Free Republic

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...

FRANKFURT - Scientists say a Roman horse head made from bronze and plated in gold has been discovered at an archaeological site in Germany. Hesse state archaeologist Egon Schallmeyer says the head is part of a horse and rider statue and "qualitatively one of the best (pieces) created at that time."

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...