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Legionnaires in China?


Guest Scanderbeg

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Guest Scanderbeg

Roman Descendants Found in Gansu

 

Archaeologists from China and other countries have verified a Roman connection with Lijian, an ancient city built during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-23), located in Zhelaizhai Village, 10 km south of the county seat of Yongchang, Gansu Province. According to archaeologists, the Roman Republic was called "Lijian" in ancient China, and the city "Lijian" was built to accommodate a group of Roman captives.

 

However, mystery surrounded how the captives came to be in Gansu, as China had never engaged in a war with Rome due to the distance between the two countries.

 

 

Readm more here

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest Scanderbeg

Yea, the theory that the Romans met the Chinese after the mistake of Sulla seems more and more likely today.

 

I can only imagine what kind of a cultural shock that must have been. For both sides I guess.

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Hmmm, that's amazing. Guess the old saying can't spell lost without Lt. would apply here!

 

Really now, once a year or two goes by in an area where you don't recognize, I would of just snuck away and struck out west.... the sub sets in the same direction everywhere, how could you get it wrong?

 

(I wonder why the Chinese never told the Eastern Romans this... they sent ambassadors occasionally)

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  • 2 weeks later...
According to Pliny the Elder, the Roman prisoners were used by the Parthians as guards on their eastern frontier in what is today Turkmenistan. From there, Dubs conjectured, some escaped and joined the Huns as mercenaries. In 36BC, Chinese troops on a punitive venture defeated the Hun ruler Zhizhi in today's Uzbekistan. Among their captives they found 145 Romans. Dubs says the Chinese kept the ex-legionaries as frontier guards, installing them in a specially created town called Liqian in what is now Gansu

 

 

This is what I remember reading. That 10,000 legionares were taken as slaves by the Parthians. Apparently they even taught those folks to build decent fortifications for a city only to be sacked by the Chinese who took the survivors prisoner...

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  • 3 months later...

So-maybe the Gallic cavalry didnt all go down fighting? I thought theyd all been cut down defending the boss's son.

Edited by Pertinax
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Came across this several times, though I have never found any textual data on it.

 

The Lost Legion

 

I thought this would be the best place to discuss the issue...

 

...so onto the debate. ;)

 

I've got no opinion on it in terms of debating it. It's come up on this board before and it would be quite a story if true but I remember reading that there's not a lot of support for this theory by other archeologists. Unfortunately I can't remember where on the net I read it.

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