10-17-2012, 10:30 PM
As promised:
The Harzhorn callin‘ – or: How to spent a pleasant evening at Frankfurt/Main (Germany).
The Historic-Archeological Society of Frankfurt/Man had called upon their members ( and interested
guests !) for a lecture of chief archeologist Dr. Petra Lönne from the distict of Nordheim/Lower Saxony to report on the roman battlefield near Kalefeld(/Oldenrode/Harriehausen) – the so-called
„lost campaign of Rome“.
Having been at the Archeological Museum in the Karmelitergasse for quite a few times I thought that
arriving at Frankfurt Main Railwaystation some 75 minutes earlier would give me plenty of time to get there early – and tob e able to aks a few questions. Boy – was I wrong !
I simply had underrated my excitement and the fact the the skyline of Franfurt had chanced considerably ( again !) during the last 14 monthe when I ha last been there. Some of my „landmarks“ had literally gone up in dust.
When I finally arrived there „in short breath“ – just right in time—I was confronted with the fact that Dr. Lönne’s health did not allow her to participate.
Wow – but my bewilderment quickly changed to merry anticipation when we were told that her „Replacement“ this night was to be Dr. Michael Geschwinde, one of her distiguished colleagues, co-authoring some of her publications, and …the man in charge oft he Landesausstellung about the Harzhorn to be staged next year at Braunschweig.
This pleasant surprise nonwithstanding I had my problems deriving a sensible „writeup“ from what
I heard and saw – partly but not solely owed tot hat fact having been one of the last to arrive I had to take a seat a bit towards the back.
[Rem.:I’d guess there were about 100 people attending.]
IIRC Dr. Geschwinde took the recent spectacular find of a dolabra with the inscrition of one „LEG IIII“ to start his lecture, relating it to a memorial roman stone vom Speyer mentioned in the CIL (Corpus Inscriptorum Latinarum = Body Of Latin Inscriptions) which was about some „Vitalis“ from the LEGIO IIII Flavia Felix
at (its regular garrison-place) Singidunum/Serbia found in the context of other finds from the 3rd century AD. This inscription had always riddled scholars since ist discovery in ca. 1600.[Rem.: It is not preserved today, but has been published regularly ever since.
> D(is)M(anibus)
AVR(elio) VITALI
MIL(iti)LEG(ionis)IIII FL(aviae)
STIPENDIORUM VII VIXIT
AN(nos) XX^V AGENS
EXPEDITIONE
GERMANIAE FL
AVIVUS PROCL
US MIL(es)LEG(ionis)S(upra)S(criptae)
SECUNDVS HE
RES CON^TUBER
NALI BENE MER
E(nti) F(aciendum) C(uravit)
Translates probably like that:
"To the Gods of Death.
For Aurelius Victor
Soldier of the 4th Flavian Legion
Having lived 25 years
Participated in the expedition against Germania
Flavius Proculus
Soldier in the abovementioned Legion
(and)his heir
took care (of this gravestone)for
his tent-comrades' beneficial memory <
Up to now, some scholars have attributed this monumentum to the Expeditio Germanicae of Caracalla in 213,
where the LEG IIII also took part. CIL XIII, 6104—ILS, 2310; ILS = Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae/ Selected Latin Inscriptions]
Another inscription of a gravestone from Budaörs/Hungary (Grave 283) of one „Aurelius [---]nus“ dating in at the same „horizon“ which stated „…defunctus expeditione Germaniae“ was then introduced .
[AE 2004,1143 … also hitherto attributed to Caracalla’s „expeditio germanica“ ]
Then Dr. geschwinde preceeded tot he first main question :
How comes a find of an inscription referring to a LEG IIII from a piece of military equipment
(dolabra – a roman pioneers‘ piece of kit – kind of an axe AND pick), found amongst a host of related finds deep into the german woods ?
If it was from a battlefield – then from a battlefield that should not have been here !
Dr. Geschwinde then took a „recursio“ to the very beginning oft he whole affair.
[Rem.: Most of the story may already have been posted (or linked ) above.]
Back in 2000, two amateur archeologists Herr Dix and Herr Schütte took „a stroll out“ with their metal-detecting Devices. Somewhere in the woods near the Autobahn A7 their devices spotted some metal objects, which they dug out and took home. Due to other „pastime activities“ they did not further explore the objects that they thought were of medieval origin. When they finally posted pictures of their „candle-holders“ „on the net“—they were surprised to hear that more than one hints was give towards these parts being roman -- a horseshoe (hipposandal).
