Roman Temple to Mars and Victory Statue Found in Germany, livescience.com reports

Archaeologists discovered a temple dedicated to the Roman war god Mars alongside a statuette of the goddess Victoria in the wooded foothills of the Taunus mountains in Germany, livescience.com reported. The finds emerged from excavations at the Kapersburg Roman fort and its adjacent civilian settlement in Hesse, located approximately 16 miles north of Frankfurt.

Excavating the Kapersburg Fort Vicus Layers

The Kapersburg fort was originally built in the early second century under either Emperor Trajan or Emperor Hadrian and served a unit of Roman soldiers and cavalry for about 150 years until approximately A.D. 275. While the fort’s defensive walls remained visible since antiquity, practically nothing was known about its adjacent civilian settlement, or vicus, prior to excavations that began in 2024 according to the Hessen State Office for Monument Preservation. Unlike agricultural sites where archaeological layers rarely survive, the layers at the vicus start immediately beneath the forest floor and exhibit exquisite preservation.

Unearthing the Temple of Mars and Artifacts

Among the major highlights of the current work is the unexpected discovery of the Roman temple inside the settlement area. Inside the temple, we found several fragments of a dedicatory inscription, Kai Mückenberger, an archaeologist with Hessen Archaeology, said in a translated video. Experts translated a portion of that inscription to confirm the dedication to Mars, the Roman god of war. Researchers also recovered the remains of a Mars statue alongside a broken statuette of the goddess Victoria holding a palm branch and laurel wreath.

Craft Activities Replace the Border Settlement

The excavation team uncovered far fewer houses than anticipated but recovered substantial evidence of local craft production. Blacksmith pits and ovens designated for drying wheat and baking bread indicate an intermediate area functioning as the fort’s craft zone rather than standard residential housing. Later, when the fort lost its strategic utility, the Romans leveled the camp and constructed residential buildings over the site.

Continuing Archaeological Work in Hesse

Mückenberger and his research team plan to continue excavating the Taunus mountain site. Investigators have yet to determine the full extent of the settlement layout surrounding the fort and what additional artifacts remain preserved beneath the forest floor.