Monday 19 May 2014
It's long been believed that the Romans very rarely ventured across the Rhine river into modern-day Germany, especially after the disastrous battle of Teutoburger forest in 9 A.D.
However, in 2010, archaeologists discovered an ancient Roman military camp in the German Bundesland of Thüringen, deep in eastern Germany.
The site, found near Hachelbich, would have sheltered a Roman legion of up to 5,000 troops.
Its location in a broad valley with few impediments suggests it was a stopover on the way to invade territory further east.
After the battle of Teutoburger forest in 9 A.D., Rome largely abandoned hope of conquering the fractious German tribes north of the Rhine River.
Yet written sources suggest that the Romans occasionally campaigned in Germany, probably to punish German tribes for raids on Roman territory.
Until recently, the reports have been largely dismissed.
But this discovery, which was revealed to the general public only 6 days ago, along with evidence of a battlefield near modern Hannover, seem to show that these written sources had more truth to it than previously thought.
The archaeologists working on the site have said that the camp site they have uncovered is definitely NOT of Germanic origin, but Roman.
The camp site is dated to somewhere between the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D.
Pictured is the province of Thüringen on a modern-day map of Germany.
- Tobbe
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