Marcus Junkelmann
Marcus Junkelmann grew up inside a palace. Born on the 2nd of October 1949 in Munich, he spent his formative years at Lustheim Palace in Schleißheim, where his family had taken up residence. His father, Erich Junkelmann, was an art historian, and that early immersion in history and culture would leave a permanent mark. What would Junkelmann do with that inheritance? He would take history off the page, strap on Roman armor, and march across the Alps to find out whether the ancient sources were telling the truth.
Junkelmann graduated in 1969 from the Dom-Gymnasium Freising, the high school in the cathedral town north of Munich. He then began studying history at LMU Munich in 1971. His doctoral research took him deep into the military career of Maximilian II of Bavaria, known as Max Emanuel, who lived from 1662 to 1726. The dissertation, titled "Kurfürst Max Emanuel von Bayern als Feldherr," earned Junkelmann his PhD in 1979. He then worked as an associate member of staff at the university and took up a position at the Bayerisches Armeemuseum, the military museum in Ingolstadt.
In 1985, the city of Augsburg marked two thousand years of existence, and Junkelmann seized the anniversary as a laboratory. He organized a large-scale experimental reenactment tied to that celebration, focusing on the daily conditions of Roman legionaries. The centerpiece was a month-long march from Verona northward to Augsburg, a route that required crossing the Alps. Every participant used original Roman army gear and equipment throughout the journey, and they carried out the standard tasks a legionary would have performed. The experiment yielded direct physical evidence about endurance, logistics, and equipment that no library could supply. Junkelmann went on to conduct similar experiments for the Roman cavalry, extending the same rigorous testing to a different branch of the ancient military machine.
Junkelmann translated his fieldwork into a substantial body of published work. His 1986 book "Die Legionen des Augustus" documented the Roman soldier through the lens of archaeological experiment. A three-part series on Roman cavalry riders, "Die Reiter Roms," appeared between 1990 and 1992, covering travel, hunting, triumphal processions, circus racing, military operations, equipment, riding technique, and armament across its volumes. In 1997 he published "Panis militaris," a study of Roman military nutrition whose subtitle translated roughly as "the foundation of power." That same year the book earned him the Ceram Prize. He also wrote on gladiators, Roman helmets, and Roman combat armor, as well as a children's book on gladiators published in 2005 by Tessloff Verlag.
Roman antiquity was not the only field Junkelmann worked in. He wrote on Napoleon and Bavaria, tracing the origins of the Bavarian kingdom in a 1984 book published by Pustet in Regensburg. He also produced two separate studies of the American Civil War and its aftermath, including a look at westward expansion in the United States from 1865 to 1890. A 1993 book examined the Swedish king Gustav Adolf, who lived from 1594 to 1632, during Sweden's rise as a major European power. His 2000 book "Arte and Marte Theatrum belli" examined the Battle of Hochstadt in 1704 alongside the palaces of Schleißheim and Blenheim, bringing his scholarship back to the very landscape where he had grown up.
Alongside his books, Junkelmann produced video documentaries. A 1986 production for Bayerischer Rundfunk examined the German soldier through historical footage, and it was broadcast repeatedly after its first airing. A 1994 documentary focused on the Roman treasure of Sorviodurum and the Gäubodenmuseum in Straubing. In 2000, Bayerisches Fernsehen broadcast a film he co-made on Roman cooking in ancient Bavaria. In 2012, Bavaria awarded him the Bavarian Order of Merit, one of the state's highest civilian honors. That recognition placed him among a select group of people judged to have made an outstanding contribution to Bavarian public life, a long way from the boy who once lived in a palace at Schleißheim.
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Common questions
Who is Marcus Junkelmann and what is he known for?
Marcus Junkelmann, born on the 2nd of October 1949 in Munich, is a German historian and experimental archaeologist. He is best known for organizing a month-long march from Verona to Augsburg in 1985 using authentic Roman army gear, and for his extensive published works on Roman soldiers, cavalry, and military life.
What was Marcus Junkelmann's 1985 Roman march experiment?
In 1985, tied to the two-thousand-year anniversary of the city of Augsburg, Junkelmann organized a reenactment of Roman legionary life that included a month-long march from Verona to Augsburg, crossing the Alps. Participants wore and used original Roman army gear throughout the journey and performed typical legionary tasks.
What is the Ceram Prize and why did Marcus Junkelmann receive it?
The Ceram Prize is an award Junkelmann received in 1997 for his book "Panis militaris," a study of the nutrition of Roman soldiers. The book's full German subtitle translated as "the foundation of power."
What award did Marcus Junkelmann receive in 2012?
In 2012, Junkelmann was awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit, one of Bavaria's highest civilian honors, in recognition of his contributions to Bavarian public life.
Where did Marcus Junkelmann grow up and study?
Junkelmann grew up at Lustheim Palace in Schleißheim, where his family lived during his youth. He graduated from the Dom-Gymnasium Freising in 1969 and began studying history at LMU Munich in 1971, receiving his PhD there in 1979.
What books did Marcus Junkelmann write about Roman cavalry?
Junkelmann wrote a three-volume series titled "Die Reiter Roms" published between 1990 and 1992. The volumes covered Roman cavalry activities including travel, hunting, triumphal processions, and circus racing; military operations; and equipment, riding technique, and armament.