It had already begun to dawn on them that the scope of their finds might become bigger than they expected and given the fact that such diggings are deemed illegal under the laws of nether saxony they finally turned towards chief district archeologist Dr. Petra Lönne at nearby Nordheim on June 18th, 2008.
These „parts“ along with the probable finding-spot associated with them caused Dr. Lönne to „red-alert“.
Having been „nicked“ by illegal diggers on more than one occasion she instantly knew that prospections had to take place fast, in utmost secrecy, ebeing able to employ very limited „human resources“.
Only she and one of her colleagues [Rem.: Not sure whether I got that one completely!], reinforced by 2 excavation-technicians [ Rem.: Brangs and Schwarz] were the first persons available for prospecting a rather sizeable area. So more „human resources“, amongst them the „Ostfalen-Sucher“ ,a group of amateur prospectionists, that had already helped „the officials“ on several occasions before, were finally called to help. The prospections were upheld for about four months, making ample use of modern prospection technics utilizing GPS and SAPOS (= kinda GPS but with higher resolution) and also conventional optical surveyance devices, when finally more news about their activities began to leak towards the public,
that they’d thought to have been useful. So finally a press-conference was scheduled for Oct. 15,2008. (Rem.: Three days before it had already popped up on the screen of yours truly Simplex, by the way of Archeonews, who had spotted it even earlier, much to the grief of the persons involved in the affair.)
[Rem. : A lot of pictures weren give to illustrate Dr. Geschwindes descriptions – a 3x3 metres‘ projection in about lifelike size is much more impressive than merely seeing those pictures in newspapers, magazines or „on the web“ – rest assured !]
Quickly a great number a finds had been made, posing the problem how to exactly date the site –
At first overview the find could be dated to up to the Middle Ages and to Modern Times – in all.
Even fully functional pieces of ammunition from WW II have been found.
The majority, however could be attributed to roman times.
At this stage oft he lecture Dr. Geschwinde was quick to point out that the archeologists involved in
the early stages were by no means specializing in „roman affairs“ ,-- he and Dr. Lönne both had published on Stone Age and Middle Ages before extensively – including their master and doctorate theses. He presumed that this may have spared them some mistakes as they had to wait for „external“ expertises and trying new ways like e.g. catalogizing the finds not only by their nature and their exact finding spot but also according to their orientation.
Their first hypothesis therefore was concerning a roman „resting place“ or marching camp which was discarded rather quick given the size of the area and the distribution/dispersion oft he finds.
This latter hypothesis was also further „reinforced“ by the fact that the weapons/parts found showed clear signs of use.
[Rem.: A couple of impressive pictures underlined this.]
At that stage objects also showed up that could be clearly attributed tot he Germanic culture.
Dating the site remained still a little bit hazardous,then. With that in mind, Dr. Geschwinde recalled a conversation with colleagues: If we are unlucky we’ll have to call the Kalkriese folks telling them „their“ battlefield was in fact here.
Then a first dating of the coins found at the Harzhorn up to now came in.
Dr. Frank Berger from Frankfurt, who also had made some critical remarks on the Kalkriese coinage,
the oldest coin found was from the times of Commodus. [Rem.: IIRC 188/189AD]
Dr. Geschwinde then took a sidestep to explain that through a couple of more recent coin finds there, the site is now firmly dated. The majority oft he array of coins spans from coins of Heliogabalus to Alexander Severus, the latest one here dating to 228 AD.
This dating is further augmented of a sizeable number of C14-analyses of the wood still attached to the arrow-tips found „on-site“. Since the time-span between cutting the wooden shaft and use of the arrows is typically very short, the „verdict“ „second quarter of the 3rd century AD“ „counts high“.
All that points straight towards the end oft he reign of Severus Alexander ( slain in 235 AD).
At this time, Dr. Geschwinde introduced a victory memorial from Bonn-Beuel (right side oft he Rhine !) , which was set by the LEG I MINERVIA ( the Bonn household legion).
It can be dated into the year 231AD and while not referring expressis verbis to a victory over germans, its location
literally speaks for itself. [CIL XIII , 8017]
It was about the same time when roman history took a turn for the worse, when Ardashir I. , the first
Sassanian emperor finally overthrew his former hegemonials , the Parthi, and soon set out to conquer the land between Euphrat and Tigris.
