[Music] in northwestern China lies a village on the edge of the Taklamakan desert it is a town with a mysterious past over two thousand years ago before the coming of Marco Polo experts believe that roman soldiers fought their way across these deserts from rome into china never to return but who were these Romans and did they really exist in 1957 professor Homer dubs of Oxford University believed that he had discovered what he called a wrong in the city in China it was called Li gym the ancient Chinese name for Rome over the years the search for this lost Roman city has uncovered few answers but now historians believe they are closer to the truth through detailed historical analysis we find out if Li Jian really existed and whether the inhabitants of a remote Chinese village are indeed descendants of the Roman Empire [Music] [Music] in the remote plains of northwestern China lies the province of Gansu home to over 20 million Chinese and one unusual village on the surface the area of July chai appears like any other rural settlement among its traditional mud brick homes however one particular structure stands out a Roman pavilion with the Chinese characters Li Cheng inscribed on it the pavilion was built recently to represent what locals believe is a unique part of their history when Roman soldiers once inhabited the area not far away in the nearby town of Yong Chun visitors are greeted by another strange sight the figure of a Chinese minister flanked by two Roman statues but something more intriguing lies in the town's hotel displayed in its Lobby a gallery of the town's residents who believe they have Caucasian features they call themselves sons of the ancient Roman army each year its residents organized a parade to celebrate what they regard as their ancient heritage [Music] although history shows that the Roman army never made it to China these villages are somehow convinced that they did sanguis wrong is a man in search of his past he has been researching the area's history for many years taller than the average Chinese and with Auburn colored hair song wants to know if his ancestors really came from Rome yeah such a far cry from off and flower songs best friend is Luo Yin who also believes he is of Roman descent although he has never been there Luo Yin has been fascinated with Rome ever since he was a boy he's convinced he bears more than a passing resemblance to an Italian or Roman both song Andrew Ian want to find out where their forefathers came from they believe that the answers to their heritage lie in the village of July chai July chai was recently renamed lead-gen the Chinese word for Rome but what was the connection between the two the mystery had its beginnings in the 1950s here in the halls of Oxford University professor Homer H dubs was the head of Oxford's Chinese studies his life's work involved translating the Han dynasty's ancient historical records while deciphering the bamboo Scrolls dubs came across a reference to a Chinese County named Li Jian dubs found it unusual because Li Jian was also the ancient Chinese name for Rome why did an obscure Chinese town share the same name as the Roman Empire in 1957 after years of research dubs presented his findings to the China Society tonight I will share with you all evidence of a Roman city in China Roman relics like this were found in China in 166 AD and represented the first contact between the two empires but dubs claimed that Li Jin had existed in the first century BC over 200 years earlier if he was right it meant that the Romans had been in China before anyone had imagined dunces writings were so controversial that they went largely ignored but thirty years later one man re-examined the Roman story writer historian david harris discovered dubs his book at the university of adelaide and became intrigued by the theory it seems unbelievable a mystery that I could never have imagined a city called Rome in China and the combination of those two powerful images the Roman Empire and the great Chinese Empire together captivated my mind in 1988 David packed his bags for China to search for the lost Roman city of Li Jen [Music] his research led to a book but the Roman puzzle remained unsolved now on his fourth trip to China David is returning to find some new answers his destination July chai the likely location for Legion the lost city of Rome [Music] David Harris's search in China brings him to the office of song war wrong the head of the Legion Research Society some go wrong please I meet you yes determined to uncover the areas of strange history song shows David his research on the lost Roman city of Legion Jersey Santa Lucia Santa do bunny tower to Xinhua named work from the trigger means fortress refers short articles concern by together 20 law passing the party returning sisters experts believe that lead yen was originally the Chinese name for Alexandria once part of the Roman Empire some historians eventually used it to refer to Rome itself none of the ancient chinese historians could explain however why there was a town in China that also went by the same name only professor Homer dubs had a possible answer he believed that li GN had once been occupied by Roman legionaries legionaries that had come from Turkey 4,000 miles away but how had this strange journey begun the year was 53 BC the Parthian kingdom held sway between china and rome and control the area of trade between the two civilizations to expand their empire eastwards the romans declared war against the Parthians the legions marched to carry a desert in Turkey to meet their fate surrounded by the Parthian cavalry the Roman legion was helpless fired upon by arrows from a great distance beyond the distance they could charge the enemy they were moaned down the arrows piercing their shields letting their arms to the shields and nailing their feet to the ground the Romans linked their shields into their famous testudo formation but they were no match for