What is the mystery of missing prisoners of war?

In 54 BC, the powerful Roman Empire sent 40,000 troops, led by crassus, and gained a large area of land in Rest (now Iran) and plundered a lot of gold and silver. A year later, they were trapped and defeated. The rest of the troops retreated to Armenia, but it was here that the Persian army unexpectedly surrounded them. After a fierce battle, crassus's eldest son, 6,000 people in the First Corps, narrowly escaped. A few years later, the Roman Empire signed a peace treaty with Rest and began to repatriate prisoners of war to each other. After the repatriation, the Romans were disappointed: the first legion that broke through in those years had disappeared. Where did they go?

The mysterious disappearance of the First Legion has become an unsolved case in Roman history, which has been puzzling western historians for thousands of years. Miraculously, this unsolved case has been given a new historical interpretation in China in recent years.

Many scholars believe that this expeditionary force has been completely eliminated. In recent years, archaeological discoveries in China have proved that the expeditionary force later entered China, settled in the northwest loess plateau, and produced offspring. China is descended from the ancient Romans? Where do they live? What is the current situation?

There are descriptions of "fish scale array" in Chinese ancient books "Historical Records" and "Hanshu". According to textual research, this array is the deployment mode of the Roman army, that is, a phalanx composed of soldiers holding shields. Did the ancient Romans really come to China?

Yongchang County, located in the east of Hexi Corridor, Gansu Province, China, is an important town of the ancient Silk Road. There are Luan birds in the Han Dynasty, ruins of the ancient city of Fanhe, and ruins of the Great Wall of Hanming. When the "Silk Road International Expedition Team" sponsored by UNESCO visited here, it was surprised to find that the architectural layout of the ancient city of Luan Bird, about 100 km southwest of Yongchang County, had a distinctive ancient Roman style. Some western scholars say that this city was probably built by the ancient Romans, and they call it "Pompeii" in China.

In the 1990s, some historians who were engaged in the study of the history of Central Asia and the eastward movement of the Roman Empire stumbled upon an interesting phenomenon: the Roman Legion suddenly disappeared in the battle more than 2,000 years ago, and the time was roughly the same as that when China established Ali County. "Ali" was the name of China people for Rome in the past. So, what is the connection between the two?

According to the Chinese history book "Chen Han Tang Zhuan", in 36 BC, Gan Yanshou, the protector of the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty, and Chen Tang, the lieutenant, led 40,000 soldiers out of the Western Regions to crusade against Zhi Zhi Khan. In this battle, they saw a very strange mercenary under Shan Yu.

Some historians believe that the team that Chen Tang and others saw in those days must be the Roman army that Khan had surrendered. According to this, it can be inferred that the Roman army that appeared in this period must be the remnants of the first Roman legion that disappeared before!

According to historical records, Gan Yanshou, Shang Chen and other soldiers brought these Roman prisoners back to China and settled down. It turns out that nearly 1,000 officers and men of the First Legion of the Roman Empire, which broke out two thousand years ago, were captured by the Western Han army and sent to the western hinterland of China!

At that time, the Han government also set up a special county, namely "Ali" county, and at the same time built Ali City. It can be seen that there is only one reason for choosing the country name as the county name: that is, the Romans settled here.

Only by finding the ancient city of Ali can we find the connection between this ancient city and the ancient Romans. So where can I find the city of Ali now?

According to various textual research on more than 70 ancient city sites on the Gobi Desert in western China and the confirmation of unearthed cultural relics, historians found that Zhelaizhai ancient city site in Yongchang County, Gansu Province is the ancient city site of Ali recorded in ancient books and also the settlement of Roman prisoners of war.

Zhelaizhai Village used to be an ancient foreign earth fort. After the 20th century, the castle gradually became broken walls. The villagers in Zhelaizhai speak Chinese, and the nationality is Han. * * * * There are more than 400 people, among whom more than 200 people obviously have the appearance characteristics of Mediterranean people: burly, well-built, sunken eyes, high nose, "curly hair and beard" and golden yellow, long hair and dark red skin. After DNA research and analysis, the villagers here are indeed of European descent.

Although it is quite remote here, and even many people have never walked out of the small Yongchang county boundary, the pizza eaten by the villagers is similar to that cooked by Europeans. Like the Spanish, they have a special interest in bullfighting. They have great respect for cows. Every new year, they make a sacrifice in the shape of a cow with flour. They also like to let the cows run and roar with the smell of blood, and then fight each other to death. Experts believe that this is the legacy of ancient Roman bullfighting.

This village has many unique customs. For example, when they bury the dead, no matter what the terrain, they follow the rule of facing west. Not long ago, Yongchang County built the Li Anhua Hotel, the Roman Shopping Center and the giant stone carving reflecting the county's 2000-year history.

Some historians believe that Laizhai people are descendants of the ancient Roman army that mysteriously disappeared two thousand years ago.

However, although it is certain that the special "immigrants" living in Zhelaizhai Village of Yongchang County are descendants of Roman soldiers, there are still many mysteries that are difficult to solve. If they settle in Hexi Corridor, are they all married? If so, their descendants should be far more than those who came to Zhai village, and there should be others in other places. A Roman-style mural was found in a temple in Xinjiang, with a line of minority characters on it, which recorded a craftsman named Tisha. After painting this painting, he got 3000 drachmas (Greek currency). Tisha is a typical Roman name. Is there such a special immigrant living in Xinjiang? Are the wives of these ancient Roman soldiers Han or other ethnic minorities?

Perhaps through the unremitting efforts of archaeologists and historians, these mysteries will eventually come to light in the near future.