Severus Alexander planned to counter his attempts, gathering a large expeditionary force and stripping the western provinces of a sizeable part of their military garrisons in that process.
[Rem.: It is „ruling opinion“ that this spured sizeable germanic incursions into the neighbouring parts oft he roman empire namely in the Wetterau [north-west of Frankfurt/Main] and even as far as Strassbourg in 233]
The(bad) news from their home territories spurred unrest amongst the troops in the eastern „theatre“. Severus Alexander tried to gain a „quick“ peace with the Sassanis, seemingly under conditions that were considered „dishonoring“ amongst most of his contemporaries and later history writers.
Back on the Rhine he gathered his troops in and around Mainz/Mogontiacum. (234/235)
The number and names oft he units there were „ronded up“ by one Angela Belezza, Dr. Geschwinde pointed out.
[Rem.: I was not quick enough to note down all oft he, so I’m leaving them out here.
As to Angela Belezza, it seems to have been her paper „Massimiano Il Thraco – published in 1964 at Geneva. ]
Dr. Geschwinde then singled out some of the Auxiliaries involved, Osrhoenic Archers, Mauretan spearslingers and especially the Ala Nova Firma Milliaria Cataphractaria a unit of heavy, fully armoured cavalry that had been raised in the East, 1000 strong.
The latter unit left „epigraphic“ traces e.g. the Bad Canstatt memorial stone to Aurelius Regrethus and Aurelius Saluda, members of that unit.
[Rem.: Since I can’t recall finds of a garrison that late around Stuttgart, I’d still hold the possibility of this unit being part of Gallienus‘ expeditionary forces on later occasions as mirrored by the inscription from Herbrechtingen-Hausen ob Lontal, near Heidenheim, Germany]
Rem.: More about it, here : http://chc.sbg.ac.at/lupa_new/monuments/.../menu:off/ in German; BTW: CIL 03, 05933;
> IMP(erator)] CAES(ar)GALI(enus)
GERMANICV(s)
INVICT(us)AV(gustus) <
Which roughly translates :
> To the Imperator Caesar Gallienus
the defeater of Germans
the undefeated Sublime < ]
END OF PART 1
The Harzhorn callin‘ – or: How to spent a pleasant evening at Frankfurt/Main (Germany).
The Historic-Archeological Society of Frankfurt/Man had called upon their members ( and interested
guests !) for a lecture of chief archeologist Dr. Petra Lönne from the distict of Nordheim/Lower Saxony to report on the roman battlefield near Kalefeld(/Oldenrode/Harriehausen) – the so-called
„lost campaign of Rome“.
Having been at the Archeological Museum in the Karmelitergasse for quite a few times I thought that
arriving at Frankfurt Main Railwaystation some 75 minutes earlier would give me plenty of time to get there early – and tob e able to aks a few questions. Boy – was I wrong !
I simply had underrated my excitement and the fact the the skyline of Franfurt had chanced considerably ( again !) during the last 14 monthe when I ha last been there. Some of my „landmarks“ had literally gone up in dust.
When I finally arrived there „in short breath“ – just right in time—I was confronted with the fact that Dr. Lönne’s health did not allow her to participate.
Wow – but my bewilderment quickly changed to merry anticipation when we were told that her „Replacement“ this night was to be Dr. Michael Geschwinde, one of her distiguished colleagues, co-authoring some of her publications, and …the man in charge oft he Landesausstellung about the Harzhorn to be staged next year at Braunschweig.
This pleasant surprise nonwithstanding I had my problems deriving a sensible „writeup“ from what
I heard and saw – partly but not solely owed tot hat fact having been one of the last to arrive I had to take a seat a bit towards the back.
[Rem.:I’d guess there were about 100 people attending.]
IIRC Dr. Geschwinde took the recent spectacular find of a dolabra with the inscrition of one „LEG IIII“ to start his lecture, relating it to a memorial roman stone vom Speyer mentioned in the CIL (Corpus Inscriptorum Latinarum = Body Of Latin Inscriptions) which was about some „Vitalis“ from the LEGIO IIII Flavia Felix
at (its regular garrison-place) Singidunum/Serbia found in the context of other finds from the 3rd century AD. This inscription had always riddled scholars since ist discovery in ca. 1600.[Rem.: It is not preserved today, but has been published regularly ever since.
