Augusta Vindelicum (Augsburg)
The Augustus statue at Maximiliansplatz surrounded by Nazi flags and today. Also referred to as Aelium Augustum (shortened to Aelia Augusta), Augsburg was founded in 15 BCE by Drusus and Tiberius as Augusta Vindelicorum, on the orders of their stepfather Emperor Augustus during the campaign of conquest to Raetia and a military camp was built as the nucleus of the later city. The epithet Vindelicorum represents the genitive plural of Vindelicus which referred to the Celtic tribe of the Vindelici who were located between Wertach (Virda) and Lech (Licus). This garrison camp soon became the capital of the Roman province of Raetia and under Hadrian, the town was raised to the status of a municipality, whose official name was then municipium Aelium Augustum.
Castra Regina (Regensburg) The Augustus statue at Maximiliansplatz surrounded by Nazi flags and today. Also referred to as Aelium Augustum (shortened to Aelia Augusta), Augsburg was founded in 15 BCE by Drusus and Tiberius as Augusta Vindelicorum, on the orders of their stepfather Emperor Augustus during the campaign of conquest to Raetia and a military camp was built as the nucleus of the later city. The epithet Vindelicorum represents the genitive plural of Vindelicus which referred to the Celtic tribe of the Vindelici who were located between Wertach (Virda) and Lech (Licus). This garrison camp soon became the capital of the Roman province of Raetia and under Hadrian, the town was raised to the status of a municipality, whose official name was then municipium Aelium Augustum.
Nevertheless, Augusta Vindelicum was the intersection of many important European east-west and north-south connections, which later evolved as major trade routes of the Middle Ages despite having been sacked by the Huns in the 5th century, Charlemagne in the 8th century, and Welf of Bavaria in the 11th century, each time rising to greater prosperity.Only one Roman municipium is attested for the whole area: municipium Aelium Augusta Vindelicum (now Augsburg), which was granted municipal status under Hadrian. The inhabitants were not necessarily uncivilized—inscriptions prove that some of them were literate before the Roman conquest—but land so mountainous was not worth anything to Rome, and they were left alone.Martin Goodman (222-223) The Roman World
Parked outside Porta
Praetoria, Germany’s most
ancient stone building, a gateway dating from 179 CE under Marcus
Aurelius for the new Roman fort Castra Regina. It was built for Legio III Italica and was an important
camp on the most northerly point of the Danube corresponding to what is
today the core of Regensburg's old town or Altstadt east of the Obere
and Untere Bachgasse and West of the Schwanenplatz. Giant blocks of
stone were used to construct this gate in the northern wall of the Roman
military camp. It survives as a reminder of Castra Regina, the Roman
settlement with its four huge gates with flanking towers. The left gate
tower and an arch of the originally very representative camp entrance
have been preserved. The gate tower still stands over two floors. The
gate tower, which was once eleven metres high, was built from limestone
blocks. The four metre-wide and six-metre high archway that has been
preserved consists of thirteen large cuboids that were joined together
without mortar.
Castra
Regina was founded as a Roman legion camp, developed into a city on the
upper Danube and became the nucleus of the city of the headquarters of
the Legio III Italica was established here. Castra Regina consisted of
the legionary camp itself, the civil town, a large cemetery and some
shrines and temples. It was probably being at the confluence of the Naab
and Regen into the Danube leading to important trade and traffic routes
already in existence that prompted the Romans to build a military base
here. Around 80 CE in what's now Regensburg-Kumpfmühl, a 2.2 hectare
cohort fort of wood-earth construction was completed on a slope spur
from which the Danube arch and the two river mouths could be seen.
Either a 500-man mounted cohort or a double cohort of roughly a thousand
foot soldiers were stationed here. During the Marcomanni wars under
Marcus Aurelius, this fort was destroyed along with the associated
civilian settlement around 170. In the area of today's old town, the
building of the legion camp for the Legio III Italica was established in
179. It then became the main military base of the Raetia province. The
legion commander was also the governor of Raetia. West of the legionary
camp, a sizeable civilian settlement developed within which craftsmen,
traders and the members of the approximately 6000 legionaries lived.
Thus Castra Regina became,
in addition to its military role, an important trading post in Raetia.
By the 3rd century Germanic tribes broke through the Limes
invading the province again as the legion camp and the area around
Regensburg were devastated by the Alemanni. The camp was rebuilt but the surrounding area hardly recovered from the massive
destruction and most of the farms were abandoned. By 357 the Juthungen, a
sub-tribe of the Alamanni, invaded Raetia wreaking havoc on the
province and no doubt affecting Castra Regina. The last section of the Legio
III Italica departed at the end of the 4th century resulting in Castra
Regina losing any military importance.
Abusina (Eining)
Abusina was a Roman military camp located about 500 metres south of today's Einingen town centre on the Danube between the road leading to Sittling and the Abens river, which flows into the Danube just north of the fort and which was once eponymous for the Roman town. It's the best preserved Roman fort in Bavaria. The
name Abusina was derived from the Abens, a tributary of the Danube. The
site was chosen where the Danube crossing branches off from the Roman
road and running parallel to the Raetian limes. The stone fort at 1.8
hectares is rather small for the requirements of a fort and probably
accommodated only one vexillation. In ancient times it was in a strategically and geographically important position. From there, both shipping traffic on the Danube and a road junction at this point could be controlled, where one traffic route branched off from the Roman Donausüdstraße in a south-easterly direction and another led across a Danube ford to the west. The closest larger garrisons were the Alen - Fort Pförring on the northern bank of the Danube, opposite today's Neustadt an der Donau, and Castra Regina. A small disadvantage of the location was the lack of line of sight to Fort Pförring, below, and to the beginning of the Limes section near Hienheim, which was also on the northern bank of the Danube. It could have been compensated by an additional watchtower on the vineyard. Abusina is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the few fully exposed and reconstructed in its foundations fortifications at this border section.
