Aurei from Kalkriese
The Varusschlacht (the Museum of Varus’ battle, a.k.a. The Teutoburg Forest) Museum in Kalkriese, Germany, today revealed the find of eight aurei, Roman gold pieces, dating between 2 BC and AD 5, minted in the Imperial mint at Lugdunum, modern Lyon, France. Only seven gold coins had been found on the site before.
Though the identification of the Kalkriese battle site as the famous battle of the Teutoburg Forest is not without its detractors, this find certainly reinforces the extant conclusion that a column of Roman came to a sticky end there at the beginning of the first century AD.
If you want to learn more about the Varian Disaster, don’t forget that the 2009 special issue of Ancient Warfare makes for an excellent starting point (even if we do say so ourselves).
