2009 January Germania_Roman Battlefield

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VISITING AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE

JANUARY 2009

Third Century Roman Battlefield

Discovered in Northern Germany

Forwarded by anonymous

The battle would postdate the invasion of Germania by Roman legions under Varus who was defeated in 9 A.D. by Hermann the Cheruscan and his Germanic tribesmen in the battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The battle is commemorated by a statue of Hermann in the city of Detmold (below). A smaller replica stands in the Minnesota town of New Ulm, known as America’s most German city.

As previously reported, the newly uncovered battlefield near Kalefeld-Oldenrode, south of Hanover, is some 124 miles northwest of the Teutoberg Forest and appears to date to between A.D. 180-260. At a press conference Monday, archeologists said they used coins and weaponry excavated from an area one mile long and 1/3 of a mile wide to date the battlefield. The experts called it the „find of the century.“ The 600 objects include spears, arrowheads, catapult and dishes at the site of a brutal battle that might have involved up to 1,000 Roman fighters.

Guenther Moosbauer, an expert at the University of Osnabrueck who studies Roman-German history, said he suspects the battle might have been started by a legion seeking revenge after tribesman in A.D. 235 pushed Roman troops south of the Limes Germanicus, a ring of forts that separated the empire from unconquered land to the north and east. DNA tests showed that the arrows may have been made from wood that the Romans cut in Africa.

Until now historians had assumed that the Romans pulled back after their ignominious deafeat at the hands of Hermann, a Roman general whose Roman name was Arminius. But the excavations prove that the Romans battled the Germans two centuries later in the middle of German territory. In the past few years archeologists in nearby Goettingen have discovered vast supply camps of the Roman army as well as numerous weapons, coins and household utensils.

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Roman battlefield from the third century near Göttingen that will rewrite history, Lower Saxony's department for preservation of historical monuments said.

“The find can be dated to the third century and will definitely change the historical perception of that time,” Dr. Henning Haßmann told a local newspaper. The amazing discovery allows an insight in what must have been a dramatic battle between Romans and Germanic tribes. “The find indicates a massive Roman military presence,” Haßmann said.

So far historians believed that the battle of the Teutoburg Forest, which took place in 9 AD, resulted in the Roman’s Empire withdrawal from Germania without any further attempt to conquer the land beyond the Rhine River again. The leader of the Germanic insurgents was Hermann the Cheruscan, a Roman general whose Latin name was Arminius. But the unearthing of the battleground near the village of Kalefeld proves that Rome didn't give up its expansionary ambitions until much later than previously assumed.

“It is pretty normal to find evidence of Roman culture all over even up in Scotland, but a find like this in northern Germany is really amazing,” Haßmann said. “And it's spectacularly well preserved.” The dig has already brought some 600 artefacts to light during the last three months, most of them ancient weapons. The exact location has been kept a secret so far, to keep private collectors at bay, Haßmann said. But it will be revealed on Monday by Lower Saxony's minister for science and culture, Lutz Stratmann, as well as the archaeologists that were involved in the excavation.

How did it happen?

"It never stopped beeping," said Winfried Schütte of Westerhof, referring to his walks with his metal detector. He was accompanied bz Rolf-Peter Dix. Their hobby is to find treasure from bygone days. Schütte said he was following up on Information that a castle had stood in the forest where the two was searching. "We started our search in 2000 and were astonished when their metal detectors started beeping nonstop.. At first they found several metal bolts which later turned out to be metal pieces that the Romans attached to their arrows and shoot with bows called Scorpios.

Archaeologists uncovered a third-century battlefield in northern Germany which could prove that Roman legions were fighting in the region much later than historians have believed.

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