> D(is)M(anibus)
AVR(elio) VITALI
MIL(iti)LEG(ionis)IIII FL(aviae)
STIPENDIORUM VII VIXIT
AN(nos) XX^V AGENS
EXPEDITIONE
GERMANIAE FL
AVIVUS PROCL
US MIL(es)LEG(ionis)S(upra)S(criptae)
SECUNDVS HE
RES CON^TUBER
NALI BENE MER
E(nti) F(aciendum) C(uravit)
Translates probably like that:
"To the Gods of Death.
For Aurelius Victor
Soldier of the 4th Flavian Legion
Having lived 25 years
Participated in the expedition against Germania
Flavius Proculus
Soldier in the abovementioned Legion
(and)his heir
took care (of this gravestone)for
his tent-comrades' beneficial memory <
Up to now, some scholars have attributed this monumentum to the Expeditio Germanicae of Caracalla in 213,
where the LEG IIII also took part. CIL XIII, 6104—ILS, 2310; ILS = Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae/ Selected Latin Inscriptions]
Another inscription of a gravestone from Budaörs/Hungary (Grave 283) of one „Aurelius [---]nus“ dating in at the same „horizon“ which stated „…defunctus expeditione Germaniae“ was then introduced .
[AE 2004,1143 … also hitherto attributed to Caracalla’s „expeditio germanica“ ]
Then Dr. geschwinde preceeded tot he first main question :
How comes a find of an inscription referring to a LEG IIII from a piece of military equipment
(dolabra – a roman pioneers‘ piece of kit – kind of an axe AND pick), found amongst a host of related finds deep into the german woods ?
If it was from a battlefield – then from a battlefield that should not have been here !
Dr. Geschwinde then took a „recursio“ to the very beginning oft he whole affair.
[Rem.: Most of the story may already have been posted (or linked ) above.]
Back in 2000, two amateur archeologists Herr Dix and Herr Schütte took „a stroll out“ with their metal-detecting Devices. Somewhere in the woods near the Autobahn A7 their devices spotted some metal objects, which they dug out and took home. Due to other „pastime activities“ they did not further explore the objects that they thought were of medieval origin. When they finally posted pictures of their „candle-holders“ „on the net“—they were surprised to hear that more than one hints was give towards these parts being roman -- a horseshoe (hipposandal).
It had already begun to dawn on them that the scope of their finds might become bigger than they expected and given the fact that such diggings are deemed illegal under the laws of nether saxony they finally turned towards chief district archeologist Dr. Petra Lönne at nearby Nordheim on June 18th, 2008.
These „parts“ along with the probable finding-spot associated with them caused Dr. Lönne to „red-alert“.
Having been „nicked“ by illegal diggers on more than one occasion she instantly knew that prospections had to take place fast, in utmost secrecy, ebeing able to employ very limited „human resources“.
Only she and one of her colleagues [Rem.: Not sure whether I got that one completely!], reinforced by 2 excavation-technicians [ Rem.: Brangs and Schwarz] were the first persons available for prospecting a rather sizeable area. So more „human resources“, amongst them the „Ostfalen-Sucher“ ,a group of amateur prospectionists, that had already helped „the officials“ on several occasions before, were finally called to help. The prospections were upheld for about four months, making ample use of modern prospection technics utilizing GPS and SAPOS (= kinda GPS but with higher resolution) and also conventional optical surveyance devices, when finally more news about their activities began to leak towards the public,
that they’d thought to have been useful. So finally a press-conference was scheduled for Oct. 15,2008. (Rem.: Three days before it had already popped up on the screen of yours truly Simplex, by the way of Archeonews, who had spotted it even earlier, much to the grief of the persons involved in the affair.)
[Rem. : A lot of pictures weren give to illustrate Dr. Geschwindes descriptions – a 3x3 metres‘ projection in about lifelike size is much more impressive than merely seeing those pictures in newspapers, magazines or „on the web“ – rest assured !]
Quickly a great number a finds had been made, posing the problem how to exactly date the site –
At first overview the find could be dated to up to the Middle Ages and to Modern Times – in all.
Even fully functional pieces of ammunition from WW II have been found.
The majority, however could be attributed to roman times.
