生平

年轻时以才学著名，十三岁时便写的一手好文章。后来进入太学就读，拜谯周为老师。当时同侪们以文立比喻为颜回，陈寿、李虔为游夏，罗宪则比喻为子贡。罗宪个性正直严谨、光明磊落、轻财好施，不经营家产。任蜀汉太子舍人、宣信校尉。曾经出使吴国，很受吴国人的称道。

蜀汉末年，黄皓干政，罗宪对黄皓不理不睬，所以被外放为巴东太守。蜀汉后主降魏后，罗宪率领部下们于都亭痛哭三日，不久孙吴派遣征西将军盛曼溯长江西上支援蜀汉，并要罗宪开放永安通道。但实际上孙吴是想夺取巴东，进而取得入蜀通道，退而守卫巴东以保护长江。罗宪面临江山覆辙，盟友劝降之下，久久难以抉择。

坚守永安

263年十月，蜀汉看见魏国来伐国才通知吴国。孙休派丁奉指挥各军攻魏国的寿春，留平和施绩到南郡商议从永安入川救盟友，丁封、孙异从汉水入汉中，孙休为了救蜀汉走捷径路线，采取围魏救赵的三方向牵制魏国进攻。然而在11月，听闻刘禅投降魏国蜀汉灭亡的消息，孙休才停止救援。不久，接到刘禅投降魏国的亲笔手令，罗宪遂率领部队移驻永安城外驿站都亭为蜀亡吊唁三日。264年2月，吴帝孙休派陆抗、步协、留平、盛曼，围取永安。因蜀汉已亡而曹魏势力仍未正式接收，罗宪此时其实没有冒生命危险守关的义务，但他对东吴此举十分气愤，表示东吴不守信用，趁机并吞巴东，随即整顿兵马，严阵以待。东吴先派遣步协强攻白帝城。罗宪沿著长江防守，同时派遣参军杨宗向魏安东将军陈骞及相国司马昭求救。之后吴军攻入巴东，罗宪退入白帝城坚守，吴军屡次强攻皆被挡住，之后又派遣镇军将军陆抗率3万人支援，这场攻防战长达六个月之久。

司马昭得到罗宪求救后认为成都刚经历邓艾、锺会、姜维叛乱事件，目前已无力支援。所以派遣荆州刺史胡烈率军攻打吴属荆州的重镇西陵，陆抗在腹地受胁之下退兵。自此永安之围解除，罗宪担任原职，加封陵江将军，万年亭侯。

后记

永安之围结束后，孙吴武陵郡的部份地区投降曹魏，罗宪加封武陵太守。

泰始元年（265年），司马炎篡魏后罗宪改封为西鄂县侯，罗宪之子罗袭也任给事中。三年（267年）冬，罗宪入朝，进位冠军将军、假节。

泰始四年三月（268年），罗宪跟随晋武帝司马炎在华林园参与宴会，晋武帝询问蜀汉大臣的子弟，又问起其中适合任用者，罗宪推荐了常忌、杜轸、寿良、陈寿、高轨、吕雅、许国、费恭、琅邪诸葛京、汝南陈裕，他们随即得到了进用，都在当时知名于世。

罗宪攻下了孙吴的巫城（今重庆市巫山县），同时也向司马炎进献伐吴之策。泰始六年（270年），罗宪卒于任上，被追封为安南将军，諡号「烈」。

罗宪子罗袭后为陵江将军，统其父部曲，官至广汉太守。兄罗式有子罗尚，因年幼丧父而依靠罗宪，后为梁州刺史。

评价

• 《晋书》评曰：「忠为令德，贞曰事君，徇国家而竭身，历夷险而一节。罗宪、滕修，濯缨入仕，指巴东而受脤，出岭峤而扬麾。属鼎命沦胥，本朝失守，郕巴丘而流涕，集都亭而大临。古之忠烈，罕辈子兹！孝兴之智勇，玄威之武艺，灭丑虏于河西，制凶酋于硜北，审杨欣之必败，讥杨骏之速祸。陶璜、吾彦，逸足齐驱，毛炅屈其深谋，陆抗奇其茂略。薪楢之任，清规自远；鼙鼓之臣，厥声弥劭。景武，南楚秀士；元孙，累叶将门，赴死喻于登仙。效诚陈于上策，竟而俱毙，贞则斯存。」「 宪居玉叠，才博流誉。修赴石门，惠政攸著。孝兴、玄威，操履无违。愚坟毕礼，杨门致讥。璜谋超绝，彦材雄杰。潜师袭董，观兵叹薛。惟赵与张，神略多方。作尉北地，立功西湘。」

