Legio IX Hispana

Legio IX Hispana ("9th Hispanian Legion"), also written as Legio VIIII Hispana, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that existed from the 1st century BC until at least AD 120. The legion fought in various provinces of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. The nickname "Hispana" was gained when it was stationed in Hispania under Augustus. It was stationed in Britain following the Roman invasion in AD 43. The legion disappears from surviving Roman records after c. AD 120 and there is no specific account of what happened to it.

The unknown fate of the legion has been the subject of considerable research and speculation. One theory (per historian Theodor Mommsen) was that the legion was wiped out in action in northern Britain soon after AD 108, the date of the latest datable inscription of the Ninth found in Britain, perhaps during a rising of northern tribes against Roman rule. This view was popularised by the 1954 novel The Eagle of the Ninth in which the legion is said to have marched into Caledonia (modern-day Scotland), after which it was "never heard of again".

This theory fell out of favour among modern scholars as successive inscriptions of IX Hispana were found in the site of the legionary base at Nijmegen (Netherlands), suggesting the Ninth may have been based there from c. AD 120, later than the legion's supposed annihilation in Britain. The Nijmegen evidence has led to suggestions that IX Hispana was destroyed in later conflicts of the 2nd century. Suggestions include the Bar Kokhba revolt (AD 132–135) or Marcus Aurelius's war against Parthia (AD 161–166) in Armenia. However, some scholars have ascribed the Nijmegen evidence to a mere detachment of IX Hispana, not the whole legion.

In any event, it is clear that the IX Hispana did not exist during the reign of the emperor Septimius Severus (r. AD 193–211), as it is not included in two identical but independent lists of the 33 legions existing in this period.

The origin of the legion is uncertain, but a 9th legion seems to have participated in the siege of Asculum during the Social War in 90 BC.

When Julius Caesar became governor of Cisalpine Gaul in 58 BC, he inherited four legions, numbered VII, VIII, IX, X, that were already based there. The Ninth (IX) may have been quartered in Aquileia "to guard against attacks from the Illyrians". Caesar created two more legions (XI and XII), using all six for his attack on the Helvetii initiating the Gallic Wars.

The Caesarian Ninth Legion fought in the battles of Dyrrhachium and Pharsalus (48 BC) and in the African campaign of 46 BC. After his final victory, Caesar disbanded the legion and settled the veterans in the area of Picenum.

Following Caesar's assassination, Caesar's ally Ventidius Bassus made attempts to recreate the 7th, 8th, and 9th legions, but "it is not clear that any of these survived even to the time of Philippi".Octavian later recalled the veterans of the Ninth to fight against the rebellion of Sextus Pompeius in Sicily. After defeating Sextus, they were sent to the province of Macedonia. The Ninth remained with Octavian in his war of 31 BC against Mark Antony and fought by his side in the Battle of Actium.