2,000-year-old statue of Emperor Augustus on horseback found in stream

The Local: Germany's news in English ^ | Thursday, August 27, 2009 | unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

Hessian Science Minister Eva Kühne-Hörmann on Thursday presented fragments of a 2,000-year-old bronze equestrian statue of Roman Emperor Augustus found recently in a stream near Giessen.

"The find has meaning beyond Hesse and the north Alpine region due to its quality and provenance," Kühne-Hörmann said during the presentation with state archaeologist Dr. Egon Schallmayer and Director of the Roman-German Commission Dr. Friedrich Lüth.

"We've rediscovered the remnants of early European history. The unique horse head is a witness to the broken dream of the Romans to create a united Europe under their rule," she added.

On August 12, archaeologists pulled the gold-gilded, life-sized head of a horse and a shoe of the emperor -- who ruled the Roman Empire between 23 BC and 14 AD -- from a stream in what was once the Roman outpost Germania Magna. Experts there have uncovered several bits -- including a horse hoof and a decorated chest strap -- from the statue among some 20,000 artefacts uncovered at the site in recent years.

Scientists from the University of Jena believe it may have been destroyed by Roman soldiers retreating after the legendary Varusschlacht, or the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, when Germanic tribes ambushed and wiped out three Roman legions. As the remaining Roman troops retreated after the devastating defeat, they destroyed most of what they could not take with them.

The horse's bridle is embellished with images of the Roman god of war Mars and the goddess Victoria, who personified victory.

Restoration and examination of more than 100 statue fragments is underway in Hessen's state archaeology workshop.

[SunkenCiv]

Photo: DPA

[SunkenCiv]

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[Political Junkie Too]

The unique horse head is a witness to the broken dream of the Romans to create a united Europe under their rule," she added.

Somebody made him an offer he couldn't refuse!

-PJ

[Pelham]

Arminius kept the head as a prize.

[BunnySlippers]

Simply gorgeous!

[SueRae]

Just magnificent. Breathtaking.

[SunkenCiv]

:’D

[SunkenCiv]

:') I kinda doubt they've got the chronology right, and have merely tried to add that detail because of the "glorious" (and temporary) victory over Rome by a group of people who may not even have living descendants. :') It's more likely that the statue was erected after the pacification of the area.

the legendary Varusschlacht

Their calling the battle legendary was hilarious -- it didn't survive as a legend; it was rediscovered in modern times from classical sources and used to fuel nationalism. The 19th century project to build the monument (many miles from the actual site of the battle, as it later turned out) slightly preceded the Kulturkampf. Arminius himself was located and attacked by a later Roman army, and after it started to turn in favor of the Romans, he wussed out and ran for it; not many years after that second battle he was caught and killed by his fellow (ancient) Germans.

[dog breath]

Lots of mistakes by the Roman army, if I remember from reading about this it was a gruesome battle. The Germans of that time liked to sacrifice some of their captured enemies, which must not of endeared them to the Roman soldiers. No wonder that the soldiers didn’t want to leave them anything. I think that they have found other things associated with the battle but this horse head is the most impressive.

[SunkenCiv]

Definitely nice work. The head appears to be the largest surviving (known) fragment.

[Pelham]

One version I read said that Arminius had worked as a scout for the Romans and was familiar with their tactics. He set the trap and led the Legions into it.

[dalebert]

nice

[swatbuznik]

Wow! That is just incredible!

[decimon]

I didn't see your post. Here's mine. They barely seem the same story though they are.

[tflabo]

Awwww Geeeeee Wilbur...can't I have one just like it?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Excellent artifact!

[PoliticsAndSausages]

Actually, Arminius was a Roman Knight born from German nobility, taken to Rome when he was a child, as a safety measure. He followed Varus back into Germania as a counsel. When Varus started to try to implement Roman laws and taxes in the controlled territories, the Germans tribes were not pleased. Arminius united some of the tribes in secrecy and then told Varus to take his army through a forest, because he knew the German armies would have a hard time winning a battle against the Romans in the open, where they could apply their tactics. He also correctly assumed that when attacked in the forest, the Romans would withdraw into the open, to the nearby river banks, and he fortified the river banks.

As was said later, he died due to an internal power struggle. Just because the Germans wouldn't be united by Rome, didn't mean they wanted to be united by Arminius.

[PoliticsAndSausages]

Well, if you consider ~1500 to be modern times (that’s when Tacitus was rediscovered, and when the legend around that battle and Arminius began to be built).

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, that’s it. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

It’s true. Arminius family had been cozy with the Romans for years, he was just the bad apple. He used what he knew well to make the ambush successful, and the Roman commander (who’d been posted to some place in North Africa prior to this, if memory serves) was the perfect stooge, marched everyone right into a trap.