Pro umbris Legionis Nonae Hispanae

I. Excidium
Marchavimus in silvas caecas,
Ubi caelum grave est et mortui ieiuni.
Transivimus sine signo vel clamore,
Nec cornu, nec campana, nec memoria.

Vesperi venerunt, sine voce,
Oculi picti, gladios sine rima.
Calīgō in pulmone, rubor in nive,
Frater super fratre cecidit.

Sub hasta fracta iacebam,
Fragmen aeris in spina mea.
Tres dies corvi et canes luserunt,
Donec silentium me texit.

Nullus manipulus, solum arbores,
Nulli dii, nisi saxum et mare.
Aquila periit, alas laceratas,
Sanguis eius in oculis meis manet.

II. Stagnatio
Eboracum manet, sed obliviscitur.
Nomina sub musco et pluvia cadunt.
Novos milites miserunt, novas tabulas,
Iuramenta nova pro vulneribus veteribus.

Subscripsi chartas. Stratoria purgavi.
Capitula aurea liquefacta sunt.
Cresta nostra in cera mutata est,
Signa combusti, honos defecit.

Muri crescunt, silentium crescit.
Cistas signavi. Iussa celerata.
Sed nocte, manus e terra surgunt,
Fango tectae, ex terra ignota.

III. Relegatio
Ad orientem missi sumus, sub sole caeco.
Nullo nomine, odium tulimus.
Scuti novi, gradus novi,
Praeteriti delendi, non commemorandi.

In Antiochia occidi, in sabulo,
Ubi rebelles terram sacram foderunt.
Sed etiam ibi, sub stellis alienis,
Umbrae redierunt cum cicatricibus Britannicis.

Sub nocte sussurramus: “Nona”.
In sepulcris sine nomine.
Nullae preces, nulla marmorata memoria,
Solum ventus et pulvis ossium.

IV. Oblivio
Nunc mens in partes scinditur:
Una periit in nive, una in verbis,
Una combussit se sub sole orientis,
Et omnes obliti sunt quid bellum sit.

Ambulo, sed manum meam nescio.
Dormio sine praecepto aut vexillo.
Vocant me “veteranus,” sed nemo videt:
Ignis Legionis in corde manet.

Sed nomina solvuntur ut sal in pluvia,
Et oculos eorum, dolorem eorum obliviscor.
Nona est cinis, figura, suspirium—
Ego sum vir quem mors praeteriit.

Nos sepeliverunt in silentio Imperii,
Sed ossa meminerunt quod sanguis negavit.
Ubi herba crescit super muros fractos,
Legio tacita meminit.

I. Excidium / Annihilation
Latin:
Marchavimus in silvas caecas,
Ubi caelum grave est et mortui ieiuni.
Transivimus sine signo vel clamore,
Nec cornu, nec campana, nec memoria.

English:
We marched into blind woods,
Where the sky is heavy and the dead are lean.
We crossed without sign or cry,
No horn, no bell, no memory.

Latin:
Vesperi venerunt, sine voce,
Oculi picti, gladios sine rima.
Calīgō in pulmone, rubor in nive,
Frater super fratre cecidit.

English:
They came at dusk, voiceless,
Painted eyes, blades without flaw.
Mist in the lungs, red in the snow,
Brother fell upon brother.

Latin:
Sub hasta fracta iacebam,
Fragmen aeris in spina mea.
Tres dies corvi et canes luserunt,
Donec silentium me texit.

English:
I lay beneath a broken spear,
A shard of bronze in my spine.
For three days crows and dogs took turns,
Until silence clothed me.

Latin:
Nullus manipulus, solum arbores,
Nulli dii, nisi saxum et mare.
Aquila periit, alas laceratas,
Sanguis eius in oculis meis manet.

English:
No cohort left, only trees.
No gods but stone and sea.
The eagle perished, wings torn wide,
Its blood remains in my eyes.

II. Stagnatio / Stagnation
Latin:
Eboracum manet, sed obliviscitur.
Nomina sub musco et pluvia cadunt.
Novos milites miserunt, novas tabulas,
Iuramenta nova pro vulneribus veteribus.

English:
York remains, but it forgets.
Names fall beneath moss and rain.
They sent new men, new scrolls,
Fresh oaths for old wounds.

Latin:
Subscripsi chartas. Stratoria purgavi.
Capitula aurea liquefacta sunt.
Cresta nostra in cera mutata est,
Signa combusti, honos defecit.

English:
I signed the charts. I cleared the beds.
Golden standards were melted down.
Our crest became wax,
Banners burned, honor vanished.

Latin:
Muri crescunt, silentium crescit.
Cistas signavi. Iussa celerata.
Sed nocte, manus e terra surgunt,
Fango tectae, ex terra ignota.

English:
Walls rise, silence thickens.
I stamped the crates. Orders rushed.
But at night, hands rise from the earth,
Mud-covered, from unknown lands.

III. Relegatio / Reassignment
Latin:
Ad orientem missi sumus, sub sole caeco.
Nullo nomine, odium tulimus.
Scuti novi, gradus novi,
Praeteriti delendi, non commemorandi.

English:
We were sent east, under the blind sun.
Without a name, we bore hatred.
New shields, new ranks,
Our past erased, not remembered.

Latin:
In Antiochia occidi, in sabulo,
Ubi rebelles terram sacram foderunt.
Sed etiam ibi, sub stellis alienis,
Umbrae redierunt cum cicatricibus Britannicis.

English:
I killed in Antioch, in sand,
Where rebels carved sacred land.
But even there, under foreign stars,
The shadows returned with British scars.

Latin:
Sub nocte sussurramus: “Nona”.
In sepulcris sine nomine.
Nullae preces, nulla marmorata memoria,
Solum ventus et pulvis ossium.

English:
We whispered “Ninth” beneath the night.
In tombs without a name.
No prayers, no marble remembrance—
Only wind and the dust of bones.

IV. Oblivio / Memory Loss
Latin:
Nunc mens in partes scinditur:
Una periit in nive, una in verbis,
Una combussit se sub sole orientis,
Et omnes obliti sunt quid bellum sit.

English:
Now the mind splits in thirds:
One died in snow, one in words,
One burned itself beneath the eastern sun—
And all forgot what war was for.

Latin:
Ambulo, sed manum meam nescio.
Dormio sine praecepto aut vexillo.
Vocant me “veteranus,” sed nemo videt:
Ignis Legionis in corde manet.

English:
I walk, but know not my hand.
I sleep with no command or banner.
They call me “veteran,” but none see:
The Legion’s fire remains in my heart.

Latin:
Sed nomina solvuntur ut sal in pluvia,
Et oculos eorum, dolorem eorum obliviscor.
Nona est cinis, figura, suspirium—
Ego sum vir quem mors praeteriit.

English:
But names dissolve like salt in rain,
And I forget their eyes, their pain.
The Ninth is ash, a form, a sigh—
I am the man that death passed by.

Epilogue:
Latin:
Nos sepeliverunt in silentio Imperii,
Sed ossa meminerunt quod sanguis negavit.
Ubi herba crescit super muros fractos,
Legio tacita meminit.

English:
They buried us in the silence of empire,
But bones remember what blood denies.
Where grass grows on broken walls,
The silent legion still recalls.