the path Hills heavily armored horsemen when the Battle of kurai was over the Romans have suffered their worst military defeat over 20,000 soldiers were killed while another 10,000 were taken back into Central Asia as Parthian prisoners of war never to see Rome again the prisoners were dragged far to the east beyond the world that they knew existed and their many were put in Merve he wants now northern Afghanistan theater brought away in a party an outpost doing sentry duty others disappeared altogether no trace of them homer dubs believed that some of the Romans would end their days not as prisoners in Merve but in a remote settlement in china called a legion but could they have survived such a journey to search for the Roman soldiers David Harris decided to retrace their steps into China he traveled Eastwood's on the Silk Road towards Tashkent there David met archaeologist dr. Edward Rita vilasa who showed David what he'd found in a cave in northern Afghanistan it was a stone carving bearing the name G Rex a Roman legionary who had served in the 15th Legion of Apollinaris while it didn't prove that Romans had made it into China David believed it provided evidence that some of them had traveled thousands of miles from Rome into Central Asia now this is the kind of thing we're looking for it's a Roman coin of about 53 B see there are many Roman coins and artifacts found to the east and this is the kind of evidence we need of movement into China and I carry this little coin with me into China as a talisman for my search [Music] homer dubs believed he knew how the Romans had entered China he had discovered their fate he said in the war Diaries of a Chinese colonel named Qin time although they disappeared from Western history dubs had reason to believe that the Romans had encountered Chinese soldiers in Central Asia the Chinese were at war with us young knew a nomadic tribe that occupied much of Central Asia chin Tang in his army had made their way into the area to attack a young new fortress led by the warlord Cherith here thus young knew threatened the Chinese empires access to the Silk Road and had to be stopped before it was too late but Chinese fired their crossbows against this young Muir and set fire to their fortress which was surrounded by double Palisades of wood [Applause] Tintin and his men stormed the palace and defeated the young moon but the real story was just beginning in reporting his victory to the Chinese emperor Qin Tang described a strange fish scale formation that he'd seen in the battle the fish scale formation was a maneuver never before described in Chinese history what could this strange maneuver have been and where did it come from in researching the tactics of ancient armies Homer devs found only one thing that seemed to fit the Roman legion used a maneuver called the testudo which closely matched the description of a fish scale formation the testudo I think is one of the defining features of the Roman army it's a formation of soldiers with their shields held around the sides and above them to protect themselves it's often used in siege warfare when soldiers are trying to get up to the walls of a city and they use this defensive formation to protect themselves from any missiles being thrown down at them who else but Romans would link this yields in fish-scale formation who else but the Romans had what was known as the tortoise the testudo homer dubs also noted that the mysterious soldiers had built double Palisades of wood around their fortress another tactic of the Roman army the battle tactics described seemed uncharacteristic of us young new who were nomadic warriors that usually fought on horseback dubs concluded that the soldiers using these methods had to be Roman in origin like other ancient armies thus young new fought their battles using mercenary and captive troops among them dubs believed were some of the Roman soldiers who had originally been captured by the path ins was it possible that some of the soldiers who were stationed at Merve escaped for a better life becoming mercenary soldiers to fight with the seal knew because the return home was impossible across all that length of the Parthian Empire and a return home also meant that they were slaves because they'd forfeited their Roman citizenship in surrendering and becoming mercenary soldiers after the Chinese defeated this young new Chen Tong took a hundred and forty five prisoners from Central Asia back into China to serve as border guards [Music] Dubbs believed that some Romans among them would later form a settlement called lead yen a forgotten city somewhere in northwest China in 1988 during his first trip to China David met with Guan each one a professor who believed he knew the location of Li Chen using Mongolian and Tibetan histories Guan showed David several possible locations for the lost city but died before David could learn more David would now have to find Li Chen on his own David meets with Guan son to see if he can uncover more information from his father's files one hing tells David that his father's notes are too cryptic for experts to decipher what is the distance between all these places but the late professor did leave David with one strong possibility he believes Legion was in an area called chili chai in the early 90s the area of July chai was declared off-limits for security reasons but now years later with the restrictions lifted David is able to enter the area for the first time on route David enters the County of Yong Chan lying along the Silk Road Yong Chun was a gateway for traders on their way to the Chinese capital the area was also known historically as the Hertz corridor over 2,000 years ago envoys from countries like Persia and Parthia would exchange gifts with the Chinese Empire in return for silk through these interactions China eventually learned more about the world beyond its borders code Roman legionaries have crossed these same frontiers into China