23.12.08
The Roman Battlefield at Kalefeld, Part 3
Adrian Murdoch of Bread and Circuses has a post about the Kalefeld finds, including a number of links to newspaper articles, and another about Maximinus Thrax which is worth reading for the information on his German campaign (and his dietary habits). My other posts about Kalefeld can be found here and here.
Die Welt, another German newspaper, presents a bad example of sensational journalism when the article speaks about a battlefield where 'thousands of Romans and Germans fought desperately', only to have to correct the number in a later paragraph. I'm also sure it took the Romans more than 'one arrow salva' to chase the Germans off so they could return to their headquarter at the Rhine. The Italian La Stampa gets back at us with a big neiner, neiner: The Myth of Arminius is No More. 'I Romani restarono almeno per altri due secoli.' - well, I would not call preventive forays as 'remained there for another two centuries', but that's the Italians. *grin*.
Much more cautious and detailed is the presentation on the website of Northeim County (Landkreis Northeim), based on an essay by county archaeologist Dr. Petra Lönne.
The Harzhorn lies at the easternmost edge of a west-east running line of hills which forms a natural barrier, since the south-north going routes along the Harz have to pass a small path there. Even today the Autobahn, country road and the Mediaeval military road (Heerstraße) run almost side by side. I've passed this defile countless times on the way to Braunschweig; next time I'll mentally imagine a Roman column marching beside the car. :)
(Photo: Knife case binder *)
The greatest amount of weapons has been found on the northern slopes of the Harzhorn. The way finds are distributed indicates the possibility that part of the slope has been hit by a mudslide that took material with it. The article also stresses the unusual discovery of an obviously unplundered battlefield. Broken wagons, hundreds of missiles sticking out of the ground (not buried too deeply then) and lost equipment must have been visible for years until woods covered the place. One possible explanation the article mentions is that the area was considered taboo. Strange as this may sound to us, the Germanic tribes had beliefs we can only guess at since the Romans seldom mention them (and not everything Tacitus wrote can be taken face value). Though such a taboo had not been invoked for the Varus battlefield, at least not until much later. The question remains unanswered for now.
Research of the battlefield has only begun, and every day can bring to light new finds that may change the prospected model of the events.
We don't know for sure the size of the Roman troops. Since they brought a train and torsion catapults, it can't have been a small unit, the article says. This is interesting because so far the number of about 1000 men was mentioned in most articles about Kalefeld. It would indeed have been a small troop to send against hostile Germans - Varus had three legions and six auxiliary cohorts, Germanicus six legions (a legion has between 5000-6000 men) plus cavalry, and I'm pretty sure more than one legion would have been needed on a punitive expedition or preventive foray against several united Germanic tribes deep inside German territory.
(Photo: Catapult bolts *)
Therefore the thousand men who fought at Kalefeld probably were a sub-unit of a larger army in the surroundings, perhaps on an expedition or the armed escort of an embassy. Even if the presence of Romans can be connected with Maximinus Thrax' camp-aign, I doubt Kalefeld is the site of the Battle of the Swamp. Sure, there might have been swamps in Roman times, extensive agriculture drained many of those, as the Varus battlefield of Kalkriese shows, but it would have been a mere skirmish compared to other battles the Romans fought. Imho, the Romans of Kalefeld either belonged to some different expedition not mentioned in the sources, or there were several military conflicts during the campaign, and the Historia Augusta only mentions the most important.
The following scenario seems possible according to the present discoveries, the article says: Roman troops on their way back from the north found the path blocked and fought their way out upward the slopes of the Harzhorn. Obviously the Romans were victorious thanks to their superior technology, but had to retreat to the Leine valley because of the ongoing threat from the Germans. And from there, I suppose, back to Moguntiacum at some point.
* Both photos by: C.S. Fuchs, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege. Copyright remains with the artist. Source is the website of Northeim County, linked above.
I plan to visit the site, but right now it's raining a lot and the area probably a big mud hole. I also hope for an exhibition of the finds like it was done with the Hedemünden ones; I'd prefer to post my own photos instead of ones I found online. ¶ 12:54 AM
Adrian Murdoch of Bread and Circuses has a post about the Kalefeld finds, including a number of links to newspaper articles, and another about Maximinus Thrax which is worth reading for the information on his German campaign (and his dietary habits). My other posts about Kalefeld can be found here and here.
