Do you think Teutoberg Forest has treasures to find?
MKUltra24
Posts: 652 ✭✭✭✭
For those not aware:
The Battle Of Teutoberg Forest was a battle between the Roman Empire & the Allied Germanic States that took place in 9 AD.
It was a complete disaster for the Romans. They were stretched out over several miles in a thin line and got ambushed on the left flank across the whole line. They fielded 22,000 troops and 20,000 of them were killed, wounded and/or captured.
But I’m curious: do you think that there is stuff to find there? Surely not EVERYTHING was looted by the Germans following the battle.
I’ve always wanted to go metal detecting in Europe to look for Ancient Roman stuff but sadly their laws are very strict regarding metal detecting. Greece is even worse.
It’s a bummer that here in America (especially on the West Coast where I live) there is nothing to find from ancient times.
Just Native American arrowheads and non metallic objects that couldn’t be found with a metal detector. 
Comments
I am sure there are artifacts in such an area. However, as you noted, they are not accessible by the average person due to stringent laws. Cheers, RickO
That’s a bummer. I’m not sure if Germany has such stringent laws as Italy & Greece though. O_o
I’ve always wanted to find an ancient coin while metal detecting.
I'm sure there must be some remaining artifacts but the problem is that the area is a muddy morass and most metal objects would have rusted away by now.
But aren’t some metals like gold & silver less susceptible to that kind of thing?
I imagine that soldiers carried their pay with them on campaign (they couldn’t exactly deposit it in the bank) and so if they died on the battlefield wouldn’t they still remain?
I've always imagined that the site was picked clean post battle.
That is true historically corpses were looted & plundered.
But at the same time stuff considered worthless back then would not be.
I also think things were missed. After a battle the winning army would need to tend to their wounded and bury their dead and I imagine they just did a quick search for anything they could but they would’ve been limited by how much they could carry.
Mostly currency/coins and jewelry would have been scavenged.... Other artifacts or casual possessions of little obvious value would have been left or buried. Cheers, RickO
Not much currency in 9AD RickO.
There was plenty of currency!
The Roman denarius was at its peak under the brilliant first Emperor Augustus.
It weighed 3.8 grams and was ~97% pure.
By the end of the Empire in the 4th century it was 2.8 grams of 2% purity.
It would definitely be cool to check it out with a metal detector if it was legal.
I’ve always been inspired by Heinrich Schliemann.
Historians believed the Trojan War and Troy itself were myths like Atlantis. Schliemann, armed only with his copy of “The Iliad” managed to find Troy itself and prove them all wrong.
Although he did really screw things up for archeologists when he decided to use explosives to excavate a fragile archeological site.
Ever since I learned that story I’ve always wanted to find something non-organic from ancient times.
I think Thermopylae would be a great site too. I imagine when you have all those men in hand to hand combat pieces of metal weapons and shields would break off and not be worth taking as plunder.
Or maybe even some of those arrows shot by the Persian archers that “blot out the son” prompting Leonidas’s famous quip “Then we shall fight in the shade.”
Call the local authorities before you dig
Oh yeah I would for sure. Last thing I’d want after a cool find is to be arrested as an antiquities looter.
would hate it if you lost every thing in the process
Yeah exactly!
That’s one thing I LOVE about the way the British handle the situation.
In Britain under the Portable Antiquities Scheme if a treasure is promptly reported and it is left in situ (not disturbed once found) the finder is entitled to the fair market value of the collection determined by an independent appraiser.
But who pays the finder?
The museum, university or other institution that wants the collection.
Sometimes the government will assist with funds if it’s an important find so as to not break up the collection.
It’s a brilliant idea because it encourages finders to leave the site alone and let experts study it in the archeological context to contribute to the knowledge of history.
Had not heard of this battle. So I just had to Google it. Great read.
Lafayette Grading Set
Yeah it’s definitely an interesting story. If my post encouraged you to read about it I consider it a worthy post.
When Emperor Augustus found out about the destruction of the legions at the battle he is quoted as saying the following:
“ Quintili Vare, legiones redde! (Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!)”
Did you read about the lost Aquilas?
An Aquila was a gold eagle that represented the entire legion and losing one was considered a disgrace to Rome.
Sometimes centurions would actually throw the Aquila towards the enemy to motivate their own soldiers to push forward and fight.
Eventually the Romans got the Aquilas back decades later and the saddest part is they came across Romans who were at the Battle of Teutoberg forest and had been prisoners for all those years.