Back in the day some roman dudes got lost..

[Zay]

in China.
http://www.theromanforum.com/?p=5959

http://www.prester-john.com/media/china/chineseroman.jpg
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/5614/blondechinese789403pk9.jpg


I thought you might find this interesting. Why else would some of these chinese villagers have green eyes or blond hair?

[The Flux Capacitard]

Yeah, that is interesting and should be explored further. I wonder if they could extra DNA from the remains that were buried facing westward, or even DNA from the current locals who have European features, and compare them? I'm no expert, but I believe I've heard it's pretty easy to use DNA to trace a person's ancestry back to specific regions.

[Ebola]

I think its worth mentioning that ancient Romans were most likely dark haired and brown eyed (like most modern day Italians).

[docus]

I think its worth mentioning that ancient Romans were most likely dark haired and brown eyed (like most modern day Italians).

Not all soldiers in the Roman Army around the time of the first triumvirate were ethnic Romans. Many of them would have been recruits from the northern provinces (such as Gaul and Germania) or straight up mercs.

[Yggdrasil]

If I recall correctly, they did carry out DNA testing, and the results showed that a connection between the Chinese villagers and ancient Europeans was highly unlikely. Kind of a bummer, since the idea is thrilling, but research seems to suggest otherwise. Also, their physical traits don't necessarily corroborate the idea that they're of Roman descent. For example, their light features could come from contact with the Tocharian people, a cultural group that existed long ago in Central Asia that was of Indo-European origin and often depicted with light features in ancient artwork. They died out and all, but their genes could still live on.

Actually, I don't think you even necessarily need to be of some kind of European descent to be blond or have certain fair features. There's pockets of people throughout the world that have certain light features and there's almost no way that they're of European descent. Look at these rural Hmong kids from SE Asia:

http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/picture.php?albumid=151&pictureid=688http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/picture.php?albumid=151&pictureid=687

[Zay]

What about the historical documents that references people from that village fighting in formations typical of roman soldiers?

I mean, I understand that it's unlikely, otherwise lots more roman-chinese villages would pop up, but the chances that it was one of those random pockets(mutations, like in some Australian aboriginals) is even MORE unlikely. You're dismissing one unlikely theory for an even more unlikely theory.

[docus]

What about the historical documents that references people from that village fighting in formations typical of roman soldiers?

I mean, I understand that it's unlikely, otherwise lots more roman-chinese villages would pop up, but the chances that it was one of those random pockets(mutations, like in some Australian aboriginals) is even MORE unlikely. You're dismissing one unlikely theory for an even more unlikely theory.

It could be possible that said Chinese had SEEN the lost Romans and copied their style, but the Romans never mixed with them.

[Ebola]

The fighting style described in the Chinese sources could just as well be describing Greek phalanx. Since Alexander the Great sucessfully conquored Persia and attacked Parthia, and all of this is well documented, I would personally think it is more likely that it was Greeks and not Romans. But no doubt, it will be interesting when the genetics are determined.

Also there seems to be some irregularities in the article. Eg. the Chinese historian Ban Gu (32-92 AD) is mentioned as author of Han Shu (Book of Han) first time mentioning the "fish-scale" formations. But later the Roman fighting style is mentioned to be of General Ma Chao´s army which was in 176-222. In what text is that supposed to be described? And how can it be considered unique to the region if (minimum) two armies 100-150 years apart both employed the same formations?

EDIT

[Ebola]

Studying this a bit more, I found that DNA tests have been made: And in a final attempt to prove the case, a DNA test was conducted of the Liqian villagers, but the results do not confirm this hypothesis. source (http://memoryofthisimpertinence.blogspot.com/2009/07/roman-city-in-china.html)

[Bong McPuffin]

This could be a product of rape as well... its not something to rule out.