Already a subscriber? Sign in here
Read this article now for free!
Enter your email below to read the full article, and to receive our weekly newsletter with a round-up of The Past's top stories.
Or, subscribe for unlimited access
On the trail of the legions: A Roman conflict landscape in Switzerland
The discovery of a Roman fortification high in the Alps is the most recent development in a remarkable series of findings that allow us to trace the progress of a legionary battlegroup in the 1st century BC. As well as following part of their march, we can see how they sought to control this mountainous terrain, and where they clashed with local forces, as Hannes Flück told Matthew Symonds.
At some point in the last few decades BC, Roman legionaries paused on the banks of the Mera River, to the north of Lake Como, in Italy. While the soldiers were there, some stones in the riverbed caught their eye. Although the rock is a distinctive one, which outcrops upriver in the Bergell region, the legionaries’ interest was not piqued by its geological novelty. Instead, they noticed that the natural river processes had smoothed these stones into an ideal size and shape to serve as slingshot. The soldiers were stocking up on ammunition. Even though the battlegroup was already well equipped with lead slingshot, their instincts were sound. Ahead lay a journey into hostile terrain. The sold
-- or --
Or, subscribe for unlimited access
Or, subscribe for unlimited access
Latest from World Archaeology