towards their final destination at chili chai David meets Roy in who's offered to be his guide Roy women has also been searching around the village for clues to the lost Roman city and chose David the remains of the town's old walls a stone carving reveals that the village was recently renamed Li Tian after the Roman garrison city that locals believed existed here the succubus our face is your soul doesn't say you shouldn't make a season ago it's a bunch you shouldn't make one junco and this request valuation mr. David learns that the villagers have taken parts of the Garrison's old walls to build their own homes making it difficult to establish the parameters of the old town no Union tells David however about another fortress near by professor homer dubs at Oxford University believed that leaks Ian was a garrison city and that the Roman captors were put here to fight against the seal knew who were the nomads the enemy of China and over there is what we believe may have been one of the fortresses of the leaks en people some were wrong and members of the Li Jian society take David to have a closer look at the fortress Sochi what I did cook was during the Yuka going to go right at all to go hi Carly any two different voices retired reporter hurting me well if this was a fortress tell us its story who was here what happened here what was this place used for the song explains that the fortress was used by the Chinese over 2,000 years ago to defend against invaders from Mongolia and Tibet some believe that the Chinese had kept foreign prisoners here to guard the area most of the counties in the area like Yong Chun were named after their captive people's so perhaps Li Chen which represented the ancients named for Rome was also named after its prisoner population could Roman mercenaries captured by the Chinese have formed their own garrison City here as a signature of their identity this was what David wanted to find out relics had been unearthed around the site of July chai but nothing Roman had been found [Music] the museum however had found one interesting item a fragment of a soldier's helmet inscribed with Chinese characters Kaneesha joy just after that will you although much into the our Father take a questionable a Sumitra experts believe that this helmet belonged to a captive soldier from Li Jian the words Chao an mean one of the surrendered leaving David to wonder if a Roman soldier might have worn a helmet like this one of the problems at least he and his evidence there are ancient documents which have tenuous suggestions and there are ancient maps there are a few artifacts dug up around here some spare of spears and some some pottery but nothing definitive so one of the difficulties of leagues here and one of its intriguing aspects is that the evidence is not yet conclusive experts believe that no Roman military relics would have survived for one simple reason there were probably none I am absolutely convinced that when these Roman soldiers were caught they would be disarmed absolutely that's just common sense they were lucky enough to survive with their lives if they were then entrusted with military duties somewhere else they would be requited by their new employers i think the idea that if these romans hypothetically emerged on the chinese frontier the idea that they're still going to look like romans wearing roman helmets and carrying roman shields and Avalons and Pillowman and all the rest I think that is complete nonsense that simply cannot have happened the villages believe that the missing clues to their past lie beneath the surface of GLI chai with ancient graves scattered all around the landscape the Chinese villages in the area still pay yearly tributes to their ancestors but LOI in and song wonder if these tombs also contain remains of their possible Roman ancestors while building a gas pipeline in yung-chun in 2003 a construction company came across an unexpected find 99 tombs from the Han Dynasty were uncovered this discovery was the first of its kind in the area within the tombs researchers found skeletons that were 2,000 years old they hoped that the find would provide new clues in their search for Romans but all the remains were eventually moved to the state Institute making further analysis difficult at the yung-chun County Museum however one skeleton was left behind leaving the villagers curious about its identity [Music] chiggers NT was actually maintenance cutter gold was Jim went down without do you mean bath with Tobias you know it sounds Iike me when water coke on it sir is it him or there the acquiesce trade would serve I mean so there could be a comedian truly face ever did a family commercial don't see us even as you mama so much really - well good forensic analysis finally unlock the secrets of Legion lacking resources the State Institute made no immediate plans to examine the skeletons but this hasn't stopped the villages from the speculation and Rorion are especially intrigued by the find the bones they say are larger than those of a Chinese were they Roman or were they simply Chinese what did the people of liège in the lost city of China really looked like the villagers had their own theories you just warm over 150 to give you the children tragedy more such want more often targeted Attila since have been called Pantoja although there wasn't any real proof of a European heritage stories of Roman ancestry soon became village folk law huh salute the ship Lorenzo target Russia you can't it's a special imagine wait hello Donna hello operator the doctor said I should sing for my action connotes resolution now I'm at the point where it's not really together what's our Olfa Sunday as South Africa very good Chicago Fire where is it it's a coroner to chapter [Music] in the year 2000 the villages of Chile chai found themselves at the center of a media spotlight they gathered for a provincial parade dressed as Romans what the chariot is above the fish scale