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The Lost Legion myth is probably not significantly true, but it is fun, and that's what counts
(lemmy.world)
this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2024
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Explanation: there's a Chinese town called Zhelaizhai which was founded by prisoners of war in the late 1st century BCE. A theory popped up at some point that those prisoners of war could have been Roman prisoners captured by the Persians at Carrhae who found their way east. While the evidence is circumstantial at best, and there are no solid findings that would support a large-scale Roman presence (even of prisoners far from home), the town has seized on the legend with some enthusiasm, which is cool af.
DNA testing shows that there isn't any exceptional admixture of European ancestry in the town, but as the Romans themselves did not place great deal of value on blood ancestry, as far as I'm concerned, the ancestral lares of the legionaries watch over the town of Zhelaizhai and the families therein o7 o7 o7 o7 o7
There's even a modern statue built in the town to commemorate the legend
Ok, the statue makes it great for me. Those people really like the idea, so hats off to them and Ave Zhelaizhai!