Long-lost military hub unearthed in Germany: Ancient camp offers clues to how Roman troops prepared for battle

Archaeologists have been searching for signs of a Roman military presence in eastern Germany for centuries, the Daily Mail reports. 

And now researchers believe they have made the long-awaited discovery of what appears to be a military camp, near the town of Hachelbich in Thuringia.

Located in a valley, the temporary camp measures 18 hectares (180,000 square metres) and is thought to have housed 5,000 Roman troops.

Researchers believe the camp was set up by the Romans in the hope of invading territories further east, according to a report in Science.

Artefacts discovered inside the trenches include four nails from the bottom of Roman boots, part of a scabbard and traces of makeshift bread ovens.

Scientists claim these date back to the first two centuries AD, but they have been unable to pin them down to a more specific event in Roman history.

Around the camp, there are 6.6ft (2 metre)-deep trenches which each measure over 0.24 miles (400 metres) in length.

A separate trench protects a gate constructed at the northern edge of the camp.

The camp was first discovered in 2010, but it has taken up until now for archaeologists to conclusively prove that it is in fact Roman.

‘It's typically Roman - no Germans did that sort of thing,’ Mario Kuessner, an archaeologist working at the site for the state of Thuringia told Science.

‘The best would be if we could find coins or something with the legion number written on it,’ said Kuessner. ‘That would help us pin down the date.

The Romans were defeated in a battle against German tribes north of the Rhine River in 9AD.

Written sources suggest that despite this defeat, the Romans would sometimes campaign into Germany.

The Hachelbich discovery provides concrete evidence to back this up.

The exact whereabouts of the camp is currently being kept secret, to prevent metal detector hobbyists from stealing items for the site.

WERE THE SEVERED HEADS OF ROMAN GLADIATORS FED TO DOGS?

The heads of Gladiators brutally killed for the amusement of Roman audiences may have been fed to dogs, it has been revealed.

Skulls discovered within the boundaries of ancient London a quarter of a century ago are now believed to be those of gladiators - and the first results from the analysis of them has uncovered shocking new details.

'It is not a pretty picture,' Rebecca Redfern, from the centre for human bioarchaeology at the museum of London, said.

'At least one of the skulls shows evidence of being chewed at by dogs, so it was still fleshed when it was lying in the open.'

The first analysis of the haul of 39 skulls, discovered beneath the site of the Guildhall in the City of London, were published earlier this year.

'Examination of the sample using techniques employed by forensic anthropology and entomology found that some of the material had been deposited in open waterlogged pits,' the report says.

'The majority of the sample was adult males who had evidence for multiple peri-mortem blunt- and sharp- force injuries; many also had healed injuries, suggesting that violence was a common feature of their life.'