Foundations of the Principia (staff building), the semicircular building serving as the flag shrine (aedes).
According to the founding inscription, the Abusina fort was built during the reign of Titus around the year 80 CE by the Cohors IIII Gallorum to secure the Danube line established as part of the northern border of the Roman Empire. This cohort was also the first regular unit to move into the new fort. In its first construction phase, the camp consisted of a fence in a wood-earth construction and inside of quite simple half-timbered buildings.
In the early 2nd century, probably towards the end of the reign of Trajan, the Cohors IIII Gallorum was replaced by a Vexillatio, a detachment of about 500 to 600 men from the Cohors II Tungrorum milliaria equitata. This assignment is an exemplary characteristic of the mobility, flexibility and thus modernity of the Exercitus Romanorum. Whilst the parent unit remained stationed in Britain, it was easily possible to deploy the detachment of this force in the distant Danube region in the meantime. A little later, between 138 and 147, presumably the Vexillatio of a sister unit, the Cohors IIII Tungrorum milliaria equitata, took its place for a few years.
Standing beside the so-called "Caracalla altar" which had been donated by Titus Flavius Felix, Praefect of the Cohors III Brittanorum equitata in Abusina, probably dating either from 211 or one to two years earlier. Its inscription honours the empress as the "mater Augustorum et castrorum", together with her two sons Geta and Caracalla. The subsequent deletion of the name Geta shows that after his violent death, like that famously seen on the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Forum Romanum in Rome Großkrotzenburg, Geta had not escaped the "damnatio memoriae" in Abusina. It was Mommsen
who had argued that the gap between the AVG and the following ET cannot be
explained unless it reflects the same attempt to erase
Caracalla's brother's name. The foundation again indicates a connection with the Britain campaign of Septimius Severus, who was represented by his wife and son on this visitation trip from England to the Danube.
Beside another army altar in Carrawburgh on Hadrian's wall. From 153 the Cohors III Britannorum equitata with six centuries of infantry and six towers of cavalry is recorded as serving here where it remained until the final end of Roman rule over the province of Raetia in the early 5th century. Indeed, the fort provides a remarkable aspect of British history as it was occupied by the cohors III Britannorum equitata, or part of it. The inset shows a depiction of the altar from the 16th century Aventini adversariorum tomus by Bavarian scholar from nearby Abensberg, Johannes Turmair, known as Aventinus. In 1517 William IV, Duke of Bavaria commissioned him to write a history of the country which resulted in a complete history of Bavaria, Annales Bojorum. His condensed German version of it, the Bayerische Chronik, is the first important history in the German language.
On
the front of the monument, six people are depicted who are grouped
around an altar. To the right of the altar stands a bearded man with the
back of his head covered. The boy to his right is similarly veiled.
Both are wearing knee-length robes. The boy is holding a plate with
offerings in his hand, and behind them is another person. To the left of
the altar, a bare-chested sacrificial servant with an axe in hand leads
a bull to be sacrificed. A musician behind the sacrificial servant
accompanies the scene with his double flute. Another, badly damaged
figure, possibly female, stands behind the altar.
Abbot Werner, head of the Weltenburg monastery, remarks in the chronicle of his monastery that he wrote that the altar had eventually found itself "brought into the village and used as a corner stone in the sacristy of the church. In this condition I examined it in 1780.” In 1784 the altar was sent to the Academy of Sciences in Munich where, he continues to write, "it had to stand at the entrance for many years without any archaeologist having pity on it.” In 1814 the altar was held within the Antiquarium in the Munich Residence and finally in the Bavarian National Museum.The two smaller upper fragments of the stone were found in 1887 and 1915 respectively and were also taken to Munich. However, the monument itself had been completely destroyed during the war where fortunately in addition to this copy on the fort grounds in Eining, there is another, better preserved copy in the Archaeological State Collection in Munich.
Here the copy's details are compared to the original altar stone of the Prefect Titus Flavius Felix, photographed before the war and its eventual destruction.
On
the left side of the monument, the goddess Fortuna is depicted holding a
cornucopia in her left hand, symbolising fertility and prosperity. Her
right hand holds a rudder on the ground, symbolising that Fortuna, the
goddess of fate, holds human fate in her hand. The right side of the
stone shows the genius of the third Britannic cohort mentioned in the
inscription, who is the guardian spirit of the troops. He also holds a
cornucopia in his left arm and with his right hand makes a sacrifice
from a bowl on a flaming round altar.
