Between the mid-first century and early second century CE, Roman legionaries engaged in combat with Germanic fighters near the Danube River. Nearly two millennia later, evidence of this historical battle has emerged.
In October of the previous year, a mass grave was discovered by construction workers during renovations of a sports field in Vienna. Experts from the Vienna City Archaeology Department and Novetus GmbH have since suggested that the remains found likely belonged to soldiers who perished in a battle involving Roman legionaries. Details of the discovery and its analysis were provided in a statement from the Wien Museum published on Wednesday.
In the statement, Veronica Kaup-Hasler, Vienna’s Executive City Councillor for Culture and Science, remarked on the frequent encounter with Roman artifacts in Vienna due to its foundation on the ancient Roman camp and settlement Vindobona. She described the discovery of a Roman mass grave in the district of Simmering as a “true sensation,” offering a new perspective on the city’s early history.
The mass grave contained the remains of approximately 150 individuals, primarily men aged 20 to 30, with little sign of infectious disease but evident injuries from combat weapons, including daggers, spears, swords, and projectiles. Michaela Binder, a senior anthropologist at Novetus GmbH, noted that the injuries to the bones clearly indicated combat and dismissed any connection to hospital facilities or an epidemic.
Additional artifacts such as armor scales, lance tips, a helmet cheek piece, shoe nails, and a fragmented iron dagger were also uncovered. The dagger, with its silver wire inlays identified through X-ray as typical of ancient Roman decoration, was instrumental in dating the remains to the mid-first century to the early second century CE, according to Christoph Öllerer, deputy head of the Vienna City Archaeology Department.
Kristina Adler-Wölfl, head of the Vienna City Archaeology Department, emphasized the rarity of this find, as cremations were common in Roman Europe around 100 CE, making inhumations of this period quite exceptional.
Locally, the discovery holds significant importance as it provides the first direct archaeological evidence of a battle along the Danube Limes—part of the Roman Empire’s eastern frontier. This evidence coincides with historical accounts of battles between Roman legionaries and Germanic tribes during Emperor Domitian’s rule from 81-96 CE, potentially influencing Emperor Trajan’s later expansion of the Danube Limes.
Martin Mosser, an archaeologist with the City Archaeology Department, suggested that the ancient battle might have contributed to the transformation of a small military base into Vindobona, the legionary camp less than seven kilometers from the site, thereby shedding light on the origins of Vienna’s urban history.
