Between the mid-first century and early second century CE, Roman legionaries engaged in a fierce battle with Germanic warriors near the Danube River. Nearly two millennia later, chilling evidence of this brutal conflict has emerged.
In October of the previous year, during the renovation of a sports field in Vienna, construction workers uncovered a mass grave. Specialists from the Vienna City Archaeology Department and the archaeological service provider Novetus GmbH have identified the remains as those of soldiers who perished in a battle involving ancient Roman legionaries. Details of the discovery and its analysis were shared in a statement by the Wien Museum, published on Wednesday.
Veronica Kaup-Hasler, Executive City Councillor for Culture and Science in Vienna, expressed that finding Roman remnants while undertaking construction in Vienna is not unusual, given the history rooted in Vindobona, the ancient Roman military camp that eventually evolved into the city of Vienna. She described the discovery of the Roman mass grave in the Simmering district as a significant historical revelation that offers a new perspective on the city’s beginnings.
The mass grave contains around 150 human remains, mostly male, aged between 20 and 30, showing no significant signs of infectious diseases, yet exhibiting notably healthy teeth. However, these physical traits did not shield them from fatal injuries inflicted by daggers, spears, swords, projectiles, and other weapons. Michaela Binder, a senior anthropologist at Novetus GmbH, asserted that the arrangement and gender of the skeletons, along with the combat injuries they bore, rule out connections to a hospital or an epidemic-related cause of death.
Additional artifacts, including armor scales, lance tips, a helmet cheek piece, shoe nails, and a partially intact iron dagger, were also discovered. Notably, the dagger helped date the remains, as X-ray analysis of its sheath revealed ancient Roman silver wire inlays, dating it between the mid-first and early second century CE. Christoph Öllerer, deputy head of the Vienna City Archaeology Department, emphasized the rarity of this discovery, noting that Roman skeletons from this period are uncommon due to the widespread practice of cremation.
Kristina Adler-Wölfl, leader of the Vienna City Archaeology Department, remarked on the find’s significance, as it constitutes the first direct archaeological proof of a battle along the Danube Limes, a segment of the Roman Empire’s eastern frontier. Historical records indicate that under Emperor Domitian’s rule, from 81-96 CE, battles occurred between Roman forces and Germanic tribes along the empire’s borders, prompting Emperor Trajan’s subsequent expansion of the Danube Limes. This archaeological finding, explained by Martin Mosser, an archaeologist from the City Archaeology Department, could reveal key insights into the origins of Vienna’s urban history, possibly indicating that these battles led to the expansion of the military base into the legionary camp Vindobona.