page_title: Battle at the Harzhorn
section_title: Dating
hierarchical_section_title: Battle at the Harzhorn / The battlefield today / Dating
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Grabungsschnitt am Harzhorn
context_page_description: The Battle at the Harzhorn took place in the early 3rd century between Germanic and Roman troops near the Harzhorn hill between the towns of Kalefeld and Bad Gandersheim, in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany.
  The battlefield, spanning several square kilometers, was discovered in December 2008 and is currently being excavated. Roman coinage found at the site gives a probable date of the battle during the reign of one of two Roman emperors: Severus Alexander or Maximinus Thrax.
  Archaeologists view the battlefield as a spectacular discovery of extraordinary scientific importance. Along with the Kalkriese battlefield and the Roman camps of Bentumersiel and Hedemünden, this is one of the very few Roman archaeological sites in northern Germany.
context_section_description: There is no explicit date for the battle. A coin minted under and showing the portrait of Emperor Commodus and some specific pieces of military equipment originally dated the battle to after 180 AD. A hypothesis suggested the early 3rd century, such as the supposed Germanic campaigns of Emperors Caracalla and Maximinus Thrax. Both of these are attested in historical sources, but no archaeological proof had been found so far.
  Later coinage finds depicting Emperors Elagabal (218-222) and Severus Alexander (222-235) further suggests Maximinus Thrax's campaigns. The Historia Augusta, a late Roman collection of biographies of the Roman Emperors, mentions that Maximinus Thrax marched north from Moguntiacum (today's Mainz) about 300 (trecenta) to 400 (quadringenta) Roman miles. Since this was thought to be impossible, this passage was often changed to triginta and quadraginta (30 to 40 miles).
  Numismatist Frank Berger dates the battle to between 230 and 235.
  Germanic tribes had crossed the Rhine and devastated the Roman countryside in 233; in 235, Maximinus Thrax led a campaign of revenge into Germania, which had been prepared by his predecessor, Severus Alexander.
caption: Excavations at the Harzhorn.
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