The Eining fort ( Abusina in Latin ) was a Roman military camp whose crew was responsible for security and surveillance tasks on the wet Rhaetian Limes. The Danube formed the Roman imperial border in large sections. A little further north, the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes flowed into the western bank of the river up to the Limes Falls . The structural remains of the complex are located south of Eining , a district of Neustadt an der Donau . Abusina has been part of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, since 2005 and is one of the few defense systems on this section of the border that have been completely exposed and their foundations have been reconstructed. Eining Castle Alternative name Abusina , Ausina , Allusina , Ausena , Arusena limes ORLNN ( RLK ) Route (RLK) 15; Rhaetian Limes; Danube-Iller-Rhine Limes of Raetia II Dating (occupancy) around 80 AD to 5th century Type Cohort fort Unit * Cohors IV Gallorum * Vexillatio of Cohors II Tungrorum milliaria equitata * Vexillatio of Cohors IV Tungrorum milliaria equitata * Cohors III Britannorum equitata Size max. 147 × 125 m = 1.8 ha Construction method a) Wood-earth camp b) Stone fort Conservation status exposed and preserved Location Neustadt an der Donau - Bad Gögging /Eining Geographical location 48° 50′ 59″ N , 11° 46′ 15″ E Height 360 m above sea level NHN Previously ORL 75 Pförring Fort (west) Afterward Vexillation camp Eining-Unterfeld (north) Weltenburg-Frauenberg small fort (north) Burgus Thaldorf (northeast) Upstream Hienheim small fort (north) Table of contents Position The Abusina fort is located about 500 m south of today's Eininger town center on the high bank of the Danube between the road leading to Sittling and the small river Abens , which flows into the Danube just north of the fort and which once gave the Roman town its name. In ancient times it was in an important strategically and geographically important position. From there, both shipping traffic on the Danube and a road junction at this point could be controlled, where one traffic route branched off from the Roman Danube South Road in a southeasterly direction and another led over a Danube ford to the west. The nearest larger garrisons were the Alen fort Pförring on the northern bank of the Danube, opposite today's Neustadt an der Donau , and the legionary camp Castra Regina , today's Regensburg . A small disadvantage of the location was the lack of visual connection to the Pförring fort and to the beginning of the Limes section near Hienheim , which was also located on the northern bank of the Danube . This could be compensated for by an additional watchtower on the vineyard . Research history Abusina as ARUSENA on the Tabula Peutingeriana (top center) Aerial photo of the fort on an information board in the archaeological park (north = left), as it was in the 1980s Status of the excavations in 1903 (north = right) Terrain model of the fort and its surroundings Model of the Middle Imperial stone fort (Germanic National Museum Nuremberg) Model of the late antique remaining fort in the southwest corner (Kelheim Archaeological Museum) The name Abusina had long been known from various ancient sources, but appeared in different spellings. The variants ABVSINA, AVSINA, ALLVSINA, AVSENA and ARVSENA can be found on the Tabula Peutingeriana , in the Itinerarium Antonini , in the Notitia dignitatum and on inscription stones. Humanist scholars of the early modern period already knew about the former Roman settlement in the area around Eining. In addition to Johannes Aventinus (1477–1534), it was also Peter Apian (1495–1552) who secured lost stone monuments in Eining. Through their research, the scholars were already able to correctly identify the ancient wall remains with Abusina . The fort site was then forgotten again for a few hundred years until, in the 19th century, the interest of educated middle classes turned to the ancient evidence in Germany. The fort was not included in the activities of the Reich Limes Commission (RLK), founded in 1892, as their study area ended with the end of the Limes Wall on the western bank of the Danube near Hienheim . The fort site owes the beginning of its exploration to the initiative of the Einingen pastor Wolfgang Schreiner, who began the first excavations in 1879 , which he initially financed with private funds. [1] The excavations continued with occasional interruptions between 1911 and 1920, particularly under the direction of the then state archaeologist Paul Reinecke (1872–1958). After that, scientific research came to a standstill for almost half a century. It was not until 1968 that scientific research was resumed on the initiative of the provincial Roman archaeologist Hans Schönberger (1916–2005), then director of the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI). In 2010, a team of designers from Düsseldorf won a competition to give the fort grounds a new look . It had presented plans to distribute several structures made of partly oversized steel plates throughout the excavation site in order to “enliven” the archaeological site. In addition, a new entrance area, toilets and a network of paths for visitors were planned in what is now a park-like landscape. Hidden remnants of the wall should be “perceptible to the senses” with “herb planting.” In contrast to the public sector, the tenant of Abusina , the Historia Romana association, had raised concerns about the plans and would have seen the considerable funds required better invested in the preservation of the ancient building remains. [2] These concerns did not prevail. When the concept was completed in 2011, the site was named Römerpark Abusina Eining . In addition to the rusty steel plate gates that now dominate the site and were erected directly in front of the ancient gates and building entrances, the concept also did not shy away from making installations and thus visual changes to the ancient substance. Those responsible had a concrete-steel structure placed in the middle of the entrance to the Middle Imperial period, river-side Porta decumana , which extends as a footbridge over the sloping terrain. The steel plates also serve as “listening stations”. In the fort area, noises can now be heard in various places that are reminiscent of life 2000 years ago, such as the clatter of hooves and roaring Romans. [3] Instead of the wooden pavilion with information and finds in the north of the fort that was set up at the end of the 20th century, a structure made of steel, glass and concrete