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 soldiers would follow the Mera valley into modern Switzerland, and then make for the major Alpine pass at Septimer. We know – and the legionaries surely suspected – that they were marching towards at least one battle. That clash lay roughly 70km distant, presumably placing it a matter of days in their future as the soldiers hunted for projectiles on the riverbank. And when the fighting did erupt, legionary slingers would find themselves in the thick of the action.
This military expedition formed one part of Rome’s struggle to subdue the various groups living in the Alps to the north of Italy. These efforts started in the 30s BC and culminated in a successful campaign of conquest ordered by Augustus and spearheaded by Drusus and Tiberius in 15 BC. While this broad chronological framework is provided by the surviving ancient literature, specific details about the events playing out during this era are relatively sparse. Our knowledge of the legionary battlegroup as it moved into the Alpine region comes not from the pen of any Roman writer, but rather relics of their passing that have survived in the landscape for over 2,000 years. These telltale traces range all of the way from a handful of stray finds to sizeable military structures. Metal-detectorists and archaeologists were first alerted to the former presence of these troops a little over two decades ago. Following in their footsteps has culminated in the recently announced discovery of a well-preserved fortification straddling an Alpine ridge at a height of 2,230m above sea level. The ability to reconstruct a sizeable chunk of the route this battlegroup took, and witness a range of their activities while on the march, is little short of extraordinary.
An advance in archaeology
‘It all started in 2003’, says Hannes Flück, of the Archaeological Service of the Grisons, who is one of the three project leads, alongside Peter-Andrew Schwarz, Vindonissa-Professor at the University of Basel, and Thomas Reitmaier, head of the Archaeological Service of the Grisons. ‘A metal-detectorist with a permit to work in the Graubünden Canton of Switzerland went looking for old roads in the region. He investigated a valley called “Surses” in the local language, which provides a good connection between the lands to the south and the north of the Alps. The Septimer Pass lies at one end, providing a steep but relatively easy access point, while to the north the valley leads towards another important passage at the Lenzerheide. Searching an area of pasture at the northern end of the valley yielded two lead slingshots, which had been stamped with the names of two different Roman legions: the Third and the Twelfth. Roman lead slingshot is rare in Switzerland, so it suggested something out of the ordinary thereabouts. Even so, while examining the remainder of the pasture produced lots of interesting finds, there was nothing else from this early Roman period. Twenty years on, we still don’t know exactly why those two lead slingshot ended up there; perhaps they were simply lost on route.’
‘At around the same time that this was happening, another metal-detectorist was working illegally on the Septimer Pass. Roman material was also found there, including more lead slingshot – this time with the Third and the Twelfth Legions accompanied by the Tenth Legion – as well as hobnails from military marching sandals. Werner Zanier, an archaeologist, found out about this and a dig was undertaken by the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften and the Archaeological Service in 2008-2009. This showed that when the Roman troops reached the Septimer Pass, they created a temporary camp: a type of fortification that provided secure overnight accommodation while on campaign. The camp was large enough to accommodate roughly 800 soldiers. Examining it also revealed that the soldiers were carrying both lead and stone slingshot. It is these latter that can be traced to outcrops at Bergell, in the Mera valley, where stones of about the right calibre occur in the watercourse.’
To the north of the Septimer Pass, the metal-detectorist who recovered the first pair of lead slingshot continued combing the valley. His persistence was rewarded when he encountered a concentration of militaria in an area of partially open woodland called Crestas and Burschignas. This lies to the east of a gorge, and forms the peak of a triangle of terrain that rises steeply from and dominates a narrow margin of relatively level ground running along the edge of the gorge. Today, this shelf of land is exploited by a modern road traversing the valley. The arms and armour found in the fields can be divided into two broad categories: those used by the Roman army, and those more likely to be wielded by local warriors. Among the Roman material there was once again a conspicuous quantity of lead slingshot bearing stamps representing the Third, Twelfth, and Tenth Legions. The finds were duly published by Jürg Rageth of the Archaeological Service, and linked to combat during Drusus and Tiberius’ campaign in 15 BC. Neither interpretation found universal acceptance.
By 2012, the material coming from Crestas and Burschignas had dried up and it was assumed that the site was exhausted. Not everyone was convinced, though, and a younger metal-detectorist visited the site in 2018. He realised that there was still Roman material in the ground and presented his results to the Archaeological Service, who – together with Peter-Andrew Schwarz – initiated a project to locate, excavate, and record the remaining finds. This was undertaken in collaboration with metal-detectorists organised in the AGP (Swiss Working Group for Archaeological Propection). It ran for three years from 2021 to 2023, with analysis of the results now under way. While the precise significance of the local weaponry and armour from the site is currently being discussed, pieces of scabbards, axes, lances, helmets, and shields were all recovered. As for the Roman military metalwork, roughly 3,000 pieces were found, including approximately 450 lead slingshot, nearly 30 tips from ballista bolts, up to 20 arrowheads, one or two parts of javelins, and 2,500 hobnails. Examining this material leaves no doubt that the Roman troops operating here came from the same battlegroup that camped on the Septimer Pass. It helps establish their motive, too, for barraging these fields with projectiles.
FURTHER INFORMATION
More details about the project can be found in German here: www.gr.ch/DE/institutionen/verwaltung/ekud/afk/adg/kooperationen/Seiten/CVMBAT-Surses.aspx.
An article, also in German, about the findings is available here: https://doi.org/10.5169/seals-1046324.
The project Instagram is @cvmbat2025.
This is an extract of an article that appeared in CWA 128. Read on in the magazine (Click here to subscribe) or on our website, The Past, which offers all of the magazine’s content digitally. At The Past you will be able to read each article in full as well as the content of our other magazines, Current Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and Military History Matters.
