Posted on 08/23/2018 11:36:40 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The settlement covered nearly 20 acres and had a defensive wall but no military buildings. Its existence shows that the Romans were living next to and trading with German "barbarians" peacefully for years, right up until the Teutoburg defeat, according to lead researcher Gabriele Rasbach of the German Archaeological Institute.
Most of the settlement’s buildings were made of wood, and based on tree-ring data, archaeologists say the town was built from scratch beginning in 4 B.C. Behind 10-foot-tall timber walls, Waldgirmes had pottery and woodworking workshops, Roman-style residences, and even traces of lead plumbing.
A multistory administrative building sat at the town’s heart, and in a courtyard or forum outside, archaeologists identified pedestals for four life-size statues of riders on horses. The gold-covered horse’s head was part of one of these statues, probably one depicting a Roman emperor.
The discoveries at Waldgirmes came as a shock to archaeologists and historians alike...A few years after the Teutoburg Forest battle, life in the ancient town came to a halt. But there are no signs of a battle or slaughter there, Rasbach says. Perhaps instead, Waldgirmes was evacuated peacefully in A.D. 16, when Roman forces were ordered to abandon the territory they held north and east of the Rhine.
After the site was abandoned, Rasbach says, the statues were probably deliberately smashed and recycled for their metal content by German tribesmen. Fragments of bronze—160 in all, mostly tiny splinters—were found scattered all over the town.
The horse head is the one major exception. Not far from the pedestals, archaeologists found a Roman-era well more than 30 feet deep. The head sat at the bottom, covered by eight heavy millstones, wooden buckets, tool handles, an ox yoke, and other junk.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalgeographic.com ...
The town was abandoned, perhaps for years, and vandalized later. There's probably no way to date the vandalism. For all anyone knows, the ruins were in pretty fine shape for a long while, and the breaking of the statue didn't occur until the 4th or 5th century.
“...The defeat and aftermeasures by the Romans was so complete that the cleared land went back to forest until the Middle Ages....”
Yes, they didn’t take too kindly to having their folks slaughtered. They had long memories... and revenge.
There's no telling what had happened more recently, alas, it's too bad there is no Roman newspaper archive or anything.
They managed to last damn near a thousand years. Pretty remarkable when you think about it.
“...Roman newspaper archive...”
Well, there WERE historians - Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny the Elder, even Julius Caesar...
Eyewitnesses to their history, albeit with a slanted viewpoint...
They had historians, and those historians had access to material that long ago went into the first on a cold night. The amount of construction done by the Roman Empire gets a little more stunning every year, in the case of Germany etc the discovery of a long term Roman presence in areas not previously allowed by the little too sure of themselves set.
Quibble -- the empire started with the conquest of Ostia, and ended at last with the Turks' conquest of Constantinople, 18 centuries.
“18 Centuries...”
Damn, almost TWO thousand years...
“The amount of construction done by the Roman Empire gets a little more stunning every year”
They had some SERIOUS engineering skills, for sure.
The Limes Arabicus in the Middle East stretched 1500 km, was built mostly to control the route of trade caravans, but also to prevent free movement of various ne'er do wells. It was reinforced with forts late in the main imperial era, but it was maintained by the Byzantines until the 7th c.
Amazing!
Some of the aquaducts the Romans built are still standing... amazing structures.
One wonders how much engineering knowledge and know-how was destroyed when the barbarians overran and sacked Rome, destroying libraries, books, etc.,
Dark Ages, indeed...
I would think to destroy the engineering you would have to kill all of the engineers. Some things are handed down through the work. The muslims destroyed the library at alexandria supposedly the largest compository of documents and books in the world at that time.
The vatican has a lot of roman and church stuff all the way back to 2nd century AD
“...I would think to destroy the engineering you would have to kill all of the engineers....”
True enough. Knowledge can be passed down to apprentices and taught hands-on.
Interesting that we have our OWN modern-day barbarians to deal with (libs and their antifa buddies) who want to tear things down.
Some things never change.
Like most of us here, I also appreciate barbarians, because, y'know, they're a big part of my ancestry. :^ ) I'm reminded once again of the finale of Herodotus' Historia:
Cyrus, who did not greatly esteem the counsel, told them, -- "they might do so, if they liked -- but he warned them not to expect in that case to continue rulers, but to prepare for being ruled by others -- soft countries gave birth to soft men -- there was no region which produced very delightful fruits, and at the same time men of a warlike spirit." So the Persians departed with altered minds, confessing that Cyrus was wiser than they; and chose rather to dwell in a churlish land, and exercise lordship, than to cultivate plains, and be the slaves of others.
If I had a choice, I'd side with Charlemagne over Widukind.
I'm happy living in my own time. Plus, I'm probably descended from both of 'em.
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