that also served as a viewing platform was built. [4] The not inconsiderable find material from Eining is essentially distributed among the Archaeological Museum of the City of Kelheim , [5] the City and District Museum of Landshut , the Munich State Archaeological Collection and the Abensberg City Museum . The fort area itself is now a small but attractive archaeological park. Castle and vicus history According to the founding inscription, the Abusina fort was built during the reign of the Flavian Emperor Titus (79–81) around 80 AD by the Cohors IV Gallorum (4th cohort of the Gauls) to secure the Danube line as part of the northern border of the Roman Empire Empire built. This cohort was also the first core unit to move into quarters in the new fort. In its first construction phase, the camp consisted of a wood-and-earth structure and its interior consisted of fairly simple half-timbered buildings. In the early 2nd century, probably towards the end of the reign of Emperor Trajan , the Gaulish cohort was replaced by a Vexillatio , a 500 to 600-man detachment of the Cohors II Tungrorum milliaria equitata (2nd partially mounted double cohort of the Tungrians ). This detachment is an exemplary hallmark of the mobility, flexibility and thus modernity of the Exercitus Romanorum , the Roman army. While the main unit remained stationed in Britain , it was easily possible to deploy the detachment of this force in the distant Danube region. Somewhat later, between 138 and 147, the vexillatio of a sister unit, the Cohors IIII Tungrorum milliaria equitata , probably took its place for a few years. From 153 onwards, the Cohors III Britannorum equitata (3rd partly mounted British cohort) with six centuries of infantry and six towers of cavalry is documented in Eining. It remained there until the final end of Roman rule over the province of Raetia in the early 5th century. One of their first tasks was to convert the camp into a stone fort. This measure was related to a coordinated reinforcement of the entire regional Limes section in Antonine times. The necessity of the expansion measures soon became apparent. During the Marcomannic Wars in the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161–180), the province of Raetia came into severe distress and at least partially and temporarily slipped away from Roman control. Eining's fort and vicus were also destroyed for the first time. The area between Abusina and Castra Regina was probably only brought back under control around the year 175 AD by the Legio III Italica (3rd Italic Legion) stationed in Regensburg. Parts of this legion were temporarily stationed in the Unterfeld corridor north of Eining for around ten years from around 172 AD . After the rebuilding of the fort and the camp village, a phase of peace and prosperity began for Abusina that lasted until the first third of the 3rd century . The political highlight of this time was the visit of the Emperor Caracalla to Eining in 213. Caracalla had gone to Raetia to coordinate a preventive war against the Alemanni, who were threateningly concentrating north of the Danube. The military operations that were now initiated were so successful that they freed the province and thus also Abusina from pressure from the Alemanni for another two decades. From the year 233 onwards, the relatively stable times for the border residents were a thing of the past. During the first Alamanni invasion, Abusina was destroyed again. Further waves of Alamannic raids and conquest followed, until in 260 the Roman border defense in Raetia almost completely collapsed and the province sank into chaos. Eining was also burned down again during this last Alemanni storm. Numerous hoard finds, including the famous “ Eining hoard ”, which was discovered by chance in 1975, bear witness to this period. Along with the treasure finds from Weißenburg and Straubing , the Eining treasure trove is one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Bavaria and contains parts of Roman parade armor. It was documented by Hans-Jörg Kellner and is now in the Munich State Archaeological Collection . The 3rd Britannic Cohort and the 3rd Italian Legion were among the few surviving military units and were the last stabilizing factors in the region. Abusina 's cohort remained in its garrison until the Diocletian - Constantinian army reforms at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th century and the expansion of the Danube-Iller-Rhine Limes allowed the situation in the border areas to calm down again. The reforms created a larger mobile army stationed in the hinterland and reduced the strength of the troops immediately on the border, whose barracks were converted into smaller and more fortified burgi . At the same time, the expansion of the Limes strengthened Raetia's western flank , which had arisen through the loss of the Agri decumates . The changes to the Roman army structure are reflected in Eining Fort in an exemplary manner. The number of personnel in the Britannic cohort was probably reduced to 140 men and a small castle-like fortress was built in the southwest corner of the old fort, including ditches on less than a quarter of the previous area. The defenses of the remaining three quarters were also maintained in the period that followed; The old fort area was used by both the military and the civilian population. The latter had not rebuilt the old Einingen vicus after 260, but now sought protection behind the walls of the fort. Abusina's final downfall came around the middle of the 5th century, probably as a result of an advance by the Alemanni from the west. It is possible that the last Romanesque population group remaining in the protection of the fortification was among those who were saved by the evacuation measures of Severin of Noricum . The core of the Bavarian settlement of Oweninga, from which today's Eining emerged, was formed around 500 m north of Abusina and only emerged in the 6th or 7th century, so there is no settlement continuity there. Fort findings Danube bank Principia and left camp gate (on the right edge of the picture) Due to the repeated changes in the strategic framework and repeated destruction over the long period of its existence, the Abusina fort was rebuilt and rebuilt several times. This led to a high level of complexity in the structural findings. Nothing remains of the original wood and earth fort from the Flavian period. However, its floor plans were decisive for all subsequent stone forts before the beginning of late antiquity. With a length of 