Romans fighting for Germany longer than expected . ..

A third-century battlefield unearthed in northern Germany seems to point to Roman legions fighting in the region far longer than most historians have ever thought.


Roman soldiers were famously defeated by Germanic tribesmen at the Battle of Teutoberg Forest in 9 A.D. However, a newly discovered battlefield near Kalefeld-Oldenrode is even farther north than the Teutoberg Forest and appears to date from between 180 and 260 A.D., according to a report by the Associated Press news agency.

Archaeologists held a press conference on Monday, Dec. 15, to announce that they had used coins and weapons excavated from the area to date the battlefield.

Digging for the truth

Archaeologist Petra Loenne said more than 600 artifacts, including spears, arrowheads, catapult bolts and dishes had been collected. It's estimated that the battle fought there could have involved up to 1,000 Roman fighters.

According to a theory put forward by Guenther Moosbauer, an expert at the University of Osnabrueck who studies Roman-German history, a Roman legion could have been seeking revenge after tribesman in 235 A.D. pushed Roman troops south of the Limes Germanicus, a ring of forts that separated the empire from unconquered land to the north and east.

"We will need to take a new look at the sources," Moosbauer told AP.



DPA news agency (th)


Archaeologists Discover Roman Battlefield in Northern Germany | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 16.12.2008

 

Amazing how these people happened to lose change all the time

 

Actually, the reason that so many caches of coins are found all over Europe is that the legionairres would bury their money before a battle and then retrieve it after the battle. The coinage that is found today belonged to soldiers who did not make it back after the battle to retrieve their wealth.

 

And here I thought that the Romans tossed coins at the poor Barbarians to make them fight each other for the money!

 

That's what Prof. A.H.M.Jones stated in an article in Journal of Roman Studies back in MCMXXVII, no.3, p. 46, "Numisma found among Turcilingii remains in common grave Oberpfaffenhöfen 17a".