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Legio IX Hispana origins
#1
Looking for sources on 9th Legion origins. 

Modern publications are contradictory: 
  • Keppie Lawrence in The Making of the Roman Army says it fought Social War in 90s B.C.
  • Dando Collins says it was formed by Pompei the Great in 65 B.C.
  • Н. М. D. Parker in his The Roman legions speculates that it might be formed along with Legio III Augusta in Africa(?!), making it 43 B.C.
All 3 books are more pop rather than scientific.

Would apprciate if anyone has leads on the original sources of information those authors used
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#2
Whatever you do, do not quote Stephen Dando-Collins as an authority! Let me just say that he has a vivid imagination. Nigel Pollard (lecturer in classics at Swansea University) says that the early history of the IXth Hispana is unclear but that it might have been formed under Julius Caesar in 58 BC for the Gallic War. This legion was disbanded in 46-45 BC but was re-raised by  Octavian from veterans settled in Italy. They served under Augustus in the Cantabrian War in Spain (27-19 BC). Thus, there seems to be no mention that I can find of this legion being raised by Pompei. If you want a good, no nonsense treatment of the Roman legions from Republican times to the late Empire, I would certainly recommend the work by Pollard & Berry, entitled "The Complete Roman Legions" and published by Thames & Hudson in 2012.
visne scire quod credam? credo orbes volantes exstare.
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#3
Why would you say that Keppie & Parker are 'pop' rather than scientific? Parker is arguably a bit outdated as the original dates to the 1920s or 1930s, but Keppie's book is a further development on his PhD thesis about veteran settlement in the first century BC.
Greets!

Jasper Oorthuys
Webmaster & Editor, Ancient Warfare magazine
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#4
Keppie isn't bad. Check out Webster too.
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#5
Sorry. Couldn't resist this one. Parker's Roman Legions is one of the bedrocks of modern scholarship. It is now 90 years old, so some details are clearly in need of updating. My goodness, we all revere Ritterling, and his study is also 90-something years old!

As for Lawrence Keppie, he has made a lifetime's study of the legions, so I think we ought to value what he writes. (And, in my opinion, writes rather well.) But it's worth noting that he doesn't say that the IX Hispana dates back to the Social War. What he says is that there was a legion numbered IX in the Social War, which isn't the same thing. All we know is that Augustus had a legion called IX Hispaniensis. Keppie suggests that it had been formed in 41-40 BC, as Caesar's Ninth was disbanded in 46-45 BC.

And, of course, as we all know, it was utterly and mysteriously destroyed by the Picts because the legionaries insisted on wearing impractical leather armour and Greek helmets. Wink
posted by Duncan B Campbell
https://ninth-legion.blogspot.com/
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