147 meters and a width of 125 meters, it covered an area of around 1.8 hectares and was therefore the average size of a Roman cohort fort with cavalry. Initially, the fort with its Porta Praetoria (main gate) faced north; it was only when it was converted into a stone fort in the middle of the 2nd century that the main exit gate faced east. This change in the internal structure is largely responsible for today's asymmetrical image. The imperial military camp at Eining was surrounded on three sides by a double pointed ditch . Each individual trench was 8 meters wide and 4 meters deep. The ditch system was interrupted towards the Danube, probably because the steep bank and the river itself represented a sufficient obstacle to approach. The defensive wall of the four-gate fort, rounded at the corners, was 1.4 meters thick and probably 5 meters high. In addition, the Agger , an earthen ramp , was built on the inside of the wall . The wall was reinforced with towers at its corners, at the gates and between corners and gates. In the center of the fort interior are the walls of the Principia , the staff building, which are still visible. There were the service rooms (Tabularia) , the armory and under the flag sanctuary (Aedes) the troop cash desk. Just north of the Principia was the Praetorium , the commander's spacious and comfortable living quarters. In addition, the warehouse had all the usual features for its size. Nothing is visible of these buildings, the team barracks, horse stables, workshops, the hospital and the detention building. The remains of a tank statue that once stood for the emperor in the flag sanctuary were found in the fort area. These fragments date to the first half of the 3rd century. [6] In late antique times the fort was significantly reduced in size (0.18 hectares). A heavily fortified, castle-like small fort was built in its southwest corner. Parts of the external defenses of the old warehouse were incorporated into the new building; the new fortification was separated from the remaining area with a defensive ditch. Including this ditch, the burgus had less than a quarter of the garrison's original area. The rest served as a new living area for the civilian population, which had been decimated by the wars, in place of the abandoned vicus . In Valentinian times, a 9.50 × 19.50 meter horreum with a central tower in the north wall was probably built in front of the north wall, with the fort wall being used as a back wall. Buttresses in the northeast and northwest corners, a screed floor and finds of grain strongly indicate a storage building. It may have obstructed the field of vision and fire from the adjacent towers, which is why an additional tower was placed in front of the horreum, resulting in this unusual shape. [7] The use of the Eining fort ended in the middle of the 5th century. Fort findings Heizbares Gebäude am Nordrand der Principia Heated building on the northern edge of Principia Angelloch für einen Torflügel am Westturm der Porta Principalis Sinistra Fishing hole for a gate on the west tower of the Porta Principalis Sinistra Fischgrätmuster auf der Innenwange der Nordmauer des spätantiken Burgus Herringbone pattern on the inner cheek of the north wall of the late antique Burgus Fischgrätmuster auf der Westseite des Nordostturms im Burgus. Im Fundament sind halbwalzenförmige Zinnensteine des mittelkaiserzeitlichen Kastells verbaut Herringbone pattern on the west side of the northeast tower in Burgus. Half-roller-shaped crenellated stones from the Middle Imperial fort are built into the foundation Clavicula-Tor des spätantiken Burgus Clavicula gate of the late antique Burgus Vicus findings The Eining military camp was surrounded in a fan shape by a civilian settlement, a vicus . Its main traffic axes were the Danube South Street, which was curved around the fort, and the traffic route that branched off from this street to the east immediately in front of the Porta Praetoria . The extent of the vicus from the fort gate was around 500 meters in each direction, so that during the heyday of the camp village there was an extent of around one kilometer in a north-south direction and almost half a kilometer in a west-east direction. The relatives of active soldiers settled there, as did traders, craftsmen and innkeepers who covered the military camp's needs for goods and services. Soldiers who had completed their service were later added, as was shown by numerous discharge certificates, so-called military diplomas, found during the excavations. Most of the Vicus buildings were simple half-timbered houses, but there were also a few stone buildings, some with underfloor heating and up to 50 meters long. They were proven using field archaeological methods and aerial archeology . Immediately outside the fort walls there were two bathing facilities in succession. The first small thermal baths were built on the steep banks of the Danube, but had to be abandoned soon due to the constant risk of flooding. It was replaced by a large, representative thermal baths north of the fort with all the comforts of the time. Also in front of the northern front of the camp, a large, heated mansio with a small bathing area was built, a hostel and horse changing station for business travelers on government orders. The Eining Mansio was also the headquarters of the Beneficiaries , a type of road police with customs powers who were responsible for the security of the Roman highway network. Baths and Mansio of Abusina Große Therme, Grabungsplan von 1887 Large thermal baths, excavation plan from 1887 Großes Badegebäude (vermutlich das Caldarium) Large bathing building (presumably the Caldarium ) Hypokaustum im kleinen Badegebäude Hypocaust in the small bath building Spätantikes Bad aus der Zeit des Burgus Late antique bath from the Burgus period Mansio Mansio The vicus of Abusina has been destroyed and rebuilt several times in its approximately 180-year history. After the great Alamanni storm of 260 it was abandoned. The surviving population then retreated behind the protective walls of the fort. Watchtower on the vineyard Since there was no direct line of sight from the Abusina fort to the next fort in Pförring and to where the developed part of the Limes met the Danube northeast of Hienheim , a watchtower was built on the vineyard northeast of Eining to close the gap. It existed until the 3rd century and was probably destroyed during Alemanni raids. Directly near its foundations, two further stone buildings were found, which belonged to a crew quarters