formation was a significant aspect of the Roman legend the villages of Legion believed their founding fathers the Roman legionaries had once used the formation and built a garrison in their hometown [Music] the fish-scale represented a testudo a military tactic that only the roman army used home adams believed that the romans had been found fighting with the testudo in central asia before being taken to China this unique formation but the theory was controversial the battle had taken place so far away from Rome that it seemed improbable that the Romans could have been there I think it is quite possible that the testudo formation was used in that area at that time however the next question is who was using it would it could it have been people of Roman origin there is to me no inherent reason why this could not eat captive peoples were moved around huge distances but retained their identity we know from the manga period that entire military groups were transferred from Russia from the Caucasus and we find them cropping up in the most remarkable places other experts have been less convinced about the Roman fish-scale theory in the halls of Oxford University some scholars have even dismissed homer dubs a--'s claims as being a fantasy boo Bing by German rule engine this is the line where it says a hundred or so foot soldiers on either side of the gate formed up in a fish-scale style professor Glenn Doug bridge has spent several years checking the accuracy of homer dubs interpretation he thinks that dubs may have jumped to conclusions we need to understand those words fish-scale in another way what I needed to do was to look at all those other places in Chinese literature where the phrase fish-scale was used it was used to describe things or sometimes human bodies closely packed together so it seemed to me that when this phrase is used to describe soldiers it's describing a closely formed rank of men in close formation like the scales of a fish homer dubs also noted that the mysterious soldiers had used double Palisades wood to defend their fortress another Roman tactic but even this was inconclusive still a visual reference of the fish scale formation did exist the colonel chin tang depicted the battle scene on a terracotta plate but the plate was lost over time during his attempts to search for it David was told by museums that it would probably never be found if the fish-scale theory proved inconclusive was it possible that the legion people might not have been from Rome but from somewhere else li chen sat on the edge of the Silk Road connecting China to various other civilizations in the West traders from Central Asia and Beyond would have entered the Imperial Kingdom and could easily have settled here and so could well of beam that the leaks Ian people were not descendants of Roman soldiers but descendants of travelers such as merchants who commonly walked up and down the Silk Road so close to the village of Sir lights are differ to tell numerous Nimisha fella Limerick readily we three Whittaker Yamato won't come for the mayor what is wrong with us oh sure sure - oh-ho-ho - sergeant we are you unit as you fear judges shall order the Chinese Colonel Chen Tang reported taking a hundred and forty-five prisoners from us young new fortress back to China among them some believed were the Roman legionaries who founded the GN but there were probably Xiong nu and other tribal prisoners among them as well thus young you were thought to be of Terkel Mongol origin and occupied the area around the yen could they also have been the possible ancestors of the legion people David searches for any physical evidence that might reveal what thus young new people looked like eat our what our unity among which is oh la Tasha Yar Vania sure sure Tana you cannot refuse occasional you can without sin push your physical descriptions of this young you don't match what David is looking for Chinese historians described them as short stocky and pancake faced not European still evidence of Western looking soldiers has been found in China's northwestern States suggesting that indo-european tribes had entered China at some point in its history the question remaining however could Roman soldiers have traveled all the way from the Battle of kurai in Turkey to lead gen the mystery intrigue other experts in China where one of the biggest clues to the leaf Jian puzzle was to emerge in Gansu's archeology Institute professor Jung da Fung took a deeper look into the city's origins over the years the Institute is unearthed thousands of bamboo Scrolls from archaeological digs some of these revealed new information about the ancient city of lead gen from there Schuester rajendra now wat makeer Kaiba found in China rajagaha ya young kilometer when triggered senior general Khanna reach and choose James Holmes Pedro Maha Vance the Tenjin your thoughts in a bin trim come show me a Jewish holiday not so harshly so you see sure - of the t-shirts in diversity other judge what was known was that Li Chen had once been a place that reared horses one translation of Li Chen was also black horse City if Li Jian had existed before any Romans went there why did experts believe there was a Roman collection back at Oxford Glen dad bridge explains how the name of Li Jian might have created problems for experts the name Legion as we meet it in Chinese texts comes up represented by different Chinese characters and what this tells us together with the great variety and different mixture of ways of writing that they are representing sounds not meanings although they were two entirely different words Li Jian County and Lee Jin the ancient name for Rome sounded exactly the same this dad bridge believed may have confused the ancient scholars [Music] the last known record of lead-gen was dated in the seventh century AD when the Tibetans invaded the area after that the city vanished forever for davidon low yen the real question remains who are the people