(ORDO NEWS) — In Germany, archaeologists during excavations at an ancient Roman silver mine discovered the remains of a kind of “barbed wire” – the famous defensive weapon, which was widely used and described in his writings by Julius Caesar.
According to Live Science, such defensive devices were found by archaeologists for the first time, although historians are well aware of them from written sources.
We are talking about ancient Roman defensive spikes, which, judging by the descriptions, were an ancient analogue of modern barbed wire.
True, these spikes were made of wood. In fact, they were a chain of sharp stakes that were installed along the defensive ditches.
Thus, the Romans created a layered defense, which Julius Caesar actively used to protect the camps of his legionnaires.
Until now, archaeologists have not been able to find such objects, as they have simply rotted in the ground over the past millennia. But in this case, the researchers were lucky.
They were excavating in the Bad Ems region of Germany, where there was a silver mine and a small Roman garrison.
The soil here was wet and swampy. Due to its unique characteristics, this soil has managed to keep the famous Roman wooden spikes almost intact.
Unprecedented, as the archaeologists themselves say, the discovery was made halfway between the modern cities of Bonn and Mainz in Germany, that is, on the former northern border of the Roman Empire.
It is known that at the beginning of the second century AD, the Romans developed a mine here. For protection, the so-called double Roman camp was set up with an area of about eight hectares.
It was surrounded by a layered system of fortifications; to date, archaeologists have found the remains of about 40 wooden watchtowers.
Next to the wooden spikes, archaeologists found a coin from 43 AD.
This suggests that wooden “barbed wire” was actively used at an early stage of construction, when the fort was still small. And the main system of fortifications was erected in 110 AD.
Scholars also note that Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) died long before the forts at Bad Ems were built.
But the find proves that the defensive strategy he developed, using a system of fortifications made of ditches and spikes, outlived him and was used by the Romans for a very long time.
As for the “barbed wire” itself, Caesar described it in detail in his famous work “The Gallic Wars”.
Caesar is believed to have used such spikes for the first time in the fortifications he built for the Battle of Alesia in France in 52 BC. The first “barbed wire” was then built from willow twigs and branches.
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