for the crew of the watchtower and to a small temple of Mars and Victoria . The rubble from these facilities also revealed evidence that the site was used as a Christian place of worship in post-Roman and early medieval times. They may have been in use from the 6th/7th. In the 19th century, the baioarii who settled in this area used the foundations of the crew quarters to build a simple church. Vexillation camp in the lower field Main article: Eining-Unterfeld vexillation camp Just a little north of the town center of Eining there are the remains of a large Roman military camp under the fields of the Unterfeld field. With its sides measuring 328 × 320 meters, it covers an area of 10.6 hectares. Today the area is cut through by the road from Eining to Staubing , which follows the course of the former Via Principalis . The military camp was probably the site of a vexillation of the Legio III Italica (3rd Italian Legion), probably reinforced and protected by mounted auxiliary troops . However, precise certainty about the function of the camp can only be gained through large-scale excavations. Monument protection As a section of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, the Abusina fort and the facilities mentioned have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 2005. They are also protected as registered archaeological monuments within the meaning of the Bavarian Monument Protection Act (BayDSchG). Research and targeted collection of finds require permission; accidental finds must be reported to the monument authorities. See also List of the forts of the Danube-Iller-Rhine Limes Eining's safekeeping find literature Dietwulf Baatz : The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and Danube. 4th edition, Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , p. 322 ff. Jörg Fassbinder, Roland Linck, Tomasz Gorka, Thomas Deller, Lena Kühne: Geophysical prospection in the fort and Vicus Eining. In: The Archaeological Year in Bavaria 2009. Stuttgart 2010. pp. 92–95. Jörg Fassbinder: From Eining to Ruffenhofen. On the way to a magnetogram atlas of the Raetian Limes fort. Results of geophysical prospecting in Bavaria . In: Peter Henrich (ed.): Perspectives on Limes research . 5th Colloquium of the German Limes Commission 19/20. May 2009 in the Roman-Germanic Museum of the City of Cologne. (= Contributions to the Limes World Heritage Site. 5). Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2465-8 , pp. 88-103, especially pp. 99-101. Thomas Fischer : The Eining Roman fort and its surroundings (= archeology in Bavaria ). Puste, Regensburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-7917-2841-4 . Thomas Fischer, Erika Riedmeier Fischer: The Roman Limes in Bavaria. Puste, Regensburg 2008. ISBN 978-3-7917-2120-0 . Thomas Fischer: Eining City of Neustadt ad Donau, District of Kelheim, Obb. In: Wolfgang Czysz and others: The Romans in Bavaria. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-937872-11-6 , p. 434 ff. Thomas Fischer: Forts Ruffenhofen, Dambach, Unterschwaningen, Gnotzheim, Gunzenhausen, Theilenhofen, Böhming, Pfünz, Eining. In: Jochen Garbsch (ed.): The Roman Limes in Bavaria. 100 years of Limes research in Bavaria. Exhibition catalogs of the Prehistoric State Collection 22, 1992, p. 37 ff. Thomas Fischer, Konrad Spindler: The Roman border fort Abusina-Eining. Theiss, Stuttgart 1984. (Guide to archaeological monuments in Bavaria: Lower Bavaria 1), ISBN 3-8062-0390-3 . Thomas Fischer, Günter Ulbert : The Limes in Bavaria. From Dinkelsbühl to Eining. Theiss, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-8062-0351-2 , p. 106 ff. Christof Flugel: A Roman bronze shaft with reliefs of gods from Eining, district of Kelheim . In: Bavarian Prehistory Sheets 64, 1999, p. 393 Markus Gschwind : Abusina. The Roman auxiliary fort Eining on the Danube from the 1st to 5th century AD. Beck, Munich 2004. (Munich contributions to prehistory and early history, 53), ISBN 3-406-10755-9 . Ute Jäger: The Romans on the Danube. Bad Gögging, Eining Castle . Wek-Verlag , Treuchtlingen 1993, ISBN 3-924828-53-9 . Hans-Jörg Kellner: The Roman deposit from Eining . Beck, Munich 1978. (Munich contributions to prehistory and early history, 53), ISBN 3-406-00499-7 . Erdmute Lipper: The animal bone finds from the Roman fort Abusina - Eining, city of Neuburg a. d. Danube, district of Kelheim . In: Report of the Bavarian Monument Preservation 22/23, 1981/82 (1986), pp. 81–156. Krešimir Matijević : Epigraphic notes on the so-called “Caracalla Altar” in Abusina/Eining-Raetia (CIL III 5935) . In: Frankfurt electronic review of antiquity 17, 2012, 1-11. (PDF; 9.0 MB) Krešimir Matijević (ed.): Salve Abusina! An archaeological-historical museum guide through the Roman auxiliary fort of Abusina/Eining and its vicus , Regensburg 2012. ISBN 978-3-937527-50-5 Paul Reinecke : The Roman border fort Abusina near Eining - Danube , printing company A. Kettner, Riedenburg 1957. Michael Maria Rind : A destroyed Roman cremation grave. News about the localization of the Eining burial ground. In: Michael Maria Rind (ed.): Of Celtic warriors and church mice (= archeology in the Kelheim district 2), Regensburg 1997, p. 163 f. Michael Maria Rind: New excavation results on the Roman Eining. Emergency excavations by the Kelheim district archeology department 1991–93 . In: Karl Schmotz (ed.): Lectures at the 13th Lower Bavarian Archaeological Day Marie Leidorf, Rahden 1995, pp. 85–114. Michael Maria Rind: Middle Imperial period cremation graves from Eininger Höllenberg, Neustadt municipality . In: Michael Maria Rind (ed.): Shards, skulls, scratch holes . (= Archeology in the Kelheim 1 district), Regensburg 1994, pp. 80–87. Michael Maria Rind: News about the Roman Eining . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 1992 , 1993, pp. 107–108. Web links Commons : Eining Castle - Album with pictures, videos and audio files Eining Castle on the website of the German Limes Commission Eining Castle on the Cohors II Raetorum side Eining Castle on Bernd Liermann's private antiquity project page Remarks Wolfgang Schreiner: Eining and the Roman excavations there. A small guide through the same. Thomann'sche bookstore, Landshut 1887. Gabriele Ingenthron: Modern steel beams on historical walls. Donaukurier from July 28, 2010. [1] . Retrieved July 28, 2010. A new look at the ancient Romans In: donaukurier.de , June 3, 2011, accessed on September 20, 2012 Römerpark Abusina Eining - installation, exhibition and viewing pavilion. Düsseldorf designer team “nowakteufelknyrim”, accessed on June 24, 2023 . Kelheim Archaeological Museum. City of Kelheim, accessed on June 24, 2023 . Martin Kemkes: The image of the emperor at the border - A new large bronze fragment from the Raetian Limes . In: Andreas Thiel (ed.): Research on the function of the lime , Volume 2. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-2117-6 , p. 144. Jördis Fuchs: Late antique military horrea on the Rhine and Danube. A study of the Roman military installations in the provinces of Maxima Sequanorum, Raetia I, Raetia II, Noricum Ripense and Valeria. Diploma thesis, Vienna 2011
