The remains of a previously unknown Roman military camp have been discovered at Colm la Runga in Switzerland’s Oberhalbstein Alps at an altitude of 7,218 feet above sea level. It dates to the last two decades of the 1st century B.C.
When the camp was built, Roman legions were fighting to conquer the Swiss Alps, the last remaining region of modern-day Switzerland that was not yet under Roman control. Augustus saw control of the Alps as essential to the security of northern Italy, and Tiberius finished the job.
A battle between Rome and the local Suanetes tribe was known to have been fought 3,000 feet below the Colm la Runga site near the Crap Ses Gorge in 15 B.C.. Lead sling bullets stamped with the marks of the 3rd, 10th and 12th Legions have been found there, as have spearheads, brooches, caligae hobnails and an exceptional silver and brass dagger.
Archaeologists have been excavating the battlefield since 2021, supported by volunteer metal detectorists. Cutting edge LiDAR laser scans revealed differences in height in the topography of the Colm la Runga terrain that indicated there were man-made ditches and ramparts up there. Initial test pits dug confirmed the data.
Following geophysical surveys and non-destructive documentation in July 2024, students from the University of Basel and volunteer prospectors will be researching the wall-ditch system and the structures inside the camp from August 11 to 31, 2024. The finds so far include weapons and equipment belonging to Roman soldiers, including slingshots and shoe nails. The slingshots found bear the stamp of the 3rd Legion, which was also involved in the battle at Crap Ses. It can therefore be assumed that there is a close connection between the ancient battlefield and the newly discovered military camp.
The location of the camp on the Colm la Runga was certainly chosen for strategic reasons. From here there is a wide panorama of the most important surrounding valleys: the Landwassertal, the Albulatal, the Domleschg and the Surses. In addition, Lenzerheide, which was an important passage at the time, can be ideally viewed.
The sensational discovery of a Roman military camp in Graubünden once again shows that archaeological research into “Roman Switzerland” continues to hold great surprises. The discovery on the Colm la Runga is also internationally outstanding because the advance of the Roman forces 2000 years ago can now be precisely traced over several dozen kilometers: from Bergell over the Septimer Pass to the Tiefencastel area – and from there on towards Chur and the Alpine Rhine Valley.
I am assuming that the invading Germanic tribes blended in with the Romans, and the Swiss are a mixture of the Roman and German people? Or did the German tribes fight off the Romans? Seems to me that the two blended…please advise
Very curious about the outcome..
Sincerely.
Altogether, you are looking here at a time period of a FULL 1000+ years. However, I am trying to come up with an answer:
The Swiss a.k.a. Helvetii were already there, when the Romans showed up. Mainly, the central European tribes had been Celts, referred to as ‘Keltoi’ in Greek, not a monolithic block, but federated tribes. As Julius Ceasar pretended to have been called for help -and the Helvetii were involved here- he defined the folks west of the Rhine as Gauls, and east of the Rhine as Germans. Soon after, northern Germans were moving south into Celtic territory and beyond.
Apart from that, there was a later ‘migration period’, and already in previous times there was e.g. a Celtic expansion to the east, i.e. into Greece and Anatolia (cf. Galatians. In 335 BC e.g., Celts sent representatives to pay homage to Alexander the Great, while Macedon was engaged in wars against Thracians on its northern border. Some historians suggest that this ‘diplomatic’ act was actually an evaluation of Macedonian military might.).
At closer inspection, Romans turned (not only) central Europeans into Romans, and hence it were Romans that blended in elsewhere. In the mixed invasion of 406AD, the Alemanni conquered and then settled in what is today Alsace and a large part of the Swiss Plateau. Already in the 4th century BC, Gauls had sacked the city of Rome, while in the 5th century AD, Germanic tribes like the Vandals ended up in Africa, i.e. to sack Rome in 455AD 😉
What Pete says