix}}'' #6 : ''[[Recap/AlixLesLegionsPerdues Les Légions perdues]]'' ("The Lost Legions") occurs during the war between UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar and [[UsefulNotes/PompeyTheGreat Pompey]]

* A ''[[ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian Savage Sword of Conan]]'' story had Conan trying to figure out what happened to a missing Aquilonian legion (and the large amount of gold they had with them). Long story short, [[GoldFever they killed each other out of greed.]] Not strictly an example of this trope, but Aquilonians are basically [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Hyborian Romans]].
* In ''ComicBook/SensationComics'' #39, ComicBook/WonderWoman visits a newly discovered island that is home to a lost Roman colony founded by a son of Nero, and still ruled by his descendant, that has its own legions.

* ''Fanfic/ALegionForWesteros'' has the IX Spanish Legion showing up in Westeros and meeting King Robert while he's hunting in the Kingswood.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/TheEagle2011'', film adaptation of ''Literature/TheEagleOfTheNinth''. See Literature.
* ''Film/{{Centurion}}'', also about the Ninth.

* In ''Literature/RanksOfBronze'', the defeated and enslaved remnants of Crassus' legions are bought by an alien guild to fight wars against low-tech planets on their behalf due to a sort of twisted [[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]] that requires them to use equivalent-tech weapons against undeveloped planets.

* The ''[[Literature/{{Videssos}} Videssos Cycle]]'' features one of these as the driving force in the plot, as evidenced by the title of the first novel, ''The Misplaced Legion''. Bonus points for including a misplaced Gaul prisoner along with the legion.

* ''Eagle of the East'' by L. S. Lawrence follows the legion from the Battle of Carrhae.

* Creator/AndreNorton:
** From the prologue of ''Star Rangers'':
--->There is an old legend concerning a Roman Emperor, who, to show his power, singled out the Tribune of a loyal legion and commanded that he march his men across Asia to the end of the world. And so a thousand men vanished into the hinterland of the largest continent, to be swallowed up forever. On some unknown battlefield the last handful of survivors must have formed a square which was overwhelmed by a barbarian charge. And their eagle may have stood lonely and tarnished in a horsehide tent for a generation thereafter. But it may be guessed, by those who know of the pride of these men in their corps and tradition, that they did march east as long as one still remained on his feet.
** Norton later co-authored ''Empire of the Eagle'', a fantasy involving enslaved men of Crassus' army who're displaced into another universe after being given to a Chinese emissary.
* H. Warner Munn wrote a 1980 novel titled ''The Lost Legion'', which he specifically said in the foreword was partly inspired by the Andre Norton prologue above. Caligula ordered the legion east, ostensibly to search for possible descendants of survivors from Crassus' legions. In the end, [[spoiler:as Norton described, "the last handful of survivors" was overwhelmed by proto-Mongols. But men from a Chinese garrison rescued the eagle ... and gave it a place of honor in their temple ''with the eagles their ancestors had brought east'' -- so, in a sense, the legion ''did'' accomplish its assigned mission]].
* In a story in one of the ''Literature/ManKzinWars'' books, it turns out a legion from Britain was kidnapped by the last free Jotok to serve as footsoldiers against the Kzin. By the time of the story (only a few generations for them due to TimeDilation), the free Jotok have died out, but the Romans are still holding out, and are conveniently rescued by modern humans just when said modern humans were themselves warring against the Kzin. They're promised a [[PlanetOfHats planet of their own]] once the war ends.

* ''Literature/TheForgottenLegion'' by Ben Kane uses the defeat at Carrhae to take the protagonists into Parthia.
* ''The Last Legion'' by Valerio Manfredi, adapted into a film of the same name (see above), involves the Ninth Legion.
* Lovecraft's short story ''[[http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/vof.aspx The Very old folk]]'' combines this trope with his usual themes in the form of an ApocalypticLog and AllJustADream.
-->And then I waked. It was the most vivid dream in years, drawing upon wells of the subconscious long untouched and forgotten. Of the fate of that cohort no record exists, but the town at least was saved—for encyclopædias tell of the survival of Pompelo to this day, under the modern Spanish name of Pompelona
* Creator/CliveCussler's [[Literature/DirkPittAdventures Dirk Pitt]] finds the remains of a lost Roman legion. In ''Texas'' ("Treasure").
* ''Literature/DocSavage'':
** In ''Land of Long Juju'', the ButNotTooBlack nature of the royal family of an African nation is explained by them being the descendents of a lost Roman legion that invaded central Africa and interbred with the local tribes.
** In ''The Forgotten Realm'', the Ninth Hispana founded a city called Novum Eboracum ("New York") in the African Congo, which survived until at least the 1930s.
* In one of the ''Literature/SisterFidelma'' stories (set in the seventh century) by Creator/PeterTremayne, a distant relative of one of the officers who vanished with Legio IX Hispana asks Fidelma to help him find out what happened to the legion and recover the Eagle Standards. This man produces an apparent historical document which leads him and Fidelma to Canterbury where they find some eagle standards and further documents claiming the lost officer to whom the man is related died a hero. Unfortunately for him, Fidelma is a professional investigator and easily proves that the documents and eagles are very poorly made modern forgeries

* In the first book of the ''Literature/HowToTrainYourDragon'' series, a gigantic sea-dragon, called the Green Death, washes up on the Isle of Berk and soon reveals his intention to eat the Vikings of Berk. As a piece of backstory, it is mentioned that the dragon's last meal was a whole Roman legion which he had caught camping on a clifftop, and which he has spent centuries to digest. As author Cressida Cowell has said that the "Barbaric Archipelago" which is the setting of the series is somewhat inspired by the Hebrides off the Scottish coast, the legion which got devoured by the Green Death might as well be the Ninth Spanish Legion.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, the [[BadassArmy Imperial Legion]] is ''heavily'' [[FantasyCounterpartCulture based on the Roman Legions]]. The 10th Legion is said to have been completely wiped out during Emperor Uriel Septim V's failed invasion of [[{{Wutai}} Akavir]], along with Uriel V himself. Of course, considering they were covering the retreat of the rest of the Imperial forces, no one really knows for sure.

* ''Film/TheLastLegion'', which combines the trope with the Myth/KingArthur mythos.

* ''Franchise/DocSavage'':