of lead yen if they were not Romans who were they and what could explain their physical features there was only one way to find out David and lo yen head out to Beijing to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the late 90s scientists performed a DNA test on people in the légion area to find out if there was any truth to the Roman legend the results proved that there were European markers present in their genes but not enough to ascertain of the people were from Rome Rowan has his sample taken for a future test that aims to construct a more definitive DNA map but David wonders if Ryan's DNA will be able to provide the answers they need one of the problems of the origin of leaks here in people is migration floods of humanity poured through Gansu the Hershey corridor in those ancient times Mongolians Chinese Caucasians all mixing there were mass deportations traders priests merchants it's almost impossible to pin down the exact origin of Alexian people in this sea of humanity but people in the legion area could have easily been Persian or Roman or Central Asian no one could say for sure [Music] even the Roman soldiers themselves consisted of people from different ethnic backgrounds it would be very hard to define someone genetically as being Roman because the Roman army would have contained soldiers from all over Italy from France from a number of different places but the Legionaries would probably all regard themselves as being Roman with the vast number of cultures that lived between China and Rome the identity of the legion people would have to remain an open question for now until a larger DNA picture emerged for David and Louie in the search is still far from over as they head to Beijing's Institute of Archaeology Wang Ming Wei has been researching the existence of European and nomadic people along China's northwestern borders he analyzes ancient skulls to find out what different ethnic groups in China might have looked like and where they came from wonderful tunic lesson included former guests are interested and for what is leaving I mean a fertilizer somewhat different till you touch your dirty NOLA borrowed from fun condition Valentina their entire feel you don't ago who is missing from the Georgia wrong wrong then takes a closer look at Lauren's features politics are gonna cue me seein all of our unity being so totally a higher this year higher energy neutral years old nigga D cursor to the beacon of a trainer and has worshipped edith coliver no chikara yana heart attack Tijuana simulation honorary option are yet again Shana epoch hunters for hire a Twitter account while to the Cova okay conrad koh phi phi i refer to find out all targets and what should she do don't talk butchered it finally one gives drug in his expert opinion tell you John watch icon I just wanna yell out loud boom yeah I don't see coming out is she gonna channel diaphoretic or read watch over for Louie in the news that he doesn't appear European or Roman doesn't dampen his spirits yeah yeah mishmash huh me she was sure you different projects is wrong who shot the law what they works though Casa de kinshasa day whatever to year the year - hi Jim current German city at Olli what children observe afar yes affirmative a solder for the cicadas are you the musical fetish it has a favor guellen a few weeks later Lorien learns that his DNA test reveals that he is primarily Asian Roman tourism is alive and well in Jung Chang today already the villagers have turned their mysterious Roman heritage into an international attraction [Music] Arizona and Baja - you're on the food secure pushing away from young China's old district florian takes David to the newly built Rome Street who am i living Roger so you wanted to play sorry Jake Irishman you can take over - Vanya is adequate in a few years the town hopes to transform itself into a modern replica of a Roman city Senya Tasha what is a normal team do foreign tie jelly to show it her father men indeed onions nothing till you know that was intuitive yeah presenting the question remains did Roman legionaries somehow establish a city in China or could all of this have been based on the romantic imaginings of one professor back in July chai the men are preparing themselves for an important ritual each year they will dress up as Roman legionaries to relive what they believe is their Roman past for some it's a proud reminder of their heritage but for others it takes a little more to get into the mood [Music] regardless of what the critics and experts have said song ROI in and their fellow villages remain deeply inspired by the Roman legend abolition list of we stop don't wanna score get us in the middle if you talk of the feet on your feet becomes a whole new dirty pool of workers all of my wounds such a lie yes sir after more than 17 years of searching for the lost city of lead yen David's quest is still unfinished have mixed feelings about what's found years ago I set out to see if there was a Rome in China I think that this journey has shown that sir lights is unlikely to be the place of Romans and that the dating on the bamboo strips of 60 BC shows that Roman soldiers probably had nothing to do with a formation of leaks here there's still a lot of work to do it's still much to be uncovered the imperial records state that the Roman Empire would officially make contact with China only in 166 ad opening trade between the two countries Marco Polo himself would visit and tell the world about China centuries later for David a song and Roy in the real questions remain unresolved but they hope that more answers will emerge with time it was a foolish ramana's Shema pariah audition sip all I do why - because I don't wanna clear to us you know don't harm Little Joe no one really knows if the Roman army ever made it to China or who the mysterious people of Legion might have been but for now Li GN remains a lost history buried in the sands of northwest China [Music]
