The History Room
Impressive Roman Military Base Found in Serbian Cornfield
The ruins are east of Belgrade in a rural area.
Archaeologists in Serbia have found a Roman military base. Unlike many others, it was not found buried beneath a modern city, but in a rural location. This means that it can help experts to have a better understanding of the Roman army and its organization.
Experts were working on the ancient city of Viminacium, which was once the capital of the province of Upper Moesia. Today it is located near Kostolac, which is due east of the Serbian capital of Belgrade. Archaeologists made the discovery about 1 meter (3 ft.) under the earth in a cornfield. The find was made near a coal mine and was identified during a survey some months ago.
A Unique Roman Military Base
The Roman legion’s headquarters, which in Latin was known as a principium, ‘belonged to the VII Claudia Legion’ reports US News . This famous legion was on active service between the 2nd and 5th century AD. KFGO reports that the legion’s ‘walled camp and Principium were separated from the rest of Viminacium,’ which had its own fortifications. The legion numbered 5,000-6,000 professional soldiers and would have had many camp followers.
This discovery is very special as only 100 principia (plural of principium) have been found in the former provinces of the Roman Empire . Miomir Korac, an archaeologist who took part in the dig, told KFGO that “almost all are buried under modern cities.” This makes them difficult to investigate, but this is not the case with the Roman military base recently unearthed in the cornfield.
Korac told KFGO that “A very small number of principiums are explored completely (and) ... so we can say this one is unique as it is undisturbed.” During the dig, experts revealed only about a quarter of the site, which is believed to cover an area of 3,500 square meters (37,673.69 sq. ft.) The headquarters was a large compound.
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Originally Posted by Lummy
