Augsburg Victory Altar

The Augsburg Victory Altar (German: Augsburger Siegesaltar) is the name given to a Roman altar of the victory goddess Victoria, which was set up on the occasion of the victory of a Roman army over the tribe of the Juthungi near the Rhaetian provincial capital Augusta Vindelicorum. The mention of the rebel emperor Postumus dates the creation of the altar to 11 September 260. The stone is kept in the Römisches Museum Augsburg.

The altar, made of Jura limestone, is 1.56 m high, 0.79m wide and 0.75m deep, and was found in 1992 by construction workers in Jakobvorstadt, Gänsbühl, Augsburg, in a former arm of the Lech, almost 400 m outside the former Roman city area. It is possible that it was originally displayed in the immediate area of the find location at a river crossing. The stone probably also had a statue of the goddess Victoria, but this is now lost; the base plate survives, however (in the same place).

As common in this period, it was a recycled monument. The original dedication, dating to the time of Severus Alexander (222-235), managed to survive above the actual inscription, hidden under a lipped stone lid, as were working marks on the side corners of the cornice.

The older inscription:

The later inscription:

Lines 10 and 11 with the names of the Rhaetian governor and the ruler of the Gallic Empire were later erased. The name of the usurper Postumus seems to have been made illegible using a chisel, while the remaining letters of these lines were simply scratched out. However, enough survives for the original text to be fully reconstructed.

In autumn/winter of 259 the Juthungi, including the Suebi, crossed the Limes Germanicus and invaded Italy (Failure of the Limes). While Emperor Gallienus managed to defeat the German invasion at Mediolanum in 260, the Juthungi had already stopped further north with thousands of Italian captives and copious booty. The inscription of the victory altar indicates that these were met by regular Roman troops and a provincial levy near the Rhaetian provincial capital, and defeated in a two-day battle (24 and 25 April). Until the discovery of the altar, this event was not known.

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