The Lost Legion (Part 3)
The earlier force that built the first camp at Eshiels clearly carried on down the Tweed and Lyne valleys as their next stop is the matching sized camp at Lyne; a site that was also used as a stopping off point most probably in the Antonine period.
And further along at Wester Happrew, near the roads probable fording point across to the Lyne Waters southern bank we have another of the 13 acre camps; the series which has shadowed our footsteps throughout this journey.
This series is not finished, and clearly marks the progress of a Roman force that seems to have travelled (probably in the Antonine occupation period) safely on to Castledykes at the far edge of Selgovae territory.
Our camps, the group of 16.5 to 18 acres -give or take- stop abruptly at the second camp at Eshiels, suggestive (unless other camps come to light in the future) that either the force who campaigned here turned about and marched back the way they came or, more prosaically, disappeared.
This clearly is of immense interest to us when searching for a legion – that one stationed to safeguard Romes’ northern frontier in Britain- which disappears from the historical records at this time; a period of recorded strife in southern Scotland and one where Rome is recorded losing many men.
Further, analysis of the ground here is of interest.
In our search for the locations of Agricola’s activities in the year preceding Mons Graupius (link to Mons Graupius 82 AD Addendum) we highlighted the probability of Dalginross near Comrie on the River Earn being the scene of the stiff fighting when the Caledonians made a night-time assault on the marching camp of one of Agricola’s three detached battlegroups. Interestingly that one was also based around the Ninth.
Dalginross lies in a natural bowl, surrounded threateningly by high ground on all sides. It appears to have been both a suitable proposition to tempt the Caledonians to mount an assault on that occasion as well as a sufficiently problematic hotspot for Rome to subsequently make repeat attempts to control it by maintaining a garrison there.
The similarities with Eshiels are pronounced.
The terrain surrounding the marching camp at Eshiels is also very suitable for the Selgovae to have confronted the Romans. The marching camp site here is threatened by high ground – comprised of Kirn Law, Kittlegairy and Cardie Hills- to the north; the Glentress outliers of the Moorfoot Hills. Many of these, and the surrounding heights, are crowned with tribal forts and settlements.
Whether the Ninth was assaulted in its camp at Eshiels or ambushed while strung out on the march after leaving the camp (the ground to the west below Smithfield would be ideal) we cannot know.
Reading the ground however it is clear that no matter the manner in which the Ninth came to grief, they had, by marching to Eshiels, placed themselves in a position from which it would be extremely difficult - given the circumstances perhaps nigh on impossible- to extract themselves back along the route they had come.
A classic ambush is made upon the flank of an opponent and incorporates “stops” at the extreme ends of the ambush (or beyond) to prevent any of those attacked from successfully escaping.
Looking at the ground to the west of the native settlement at Ven Law above Peebles it is clear to see the easier terrain towards which the Romans were ultimately headed – if they continued to follow the Roman road - and to which the tribes may have been equally keen to completely block their access to.
So the intriguing scenario offers itself of the Ninth being overwhelmed in the main either in their marching camp at Eshiels or below the heights of Smithfield.
Any retreating remnants of the Ninth - probably harried every step by mounted "Britunculli" - may have been either unable or were annihilated in the process of attempting to force passage at the choke points on the road below the towering high ground at Lee Penn and further to the east at Pyat Hill.
Indeed it should be noted that under not dissimilar circumstances to those we have suggested here, Varus’s force in 9 AD at the Teutoburgerwald seems to have been dogged and worn down by the Germans over the course of several miles (in less demanding terrain than we suggest here).
Poignantly, next to the Eshiels camp sits the spur of high ground on which the ruinous stump of the tower of Nether (or Over) Horsburgh now stands. This is advantageous ground, protected in part with precipitous falls and offers itself as a suitable defensive position upon which fugitives from the main action, or any failed attempts to escape east, may have regrouped.
Any scattered survivors who managed to cross the Tweed would have been faced with a perilous journey back through difficult country now swarming with a more mobile and vengeful opponent. Few if any are likely to have won through.
As such, taking our hypothesis over the location of the loss of the Ninth legion to a conclusion, we may speculate that Nether Horsburgh is the best location where - ultimately - the desperate last moments of the remnants of the Ninth may have been played out.
Finally, where exactly may the Ninth have been heading to before coming to a sticky end in or around Eshiels?
To the west of Peebles a Vicus (Roman civil settlement) had sprung up in the earlier Flavian occupation at the fort of Easter Happrew at the junction of the River Tweed and the Lyne Water.
There can be little doubt this had already been abandoned before or sacked during the earlier events of 105 AD, however it may - as a known Roman site, perhaps Ptolemy’s Calonica - have been the planned limit of the Ninths punitive action, and certainly a site which the abrupt termination of the series of suitably sized camps at Eshiels suggests the force that camped there fatefully never reached.
Conclusion
We do not have a detailed account such as Tacitus provided in our search for Mons Graupius to assist so we cannot say the case for Eshiels is proven beyond doubt.
However it is thought provoking that a series of camps of a size suitable to hold the numbers we have suggested may have marched north in 117 AD terminates so abruptly in an area of notably heavy tribal occupation and repeated Roman campaigning - as the many other camps and forts in the area proves.
Further, Eshiels lies a mere twelve miles as the crow flies from the Hawkshaw Heads find spot further up the Tweed at Tweedsmuir; an interesting and contemporary snippet of history (link to article) that may be in some way loosely or perhaps even intimately linked with events discussed here (Percy it should be remembered came to grief in 1388 at Otterburn attempting to retrieve both his captured standard and damaged honour from Douglas).
Pending any artefactual findings by others in the future this all must remain a working hypothesis but it is the nearest to a location we can identify where the Ninth legion – the IXth Hispana - may have ultimately encountered its fateful date with destiny.
And when compared to the complete guesswork - struggling to swim against the tide of probability - of those vocal few who claim the legion was lost somewhere other than Scotland (on no evidential basis whatsoever) it becomes a compelling proposition indeed!
Epilogue
And finally, where could the Eagle standard of the Ninth Legion be sought?
Sutcliffe’s novel was the first reference to the missing standard, however it was a reasonable suggestion that the standard would be lost with the missing legion and the artefact itself has long become the stuff of legend.
Could this artefact be found?
We do not know, we are not treasure hunters, but it is fair to say that several related items; the Hawkshaw head and the magnificent cavalry face mask helmets at Newstead are contemporary with this period.
These relics have, to date, been looked at abstractly and individually by academia. However when pulled together as a body of material - of the very time we are concerned with – then they paint a telling picture of totemic Roman artefacts, looted or won as spoils in war and apparently ritualistically deposited in Selgovae dominated southern central Scotland.
These assembled artefacts certainly act as wayfinders, pointing ominously to the location of the tumultuous events of those years. They would then seem to point quite clearly to the region where a carefully managed search may one day succeed in unearthing the single artefact which would finally put to rest the whole mystery surrounding the loss of the Ninth Legion; the IXth Hispana.
For those seeking such closure herein lies the hope for the future.
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©2009 Roman Scotland. All Rights Reserved
First Published November 2009
