this post was submitted on 26 May 2024
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[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

~~There was one legion that got lost in Persia and ended up working for the Chinese.~~

Edit: Maybe, maybe not.

[–] egrets@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Crassus' lost legion is just conjecture, there's no convincing evidence. It's a fun thought, though.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 5 months ago

Is it? Oh, I didn't realise. I'll cross that out.

Yeah, it looks like the main evidence is that there's a mention of a similar formation to testudo being seen in western China a couple decades later, and maybe some Roman-style fortifications. According to Wikipedia a large number of prisoners were sent to Merv somewhat nearby, so it's all very suggestive, but definitely no smoking gun.