Photo: Roman military camp site in the Swiss Alps. Credit: Andrea Badrutt / Chur

Roman military camp found on Swiss mountain

Researchers have found a 2,000-year old military camp atop a mountain in Switzerland. According to a release here from local authorities in Oberhalbstein (it’s in German, just so you know), it sits just over 7,000 feet above sea level.

The archaeologists used Light Detection and Ranging, or LIDAR, to find the remains of the camp. LIDAR uses pulsed laser light to measure distances to the Earth. The camp overlooks an ancient battlefield, I believe the Crap-Ses Gorge battlefield site that was discovered in 2019.

Elements from the 3rd, 10th, and 12th Legions fought the local Suantes tribe near the Crap-Ses Gorge on or about 15 BC. This is clear evidence that the Emperor Augustus leveraged not only trade and culture but also Roman steel to bring this area under Imperial control.

Using LIDAR, archaeologists can create 3-D maps of areas, as detailed here in National Geographic. Although it can’t show what’s beneath the ground – apparently, shovels still work for that sort of thing — LIDAR has enabled us to find archaeological sites we can’t see with the naked eye. It’s also a lot less work than digging.

But going back to this great find in Switzerland, this makes it clear that the 10th and 12th Legions were in Switzerland for some time, possibly decades. Note that the 10th Legion here very likely refers to Legio X Fretensis, raised by Caesar’s heir Octavian (who became the Emperor Augustus) on or about 40 BC. Caesar’s famed Legio X Equestris of the Gallic Wars fame was disbanded in 45 BC after they mutinied for being unpaid.

Legio XII Fulminata was raised by Caesar during the Gallic Wars and fought through the Roman Civil War thereafter. Records indicate that the Legion went East in the first century AD, and it is said that the Legion was guarding the frontier on the Euphrates in the fifth century AD. Legio III Gallica is said to have been raised by Caesar as well from Gauls living in Roman-held territories. This Legion also fought in the East and was in Syria in the third century AD.

Note that the 10th Equestris and the 12th Fulminata make their own appearances in my novel, Gaius Trebonius!