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1,700-Year-Old Skeletons Found In A Well In Croatia Have Been Identified As Roman Soldiers
M. Novak et al. 2025The seven men are believed to have died during one violent episode in the third century C.E.
During routine excavations ahead of construction work at a university in Osijek, Croatia, in 2011, archaeologists came across the skeletal remains of seven bodies stuffed into a well. Now, upon further examination, archaeologists have determined that the skeletons belonged to Roman soldiers who seemingly died violent deaths almost 2,000 years ago during the Battle of Mursa.
Analysis of the remains revealed where the men had come from, what they ate, and how they likely died. The research also offered a look at the historic battle itself, which occurred during the Roman Empire’s “Crisis of the Third Century.”
The Seven Roman Soldiers In The Croatian Well
According to a new study published in PLOS One, archaeologists discovered the bodies during protective excavations ahead of the construction of a new library at the the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. They uncovered a number of ancient wells during their work, one of which contained human remains. It was packed with “seven adult individuals… in different positions and in different depths.”
M. Novak et al. 2025The well that held the remains of the Roman soldiers is circled here in red.
The positions of the skeletons, right on top of each other in the well, suggested that they had been dumped there at the same time. Researchers believe that they were put in the well shortly after their deaths, “while their bodies were still fully fleshed, and not partially or completely skeletonized.”
What’s more, radiocarbon dating and a coin found in the well hinted at when the men had died. The human remains were dated to the the second half of the third century C.E., and the coin was minted in 251 C.E.
Researchers suspected that the men had died during the Battle of Mursa in 260 C.E., a hypothesis that was backed up by further study of their remains. Not only were the men of fighting age (four were between the ages of 18 and 35 and three between the ages of 36 and 50), but their skeletons showed evidence of “prolonged physical activity” consistent with that of a soldier.
“Several indicators point to the fact that these are indeed Roman soldiers,” the study’s lead author, Mario Novak, told All That’s Interesting in an email. “The first is the sex and age distribution of the whole assemblage — seven adult males… aged between 18 and 50 years which corresponds to the age of Roman soldiers known from historic written sources.”
“Second,” continued Novak, “all males are quite robust and strong and their stature is well above the average male height for that time period — again, we know from Roman sources how soldiers were supposed to be built; definitely all of them show evidence of intense physical activities. Third, there are old injuries on the skeletons suggesting they participated in violent episodes during their lifetime.”
Indeed, the men had seemingly died soldiers’ deaths.
M. Novak et al. 2025The skeletons had intense injuries, including broken teeth and cuts on the bone.
Two of the men had injuries on the frontal bones of their skulls, likely sustained from blunt force trauma during “face-to-face combat.” Another had a wound on his hip, suggesting that he’d been attacked from behind, and one man had injuries to his sternum consistent with piercing by an arrow or spear, broken teeth, and cuts on his arm and rib bones.
Interestingly, researchers were also able to determine that while the men ate a similar “soldier’s” diet, they came from far-flung corners of the Roman Empire. According to the study, this could “reflect the Roman Empire’s reliance on heterogeneous military recruitment, corroborating historical evidence of the integration of ‘foreign’ groups into the imperial forces.”
The researchers believe that the men died during the Roman Empire’s “Crisis of the Third Century,” possibly during a little-remembered conflict in 260 C.E. known as the Battle of Mursa.
The Battle Of Mursa And The ‘Crisis Of The Third Century’
During the Crisis of the Third Century, which took place for roughly 50 years between 235 and 284 C.E., the Roman Empire struggled on several fronts with foreign invasions, civil strife, and domestic rebellions.
G.dallorto/Wikimedia CommonsDiocletian, the Roman emperor who ended the Crisis of the Third Century by splitting the Roman Empire.
One such incident was the Battle of Mursa during 260 C.E. During this little-known battle, which took place in present-day Croatia, allies of Roman Emperor Gallienus fought against those of Ingenuus, a Roman military commander who’d revolted against the emperor. It was during this battle that the researchers believe the seven Roman soldiers lost their lives.
“The fact they were most probably soldiers (based on the facts described above) who ended their lives due to violent injuries also points to the fact they were either killed in the battle or immediately after the battle,” Novak explained. “And again, we know from contemporary sources that the battle of Mursa in 260 C.E. took place outside of the city walls and that it was one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the Roman Empire.”
What’s more, Novak and his team are currently in the process of studying another set of remains “of at least 25 adult male individuals with numerous perimortem injuries” found roughly 300 feet away who were probably also “the victims of the battle of Mursa in 260 C.E.”
The Crisis of the Third Century would come to an end two decades later, when the emperor Diocletian split the Roman Empire into several parts. He would rule the Eastern Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire, while a co-emperor would reign over the Western Empire.
During this time, the Roman Empire was changing in dramatic ways. But at least seven of its soldiers would not live to see it. They instead died in the Battle of Mursa, each a small piece of the larger Roman story that would not be uncovered for another 1,700 years.
After reading about the ancient Roman soldiers whose remains were found in a Croatian well, learn about the Pax Romana period of Roman history, an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity. Or, untangle the complicated question of why the Roman Empire fell.
The post 1,700-Year-Old Skeletons Found In A Well In Croatia Have Been Identified As Roman Soldiers appeared first on All That's Interesting.
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