The cohors III Britannorum was probably raised shortly after Roman rule was established on the British Isles, in order to pacify the region by drawing the local youth into the Roman army. During the Year of the Four Emperors, several troops recruited amongst Britons sided with Emperor Galba and subsequently with Emperor Vitellius under command of A. Caecina Alienus. Upon Vespasian's eventual victory, the cohors III Britannorum was transferred to Raetia. Here in Eining two military diplomas issued to soldiers of the cohors III Britannorum were recovered. It's possible that the cohors III Britannorum was transferred to the fort of Eining under the reign of Emperor Hadrian. During the military reorganisation of Emperor Antoninus Pius in the years around 160, the fort at Eining was reconstructed, probably by soldiers of the cohors III Britannorum. This was part of a coordinated strengthening of the entire regional Limes section in Antonine times which quickly became necessary. During the Marcomanni Wars, the province of Raetia came under severe distress and at least partially and temporarily escaped Roman control. The fort and vicus of Eining were also destroyed for the first time. The area between Abusina and Castra Regina was probably not brought back under control until around 175 by the Legio III Italica stationed in Regensburg. After the rebuilding of the fort and the camp village, Abusina began a phase of calm and prosperity that lasted into the first third of the 3rd century. The political highlight of this period was the visit of Caracalla in Eining in 213 whilst conducting a preventive war against the gathering Alemanni. These military operations were so successful that they freed the province, including Abusina, from the pressure of the Alemanni for another two decades. From 233, however, the relative stability was at an end and in the course of the first Alemanni invasion, Abusina was destroyed again. More waves of Alemannic raids and conquests followed, until in 260 the Roman border defence in Raetia almost completely collapsed and the province sank into chaos. Eining was also burned down again which the numerous hoard finds, including the famous Eining hoard which was discovered by chance in 1975, bear witness to.
The buildings eventually fell into disrepair with the stones being used by local farmers as building material as the foundation walls sank in the dust of history. After Thurmaier discovered the consecration stone here Abusina was forgotten again for several centuries. It was not until 1879 that the then pastor of Eining, Wolfgang Schreiner, began the excavations at his own expense. They continued until 1920, most recently under the supervision of the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments. In the last days of the war, Wehrmacht soldiers holed up in Abusina came under American fire. After that, once again, nobody was interested in the Roman heritage until a decade later when digging began again and the walls were partially reconstructed.
Large
scale excavations from the 1870s onwards, their subsequent exposure,
consolidation and partial covering by roofs led after many years of
interest to phases of neglect and decay, due to increasing maintenance
costs. A first large scale renovation in the 1950s attempted to solve
this problem in a long- term way with modern wall, partially on top of
Roman foundations but in other parts in their replacement, and a lot of
concrete. As no continuous care followed, further consolidation work had
to be done in the 1970s leading to even more loss of the original.
After the initiative of a local interest group, “Historia Romana e. V.",
plans to develop and to display the fort somehow as it was laid out
originally are now competing with the present state as a landscape park
with ancient and artificial ruins as well as a nature reserve.
The porta decumana on the right, the rear gate of the fort. The current concrete and steel structure in the middle of the access to the river-side extends as a footbridge over the sloping terrain created by a team of designers from Düsseldorf who were allowed to revamp the site (if not the structures) in 2010. The porta decumana was normally located at the midpoint of the rear rampart of a Roman fort, and from it the via decumana ran up to the back of the principia, dividing the retentura into two zones, one to the left and one to the right.
In
front of the northern front of the camp was a large, heated mansio, or
rest station, with a small bathing wing, a hostel and horse changing
station for business travelers on behalf of the state. At
the beginning of the imperial era road stations were built at regular
intervals along the most important Roman roads about every thirty miles
or so. At first they primarily served the cursus publicus
( such as "state transport" post) before later expanding with other
buildings and also used very heavily by travelers and traders. One
would have traveled from one mansio to the next each day. A large
driveway led to the rest stop (many digs were usually Ushaped)
consisting of stables and car depots, as well as dining and guest rooms.
This particular mansio served also as the headquarters of the
beneficiaries, a type of road police with customs powers that was
responsible for the security of the Roman road network. Here it is clearly evident just how much reconstruction has been imposed on the actual remains-The porta decumana on the right, the rear gate of the fort. The current concrete and steel structure in the middle of the access to the river-side extends as a footbridge over the sloping terrain created by a team of designers from Düsseldorf who were allowed to revamp the site (if not the structures) in 2010. The porta decumana was normally located at the midpoint of the rear rampart of a Roman fort, and from it the via decumana ran up to the back of the principia, dividing the retentura into two zones, one to the left and one to the right.
