A. Slonek/Novetus
Where the remains of the Roman soldiers were found.
Rare ordinary ditch was born from a “catastrophic” military event for about 2000 years. Roman defeat before Germanic tribes “may represent the moment of the founding of Vienna.”
Under the lawn of a soccer field in the Simmering neighborhood of Vienna were the bones of 150 Roman soldiers – a find that is surprising the archaeological world. It can even be First Physical Proof of Roman-German Battles in the current Vienna region.
The huge common grave – identified in October and whose excavations were carried out by archaeologists and historians of the Vienna Museum – revealed that the remains date from between 80 e 234 d.C.“hot” period in the Roman Empire, with the expansion in Central Europe, during the reigns of emperors such as Domiciano and Trajan, who led campaigns against the strong Germanic tribes.
The soldiers found on the soccer field will have died during a “Catastrophic” military event About 2000 years ago.
Alongside Swords and spears -injured skeletons – an “extremely rare” find, as most bodies were cremated at the time – researchers found Roman military artifacts, including iron daggers, spears, scales armor and a helmet’s face piece. But it was the shoeswith different patterns of nails, which confirmed that the investigators were facing Roman soldiers.
But one of the most impressive aspects of the discovery was even the way the bodies were buried. Contrary to the Roman custom of cremation that predominated until the 3rd century DC, these soldiers were buried hastily and without ceremony. Many bodies were found lying on side or belly down, with the tangled limbs, suggesting that they were buried in mass after the violent confrontation.
The injuries in the skeletons – such as skull fractures and wounds on the trunk and pelvis – point to Fighting Deathinflicted by spears, swords, dagged and possibly projectiles of beasts.
“The unworthy nature of the burial site, along with the deadly wounds found in each individual, suggests a catastrophic military confrontation, possibly followed by a hasty retreat,” he said Martin MosesArchaeologist of the Vienna Urban Archeology Department, which worked on the project, to the agency.
Investigators suggest that defeat may have led the Romans to fortify an advanced post nearby, which later evolved to Vindobonathe predecessor of the present Vienna. “This can represent the moment of the Vienna Foundation”said Mosser. “It suggests a concrete reason for the construction of Vindobone as a large -scale legionary fortress, which would lead us to the moment of Vienna’s foundation,” he said.
The way they were buried, with “contempt”, may be due to the fact that they have been defeated.
“I think we are facing another moment that reflects a Roman defeat and a funeral of troops after the fact,” said David Potter, a Greek and Roman history professor at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the investigation.
“Throughout central Europe of the first century, we have no unin -burned and non -cremated human remains,” he said Michaela Binderthe project’s main anthropologist, “Therefore, beyond the military aspect, it is a unique opportunity to study people’s life stories in the first century we have the unique opportunity to study the lives of normal Roman soldiers.”