• 庾信《哀江南赋》：「三日哭于都亭。」

• 司马炎：「宪忠烈果毅，有才策器干。」

家庭

父兄

• 罗蒙：父亲，蜀汉广汉太守。

• 罗式：兄长，牂柯太守。

子嗣

• 罗袭：长子，广汉太守。

• 罗尚：侄子，罗式子，字敬之，一名仲，字敬真，官至平西将军，益州刺史。

• 罗宇：侄孙，罗尚长子。罗尚死后被建平都尉暴重所杀。

• 罗延寿：侄孙，罗尚次子，骑都尉。

• 罗徽：孙，顺阳内史，晋怀帝永嘉五年（311）为王如所杀。

Early life

Luo Xian's ancestral home was in Xiangyang in present-day Hubei. His father, Luo Meng (罗蒙), left Xiangyang and took shelter in Shu (蜀; present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) during the chaos towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. Luo Meng later served as the Administrator of Guanghan Commandery in the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period.

At a young age, Luo Xian was known for being talented in scholarly arts. He could already write essays when he was just 12 years old. He also studied under the tutelage of Qiao Zhou and his fellow students compared him to Zigong. When Liu Shan was designated as the Crown Prince of Shu in 221, Luo Xian was appointed as a close attendant to him and was later reassigned to serve in the personnel department of the imperial secretariat. Some time later, he was commissioned as a Colonel and sent on a diplomatic mission to Shu's ally state Wu. He received high praise from the Wu officials.

Fall of Shu

When the eunuch Huang Hao rose to power in the Shu government around the 250s, many officials fawned on him in the hope of receiving favours from him. Luo Xian was one of the officials who refused to have any dealings with Huang Hao. As a result, Huang Hao resented him and found an excuse to send him out of Chengdu, the Shu capital, to serve as the Administrator of Badong Commandery (巴东郡; around present-day Fengjie County, Chongqing) near the border between Shu and its ally state Wu. At the time, as the Shu general Yan Yu (阎宇) was already in charge of guarding Badong Commandery, the Shu emperor Liu Shan reassigned Luo Xian to be an Army Commandant (领军) and ordered him to serve as Yan Yu's deputy.

Between September and November 263, when Shu's rival state Wei launched a large-scale invasion of Shu, Yan Yu received orders to lead troops from Badong Commandery to defend Shu from the Wei invaders. Luo Xian remained behind in Yong'an (永安; present-day Fengjie County, Chongqing) with only 2,000 troops.

When news of the fall of Chengdu reached Yong'an, there was much unrest and panic among the people. Some of the officials at Yong'an even abandoned their posts and fled. Luo Xian managed to restore order and stability in Yong'an after executing one of the men who spread the news that Chengdu had fallen. After receiving news of Liu Shan's surrender, Luo Xian gathered all his troops and mourned the end of Shu for three days.

Defence of Yongan

In the meantime, when Shu's ally state Wu learnt that Shu had fallen to Wei, they prepared to invade and capture Badong Commandery under the pretext of sending reinforcements to Shu. Upon receiving news of the impending Wu invasion, Luo Xian told his men: "Our dynasty has collapsed. Wu was supposed to be our ally but now, instead of helping us, they break our alliance and seek to seize our territories. As Shu has fallen, Wu won't last long too. Who would want to surrender to Wu?" He then rallied his troops, reminded them of their allegiance to Shu, and strengthened their defences.

In March 264, the Wei general Zhong Hui, who took charge of Chengdu following Liu Shan's surrender, started a rebellion against the Wei regent Sima Zhao. However, the rebellion failed and Zhong Hui was killed by his officers who refused to join him. Upon learning of Zhong Hui's death, the Wu emperor Sun Xiu thought that no one was in charge of Shu, so he sent his troops to seize control of the Shu territories. However, the Wu forces led by Bu Xie encountered strong resistance from Luo Xian and his men at Badong Commandery and could not advance further west into the heartland of Shu.