At this stage oft he lecture Dr. Geschwinde was quick to point out that the archeologists involved in
the early stages were by no means specializing in „roman affairs“ ,-- he and Dr. Lönne both had published on Stone Age and Middle Ages before extensively – including their master and doctorate theses. He presumed that this may have spared them some mistakes as they had to wait for „external“ expertises and trying new ways like e.g. catalogizing the finds not only by their nature and their exact finding spot but also according to their orientation.
Their first hypothesis therefore was concerning a roman „resting place“ or marching camp which was discarded rather quick given the size of the area and the distribution/dispersion oft he finds.
This latter hypothesis was also further „reinforced“ by the fact that the weapons/parts found showed clear signs of use.
[Rem.: A couple of impressive pictures underlined this.]
At that stage objects also showed up that could be clearly attributed tot he Germanic culture.
Dating the site remained still a little bit hazardous,then. With that in mind, Dr. Geschwinde recalled a conversation with colleagues: If we are unlucky we’ll have to call the Kalkriese folks telling them „their“ battlefield was in fact here.
Then a first dating of the coins found at the Harzhorn up to now came in.
Dr. Frank Berger from Frankfurt, who also had made some critical remarks on the Kalkriese coinage,
the oldest coin found was from the times of Commodus. [Rem.: IIRC 188/189AD]
Dr. Geschwinde then took a sidestep to explain that through a couple of more recent coin finds there, the site is now firmly dated. The majority oft he array of coins spans from coins of Heliogabalus to Alexander Severus, the latest one here dating to 228 AD.
This dating is further augmented of a sizeable number of C14-analyses of the wood still attached to the arrow-tips found „on-site“. Since the time-span between cutting the wooden shaft and use of the arrows is typically very short, the „verdict“ „second quarter of the 3rd century AD“ „counts high“.
All that points straight towards the end oft he reign of Severus Alexander ( slain in 235 AD).
At this time, Dr. Geschwinde introduced a victory memorial from Bonn-Beuel (right side oft he Rhine !) , which was set by the LEG I MINERVIA ( the Bonn household legion).
It can be dated into the year 231AD and while not referring expressis verbis to a victory over germans, its location
literally speaks for itself. [CIL XIII , 8017]
It was about the same time when roman history took a turn for the worse, when Ardashir I. , the first
Sassanian emperor finally overthrew his former hegemonials , the Parthi, and soon set out to conquer the land between Euphrat and Tigris.
Severus Alexander planned to counter his attempts, gathering a large expeditionary force and stripping the western provinces of a sizeable part of their military garrisons in that process.
[Rem.: It is „ruling opinion“ that this spured sizeable germanic incursions into the neighbouring parts oft he roman empire namely in the Wetterau [north-west of Frankfurt/Main] and even as far as Strassbourg in 233]
The(bad) news from their home territories spurred unrest amongst the troops in the eastern „theatre“. Severus Alexander tried to gain a „quick“ peace with the Sassanis, seemingly under conditions that were considered „dishonoring“ amongst most of his contemporaries and later history writers.
Back on the Rhine he gathered his troops in and around Mainz/Mogontiacum. (234/235)
The number and names oft he units there were „ronded up“ by one Angela Belezza, Dr. Geschwinde pointed out.
[Rem.: I was not quick enough to note down all oft he, so I’m leaving them out here.
As to Angela Belezza, it seems to have been her paper „Massimiano Il Thraco – published in 1964 at Geneva. ]
Dr. Geschwinde then singled out some of the Auxiliaries involved, Osrhoenic Archers, Mauretan spearslingers and especially the Ala Nova Firma Milliaria Cataphractaria a unit of heavy, fully armoured cavalry that had been raised in the East, 1000 strong.
The latter unit left „epigraphic“ traces e.g. the Bad Canstatt memorial stone to Aurelius Regrethus and Aurelius Saluda, members of that unit.
[Rem.: Since I can’t recall finds of a garrison that late around Stuttgart, I’d still hold the possibility of this unit being part of Gallienus‘ expeditionary forces on later occasions as mirrored by the inscription from Herbrechtingen-Hausen ob Lontal, near Heidenheim, Germany]
Rem.: More about it, here : http://chc.sbg.ac.at/lupa_new/monuments/.../menu:off/ in German; BTW: CIL 03, 05933;
> IMP(erator)] CAES(ar)GALI(enus)
GERMANICV(s)
INVICT(us)AV(gustus) <
Which roughly translates :
> To the Imperator Caesar Gallienus
the defeater of Germans
the undefeated Sublime < ]
END OF PART 1
Siggi K.
