The Roman soldiers likely died in a brutal battle in the first century AD, presumably with Germanic tribes.
Rainer Riedler/Vienna MuseumAn archaeologist working on the excavation of skeletons found under a football pitch in Vienna.
According to Vienna Museum Magazine, the mass grave was discovered in October 2024 during the renovation of a football pitch in the Simmering district. Although archaeologists assumed that the bodies might belong to victims of the “plague pit” or the Second Ottoman Siege of Vienna in 1683, they were surprised to find that the remains were Roman and therefore significantly older.
First, scientists were able to determine the age of the bones using radiocarbon dating, which showed that the soldiers died between 80 and 230 CE. Further examination of artifacts at the site—including a dagger and its sheath—refined the time frame to around the end of the first century.
These items also helped identify the soldiers as Romans. The dagger had a distinctive Roman design, as did the helmet found during the excavations. Moreover, archaeologists also found several nails from caligae, Roman military boots.
So these men were Romans who lived in Vienna around the first century A.D. And by all accounts, each of them met a horrible death.
Sourse: www.allthatsinteresting.com