Die Welt, another German newspaper, presents a bad example of sensational journalism when the article speaks about a battlefield where 'thousands of Romans and Germans fought desperately', only to have to correct the number in a later paragraph. I'm also sure it took the Romans more than 'one arrow salva' to chase the Germans off so they could return to their headquarter at the Rhine. The Italian La Stampa gets back at us with a big neiner, neiner: The Myth of Arminius is No More. 'I Romani restarono almeno per altri due secoli.' - well, I would not call preventive forays as 'remained there for another two centuries', but that's the Italians. *grin*.
Much more cautious and detailed is the presentation on the website of Northeim County (Landkreis Northeim), based on an essay by county archaeologist Dr. Petra Lönne.
The Harzhorn lies at the easternmost edge of a west-east running line of hills which forms a natural barrier, since the south-north going routes along the Harz have to pass a small path there. Even today the Autobahn, country road and the Mediaeval military road (Heerstraße) run almost side by side. I've passed this defile countless times on the way to Braunschweig; next time I'll mentally imagine a Roman column marching beside the car. :)
(Photo: Knife case binder *)The greatest amount of weapons has been found on the northern slopes of the Harzhorn. The way finds are distributed indicates the possibility that part of the slope has been hit by a mudslide that took material with it. The article also stresses the unusual discovery of an obviously unplundered battlefield. Broken wagons, hundreds of missiles sticking out of the ground (not buried too deeply then) and lost equipment must have been visible for years until woods covered the place. One possible explanation the article mentions is that the area was considered taboo. Strange as this may sound to us, the Germanic tribes had beliefs we can only guess at since the Romans seldom mention them (and not everything Tacitus wrote can be taken face value). Though such a taboo had not been invoked for the Varus battlefield, at least not until much later. The question remains unanswered for now.
Research of the battlefield has only begun, and every day can bring to light new finds that may change the prospected model of the events.
We don't know for sure the size of the Roman troops. Since they brought a train and torsion catapults, it can't have been a small unit, the article says. This is interesting because so far the number of about 1000 men was mentioned in most articles about Kalefeld. It would indeed have been a small troop to send against hostile Germans - Varus had three legions and six auxiliary cohorts, Germanicus six legions (a legion has between 5000-6000 men) plus cavalry, and I'm pretty sure more than one legion would have been needed on a punitive expedition or preventive foray against several united Germanic tribes deep inside German territory.
(Photo: Catapult bolts *)Therefore the thousand men who fought at Kalefeld probably were a sub-unit of a larger army in the surroundings, perhaps on an expedition or the armed escort of an embassy. Even if the presence of Romans can be connected with Maximinus Thrax' camp-aign, I doubt Kalefeld is the site of the Battle of the Swamp. Sure, there might have been swamps in Roman times, extensive agriculture drained many of those, as the Varus battlefield of Kalkriese shows, but it would have been a mere skirmish compared to other battles the Romans fought. Imho, the Romans of Kalefeld either belonged to some different expedition not mentioned in the sources, or there were several military conflicts during the campaign, and the Historia Augusta only mentions the most important.
The following scenario seems possible according to the present discoveries, the article says: Roman troops on their way back from the north found the path blocked and fought their way out upward the slopes of the Harzhorn. Obviously the Romans were victorious thanks to their superior technology, but had to retreat to the Leine valley because of the ongoing threat from the Germans. And from there, I suppose, back to Moguntiacum at some point.
* Both photos by: C.S. Fuchs, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege. Copyright remains with the artist. Source is the website of Northeim County, linked above.
I plan to visit the site, but right now it's raining a lot and the area probably a big mud hole. I also hope for an exhibition of the finds like it was done with the Hedemünden ones; I'd prefer to post my own photos instead of ones I found online. ¶ 12:54 AM
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Those catapult bolts look nasty.
It's all so mysterious... can you feel the plotbunnies biting yet, Gabriele? ;)
It's all so mysterious... can you feel the plotbunnies biting yet, Gabriele? ;)
Lol Constance, looks like they are. They're probably also still miffed about Friedrich Barbarossa, Heinrich IV and a few other German Emperors. ;)
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