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ForewordbyAleksanderBursche
withseverecriticism.IntheperiodovershadowedbyBismarck’sideaofbuilding
theGermanstateitwasunthinkablethatthesiteofthegreatGermanicvictoryover
Romans,describedbyTacitusinhisAnnales,theplacewhereArminius-Hermann
defeatedVarus,wherethreeRomanlegionshadbeenwipedout,helpingtodefend
KFreeGermania”,couldnotbedecidedbyamereclusterofcoins.
MorethanacenturyhadtopassafterMommsen’spublicationforevidence
fromhistory,ormoreprecisely,numismaticsandarchaeology,toconfirmthathis
identificationhadbeencorrect.Asaresultofmetal-detectoruse,newfindssurfaced
inthesamearea,andnowtheyrunintoseveralthousands.Otherthancoinsthey
includeelementsofRomanweapons,militaryequipment,etc.Theyshowthatabattle
foughtinthevicinityofKalkriese/Barenauehaddecidedthat–contrarytotheplans
ofAugustus–theterritorybetweenRhineandElbewouldnotbeturnedintoanew
Romanprovince.TheareaofTacitus’GermaniaandPtolemy’sMagnaGermania
remainedoutsidetheEmpire,thus,outsidethereachofthemoreoutstanding
achievementsofRomancivilization.Thekeyevidencetolinkthefindswiththesite
ofthebattleofAD9wasprovidedbythecoins,theirdating,proportions,presence
ofcountermarks,orincisionsmadeontheportraitofthefirstRomanemperor.
NotwithoutreasonIproposedtorecallherethisspectacular,andnowuniversally
acknowledged,discoveryatsomelength.Ithasbeensignificantforthreereasons
ofahistoriographicandmethodologicalnature.First,ithelpedtobringabout
amajorbreakthroughintheapproachtothesignificanceofmetaldetectorfinds
amongmanyarchaeologistsinCentralEurope.Second,themethodsusedinthe
regionofKalkriesenowplayanimportantroleinidentifyingotherbattlefieldsof
Antiquity.Thirdandlast,butcertainlynotleast,,asearlyasintheearlynineteenth
century,PolishresearcherslinkedlocalfindsofRepublicanandAugustancoinsto
theaftermathoftheBattleoftheTeutoburgerForest.Eachofthethreesubjects
areaddressedatmorelengthbelow.
Amajorbreakthroughintherecordingofancientcoinfinds,Romanin
particular,wasinthe1950s.Atthistimethefirstregionalcataloguesofsuchfinds
werepublishedonawiderscale,andthefirstlong-termnationalprojectswere
launched,ofwhichpossiblythebestknownEuropeaninitiativewastheKCoin
FindsoftheRomanPeriodinGermany”Project(FundmünzenderrömischenZeitin
Deutschland,FMRDforshort),undertakenfrom1953inMunich,laterinFrankfurt
byK.Kraft,andsubsequentlyexpandedbyM.Radnoti-Alföldiandherteam.Inits
initialphasethisprojectwasfinancedbytheGermanResearchFoundation,Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft,andlateron,underthenewnameFundmünzenderAntike,by
theAcademyofSciencesandLitertureinMainz(AkademiederWissenschaftenund
derLiteratur,Mainz).Theprojectranformorethanhalfacentury,andhadamong
itsoutcomestheFMRDcatalogueinseveralvolumesultimatelycoveringalmost
theentireterritoryofGermany(exceptforcentralRhineland),andacompanion
seriesofStudienzuFundmünzenderAntikemonographs.Theresearchersinvolved
intheprojectstartedacooperationwithscholarsinmanycountries,includingthe
Netherlands,Luxembourg,Slovenia,andCroatia,aswellasHungaryandPoland,
