It is known from historical records that the Romans advanced to the Elbe several times. However, there has so far been a lack of solid evidence for these campaigns against the Germanic peoples. Now researchers have for the first time found remains of the marching camps built by the Roman legions in what is now Saxony-Anhalt. The four locations are the camps that have been discovered so far in the northeast of free Germania – a sensation for archaeologists.
The Romans tried several times to subjugate the Germanic tribes living on the right bank of the Rhine and to incorporate their territories into the Roman Empire as the province “Germania Magna”. Under Emperor Augustus they carried out repeated campaigns as far as the Elbe and Saale over around 30 years. Archaeologists can now trace where the various generals once led their legions using finds and written records. According to this, the Romans set up a new military camp with complex infrastructure after a day’s march of 20 kilometers in order to open up that new province. But after their devastating defeat in the Battle of Varus in the year 9 AD, the Romans withdrew from the area on the right bank of the Rhine. As a result, numerous (un)finished buildings and relics such as coins or nails remained in the Roman settlements in free Germania.
For several decades the Germanic peoples lived more or less peacefully with the neighboring Romans. In the third century AD, however, new large Germanic tribes were formed that massively threatened the Roman Empire. To repel them, the Romans again conducted campaigns in Germanic territory. They advanced to the Elbe again, probably under Emperor Caracalla and Emperor Maximinus Thrax, as the traditions show. However, the written sources only sparsely describe when exactly the Roman campaigns into the interior of Germania took place and how they actually took place.
Four Roman marching camps discovered
Researchers from the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology have now, for the first time, found solid evidence of the existence of Roman marching camps from this period. With the help of aerial photographs, satellite images, geophysical surveys, systematic site visits and excavations, the archaeologists have found structural relics of Roman troop movements between the northern Harz and the Elbe. Using metal detectors, they also found over 1,500 objects that helped them date the sites – including iron nails and bolts from legionnaires’ sandals, but also fibula fragments and coins. It is the first time that such Roman evidence has been found from this northeastern area of Germania – an archaeological sensation.
In the last five years, the researchers found a total of four marching camps in Saxony-Anhalt, including two near Aken in the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district, one near Trabitz in the Salzland district and one near Deersheim in the Harz district. All four camps were built at the beginning of the third century AD, as suggested by the age of the coins found. The structural remains also prove that the Roman marching camps were highly standardized facilities and always looked almost the same. The floor plan was always a rectangle, surrounded by a fence with rounded corners. The main streets led straight from the gates in the fortifications into the interior of the camp and were always laid out at right angles. Where these streets intersected was the staff building, the Principia. The military camps also had a so-called titulum – a characteristic pointed ditch with an adjacent earthen wall outside the gates. This design was intended to slow down enemies and keep them away. The trench had a V-shaped cross-section, was around 1.5 to 1.8 meters wide and between 1.0 and 1.6 meters deep.
Who led the campaigns?
The archaeologists now want to further investigate the newly discovered Roman marching camps in order to find out more about the presence of Roman troops in the Middle Elbe-Saale area. Among other things, they want to find out under which emperor and general the respective marching camps were built in Saxony-Anhalt. If the assumption that the campaigns took place during the time of Emperor Caracalla is confirmed, it would change the view of history. Some historians have previously assumed that Caracalla only carried out his Germanic wars in the immediate vicinity of the Limes and did not penetrate that far into Germania.
Source: State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt – State Museum of Prehistory