Failed Roman silver mine found in Germany

[guy]

 

Tacitus in his “Annals: Book XI” discusses the aborted attempts of the Roman Governor Curtius Rufus to mine for silver in Ems, Germany around AD 47. The site may have been discovered as well as two military camps in the area.

Quote

 

The researchers have confirmed the historical narrative by the discovery of a shaft-tunnel system for exploratory mining. The tunnel falls short of the Bad Ems passageway by only a few metres, a large deposit that in modern times has yielded 200 tons of silver.

The proximity of the camps to the mine suggests that they were constructed to provide security to the mining operations of the region, but once all mining was abandoned, the camps were burnt and the soldiers stationed elsewhere.

 

 

From Tacitus:

Quote

Nor was it long before the same distinction was gained by Curtius Rufus, who had opened a mine, in search of silver-lodes, in the district of Mattium. The profits were slender and short-lived, but the legions lost heavily in the work of digging out water-courses and constructing under­ground workings which would have been difficult enough in the open. Worn out by the strain — and also because similar hardships were being endured in a number of provinces — the men drew up a private letter in the name of the armies, begging the emperor, when he thought of entrusting an army to a general, to assign him triumphal honours in advance.

 

 

 

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/02/roman-military-camps-and-evidence-of-silver-mining-found-in-the-bad-ems-area/146263

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/980406

 

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/11b*.html

Edited February 22, 2023 by guy

[caldrail]

This is something that for me at least makes Roman history come alive, when you can actually point at the map and see where it happened rather than just read a paragraph or two in some obscure text. Silver was a major motive in the Roman Empire, the basis of their economy, and the direct involvement of the legions is noteworthy.

[guy]

I guess the focus of the find is also the presence of Roman-era spikes used to impede enemy forces:

 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/roman-wooden-spikes-barbed-wire-julius-caesar-180981727/

[guy]

I came across these two articles about the find (see below).

 

Recent research led by Goethe University has revealed a dramatic historical oversight: Roman soldiers in 47 AD attempted, but ultimately abandoned, mining a rich silver deposit near Bad Ems on the River Lahn in western Germany. Archaeological findings uncovered two Roman military camps and a mining tunnel system poised above a deposit that would later yield over 200 tons of silver.

⚔️ Roman Efforts & Strategic Missteps:

🏕️ Camps Discovered: A large camp (~8 hectares, 40 towers, 3,000 troops) and a smaller outpost (~40 soldiers) were built to protect mining operations.

🧱 Unfinished Construction: Only a warehouse and storeroom were completed; soldiers likely slept in tents.

🔥 Early Abandonment: The camps were burned and deserted within a few years. Tacitus wrote that soldiers requested early honors to avoid labor-intensive mining work.

🪙 Timeline Verified: A coin from 43 AD confirms these camps existed before the nearby Limes fortifications, updating historical timelines.

 

🪓 Mining Attempts & Missed Riches:

🕳️ Roman Tunnels: Shaft-tunnel systems were discovered just above the Bad Ems deposit. Modern experts estimate that the silver could have supported mining for 200 years.

❌ Low Yields at the Time: Without modern prospecting tools, Romans failed to identify the full extent of the vein.

🧭 Modern Excavation Sparked by a Hunter: In 2016, a hunter noticed crop marks from a raised hide, prompting geomagnetic surveys and drone-assisted archaeology.

 

🧠 Preservation & Legacy:

🪵 Defensive Spikes: Wooden spikes—described by Caesar and functioning like ancient barbed wire—were preserved in the damp soil and now reside at the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz (see post below and picture above).

 

 

Hidden from the Romans: 200 tons of silver on the shores of the river Lahn | Aktuelles aus der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

 

Research Shows Ancient Romans Missed Huge Silver Deposit in Germany - MiningNewsWire