MalteseFalcon
Bronze Member
- Aug 17, 2005
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http://www.theage.com.au/world/battlefield-relics-could-rewrite-roman-history-20081217-70q1.html
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Roman...os_ts_wl_afp/dcfe8e3dc146b2f98e88218e2101a350
ARCHAEOLOGISTS say the history books about Roman legions in Europe will have to be revised following the "sensational" discovery of a battlefield in northern Germany this week.
Arrowheads, axes, catapults, spears, coins and lucky charms of the centurions of Rome who clashed with the Hun tribesmen in the 3rd century AD have been found in a forest. The clash of arms, say experts, would have resembled those portrayed in the Russell Crowe epic Gladiator.
Six hundred artefacts have been dug up so far in what archaeologists are calling "the find of the century".
The detritus of war lies in a patch of land near Northeim, about 50 kilometres from Hanover. The spear tips and arrowheads have the DNA of their victims on them, centuries after they died in a ferocious battle.
What makes the find unique is that it shows Roman armies in action long after the last clash — the great battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD9 when Arminius annihilated three of the seven legions of Rome — was thought to have occurred.
"Evidently the Romans and Germans fought a bloody battle in the third century AD," said archaeologist Petra Loenne. "Some 1000 Roman legionnaires may have been involved in the fight."
Intriguingly, the find includes more than 300 iron projectiles that were fired by powerful Roman torsion weapons known as scorpions, which could catapult heavy darts with a high velocity and deadly accuracy.
It had a range of 300 metres and was portrayed in the opening battle scene of Gladiator.
"The bolts were found densely clustered," said archaeologist Henning Hassmann.
"The discovery of the battlefield is so significant because it appears to refute the assumption that the Romans withdrew from Germania after their defeat by an alliance of Germanic tribes at the battle of the Teutoburg Forest," he said.
Many of the weapons found are in good condition and they prove that Roman armies were still engaging in major military operations far north of the Alps at a time when the Roman Empire was in terminal decline.
"The find can be dated to the third century and will definitely change the historical perception of that time," Dr Hassmann said.
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Roman...os_ts_wl_afp/dcfe8e3dc146b2f98e88218e2101a350
ARCHAEOLOGISTS say the history books about Roman legions in Europe will have to be revised following the "sensational" discovery of a battlefield in northern Germany this week.
Arrowheads, axes, catapults, spears, coins and lucky charms of the centurions of Rome who clashed with the Hun tribesmen in the 3rd century AD have been found in a forest. The clash of arms, say experts, would have resembled those portrayed in the Russell Crowe epic Gladiator.
Six hundred artefacts have been dug up so far in what archaeologists are calling "the find of the century".
The detritus of war lies in a patch of land near Northeim, about 50 kilometres from Hanover. The spear tips and arrowheads have the DNA of their victims on them, centuries after they died in a ferocious battle.
What makes the find unique is that it shows Roman armies in action long after the last clash — the great battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD9 when Arminius annihilated three of the seven legions of Rome — was thought to have occurred.
"Evidently the Romans and Germans fought a bloody battle in the third century AD," said archaeologist Petra Loenne. "Some 1000 Roman legionnaires may have been involved in the fight."
Intriguingly, the find includes more than 300 iron projectiles that were fired by powerful Roman torsion weapons known as scorpions, which could catapult heavy darts with a high velocity and deadly accuracy.
It had a range of 300 metres and was portrayed in the opening battle scene of Gladiator.
"The bolts were found densely clustered," said archaeologist Henning Hassmann.
"The discovery of the battlefield is so significant because it appears to refute the assumption that the Romans withdrew from Germania after their defeat by an alliance of Germanic tribes at the battle of the Teutoburg Forest," he said.
Many of the weapons found are in good condition and they prove that Roman armies were still engaging in major military operations far north of the Alps at a time when the Roman Empire was in terminal decline.
"The find can be dated to the third century and will definitely change the historical perception of that time," Dr Hassmann said.
