The masses of the negative parity 70-plet baryons are analyzed in large N_c QCD to order O(1/N_c) and to first order in SU(3) symmetry breaking. The existing experimental data are well reproduced and twenty new observables are predicted. The leading order SU(6) spinflavor symmetry breaking is small and, as it occurs in the quark model, the subleading in 1/N_c hyperfine interaction is the dominant source of the breaking. It is found that the (1405) and (1520) are well described as three-quark states and spin-orbit partners. New relations between splittings in different SU(3) multiplets are found.