Shocking discovery of 2,000-year-old Roman military barracks on mountaintop

Swiss researchers have discovered the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman military camp located on a mountain range in the country.

Panoramic view of the Roman camp in the Swiss Alps. (Source: Live Science)

Located in the Alps in eastern Switzerland, during Roman times, the camp was fortified, with walls and water-filled moats protecting the outside.

According to a statement from the government of the canton of Graubünden (in eastern Switzerland), the barracks date back to the first century BC. The cantonal government considers this a shocking discovery, as the structure was built on a mountain, at an altitude of up to 2,220 meters.

Scientists began their search in 2023, and one of them discovered the camp while studying information obtained from lidar, a remote sensing device that uses lasers from aircraft and reflected light to map the terrain of the area. They also found the battlefield located about 900 meters below the camp.

The research team believes that the camp was in a “strategically advantageous position” due to its wide view of the valleys below. The new discovery also shows that without the camp, Roman forces would have had to march across many mountains to reach the battlefield.

According to the research team, they found numerous Roman artifacts, including weapons, catapults and shoe nails. In particular, catapults bearing the inscription of the Third Legion of the Roman Empire, were used in combat at the above-mentioned battlefield, proving the connection between this legion and the newly discovered military camp.

At its peak, the Roman Empire covered nearly 5 million square kilometers, stretching from Europe, Asia to Africa with nearly 100 million subjects. The Roman army was powerful and elite, commanded by talented generals who were good at strategy, tactics, and knew how to organize campaigns.

Inheriting Greek civilization, the Romans knew how to apply many techniques in the ancient world. Their destructive weapons such as Catapult, “Scorpion” catapult, hammer… brought superior advantages to the army in both attack and defense. They took advantage of these “modern” weapons to cause terrible consequences for the enemy.

The catapult was a powerful long-range weapon that helped the Roman Empire conquer almost all the land that the ancient people of that time could perceive (that is, the Mediterranean lands of the three present-day Europe, Asia, and Africa).

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/phat-hien-soc-ve-doanh-trai-quan-doi-la-ma-2000-nam-tuoi-tren-dinh-nui-285678.html