As the Wu forces rained arrows on Luo Xian's position along the Yangtze, Luo Xian feared that he might not be able to hold out for long so he ordered his subordinate Yang Zong (杨宗) to break out of the siege and head north to seek help from the Wei general Chen Qian. He also surrendered his tallies and sent his son as a hostage to the Wei regent Sima Zhao to prove his sincerity in seeking help from Wei to counter the Wu invasion. When the Wu forces under Bu Xie's command attacked Yong'an, Luo Xian led his men out of the city to strike back and succeeded in defeating the enemy.

Enraged at the Wu defeat, the Wu emperor Sun Xiu ordered his general Lu Kang to lead an additional 30,000 troops to reinforce Bu Xie and besiege Yong'an. After about six months of siege with no sign of Wei reinforcements arriving, more than half of Yong'an's population had fallen sick.

When someone suggested that he break out of the siege and head south towards Zangke Commandery (牂柯郡; covering parts of present-day Guizhou) or head north to Shangyong Commandery (上庸郡; covering parts of present-day northwestern Hubei), Luo Xian replied: "If you are a leader of people, the masses will look up to you. A junzi will try to restore stability in a crisis and not flee in the face of danger. I am prepared to end my life here."

After Chen Qian relayed Luo Xian's call for help to Sima Zhao, the Wei regent ordered the general Hu Lie to lead troops from Jing Province to help Luo Xian and lift the siege on Yong'an. The Wu forces retreated after seeing that Wei reinforcements had arrived.

Service under the Jin dynasty

The Wei regent Sima Zhao accepted Luo Xian's surrender and ordered him to remain there and continue guarding Yong'an (永安; present-day Fengjie County, Chongqing). He also appointed Luo Xian as General Who Rises Above the River (淩江将军), and awarded him the peerage of the Marquis of Wannian Village (万年亭侯). When four counties in Wuling Commandery (武陵郡; around present-day Changde, Hunan) rebelled against Wu rule, the Wei government appointed Luo Xian as the nominal Administrator of Wuling (武陵太守) and Army Supervisor of Badong (巴东监军).

In 265, after Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan (Emperor Wu) usurped the Wei throne and established the Jin dynasty to replace Wei, he promoted Luo Xian from the status of a village marquis to a county marquis under the title "Marquis of Xi'e County" (西鄂县侯). The emperor also issued an imperial decree as follows: "(Luo) Xian is loyal, courageous, decisive and resolute. He is talented and capable. He should have a ceremonial guard to accompany him." He also awarded Luo Xian a ceremonial sword made of shanxuan jade. After Luo Xian's family moved to Luoyang, the Jin imperial capital, Emperor Wu appointed Luo Xian's son Luo Xi (罗袭) as an Official Who Concurrently Serves in the Palace (给事中).

In the winter of 267, Emperor Wu summoned Luo Xian to his imperial court in Luoyang, appointed him as Champion General (冠军将军) and granted him acting imperial authority.

In April 268, when Luo Xian attended a banquet hosted by Emperor Wu in Hualin Gardens, the emperor asked him to recommend some talents from among the descendants of former Shu officials. Luo Xian then recommended Chang Ji (常忌), Du Zhen (杜轸), Shou Liang (寿良), Chen Shou, Gao Gui (高轨), Lü Ya, Xu Guo (许国), Fei Gong, Zhuge Jing and Chen Yu. Emperor Wu recruited all of them to serve in the Jin government; these men all put their talents to good use.

After Luo Xian returned to his post at Yong'an, he led his troops to attack and occupy Wu County (巫县; present-day Wushan County, Chongqing), which was under the control of Eastern Wu. He then presented a plan to Emperor Wu for the Jin dynasty to conquer Eastern Wu.

Throughout his life, Luo Xian was known for holding himself to high moral standards and being respectful towards scholar-officials. Although he did not own any private property or enterprises, he was generous with his wealth and did not hesitate to use it to help the poor. He died in 270 and was awarded the posthumous appointment of General Who Stabilises the South (安南将军) and the posthumous title "Marquis Lie" (烈侯; literally "vehement marquis").

Family

Luo Xian's son, Luo Xi (罗袭), served as General Who Rises Above the River (淩江将军) and inherited command of his father's troops. He died early, however, and was awarded the posthumous appointment of Administrator of Guanghan Commandery. Luo Xi's son, Luo Hui (罗徽), served as a clerk under the Prince of Shunyang (顺阳王) and was killed by the rebel leader Wang Ru (王如) in 311.

Luo Xian's nephew, Luo Shang (罗尚), also served as a general under the Jin dynasty.