Eining, the Roman Abusina, on the south bank of the Danube between the Raetien Limes and the Danube Limes in Bavaria, is a good example to show the complicated and complex post-Roman story of a WHS [World Heritage Site]. Preliminary to the “renovation” of exposed walls the history of the visible structures was studied: Large scale excavations from the 1870s onwards, their subsequent exposure, consolidation and partial covering by roofs led after many years of interest to phases of neglect and decay, due to increasing maintenance costs. A first large scale renovation in the 1950s attempted to solve this problem in a long- term way with modern wall, partially on top of Roman foundations but in other parts in their replacement, and a lot of concrete. As no continuous care followed further consolidation work had to be done in the 1970s leading to even more loss of the original. After the initiative of a local interest group (“Historia Romana e.V.”) plans to “develop” and to display the fort somehow as it was laid out originally are now competing with the present state as a landscape park with ancient and artificial ruins as well as a nature reserve.Breeze and Jilek (133) Frontiers of the Roman Empire
The
porta praetoria established after the loss of the Limes area on the
other side of the Danube. This late addition to the Roman fort was built
as part of the reorganisation of the late Roman
Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes under Emperor Aurelian and Probus. The east and
north sides of the fort received new, stronger walls. A new tower was
built on the new northeast corner and a tower with a gate in the middle
of the northern front. The soldiers' quarters were located inside along
the two new walls. In the middle of the courtyard was a 22-metre-deep
well shaft. The fort was later extended by buildings on the northern
wall. This north porch stood on a mighty embankment. The fort vicus
moved to the rest of the cohort fort that was no longer needed. The
porta praetoria and the porta principalis sinistra were retained as
access to the late Roman fort vicus.
During the military reorganisation of Emperor Antoninus Pius in the years around 160, the fort at Eining was reconstructed, plausibly by soldiers of the cohors III Britannorum. The presence of the unit is at Eining is undebated by scholars, as it is well documented on military constitutions, imperial and votive inscriptions as well as tilestamps. Eining continued to be part of Raetia after the collapse of the Raetian Limes in 254. The Notitia Dignitatum lists a 'cohors III Brittorum' in Eining (Abusina), which might be identical to the cohors III Britannorum of the Principate.Farkas István Gergő (149-150) The Roman Army in Raetia
The
fort's thermal baths, probably built around the middle of the 2nd
century, shown in 1915 and today. Several construction phases lay on top
of each other in the excavated walls, which can no longer be safely
separated from one another today. Again, it can be seen how much has
been reconstructed since the war. The bath had been destroyed at least
once during the Marcomann Wars in around 170 and then rebuilt with
further expansions and modifications. The older thermal baths were only
twenty metres in length but eventually were significantly expanded
further to 38 metres. Immediately in front of the south side was a small
bathroom measuring 6.5 x 7 metres leading some to posit that this small
luxury bathroom was built especially for the visit of Emperor Caracalla
or perhaps was simply reserved for higher-ranking people, officers or
the camp commandant.
Inside the Roman musem overlooking the baths in the former St. Andreas church. Abusina is just outside the fashionable spa town of Bad Gögging. Its
history as a spa begins with the Romans as is obvious given references
to Marcus Aurelius, Trajan and even Tiberius are everywhere. The sulfur
springs of today's health resort used by the Romans and were probably
already known at the time of Titus around 80, when the Cohors IIII
Gallorum built the Abusina fort to secure the Danube line. What is
certain is that Trajan himself visited the area around 110 and the
garrison built a thermal bath which housed a caldarium, a sudatoriumand
a frigidarium. When the local church of St. Andreas was rebuilt in the
early 1960s, the remains of the baths were found. Under
its floor was a Roman bathing pool with an associated heating system,
the so-called hypocaust heating. The pool has a size of 10.8 by 7.8
metres. The stamps on the bricks indicate that the bath was financed by
both state and private assets of the emperor and was therefore of great
importance. So far, however, it's only been possible to uncover parts
of the Roman thermal baths of Bad Gögging, as they are located under the
town centre.
It is unclear how long the baths were in operation and whether they
were destroyed during the Marcomanni wars of 174, the Alemanni invasion
of 260 or survived long enough to be wiped under the Huns in 450 by
which time Abusina had largely been destroyed. However, the central
bathing pool remained unaffected. The relics that were excavated from
1960 to 1970 under today's St. Andrew's Church can be viewed in the
Roman Museum which now, with ironic justice, has taken over the church
itself. The church itself is Romanesque and has a sculpture portal that
is stylistically related to the art of the Magistri Comacini. The
tympanum shown here on the left over the main door shows Christ as judge
of the world between two angels. The side reliefs show various
allegorical figures that represent sin or human vices. The larger fields
refer to the Old and New Testaments and are related to each other. Such
diverse scenes on a Romanesque portal of a local church are a rarity in
southern Bavaria.
At the reconstructed Roman Villa Rustica Möckenlohe which lies between
Eichstätt and Ingolstadt on the lower slopes of the Franconian Jura to
the Danube River. The fertile land promoted a dense settlement of this
area with Roman farms at the end of the 1st century CE. The museum is a
reconstruction of the partially still visible antique remains. The stone
house was built in the 2nd half of the 1st century by Romans and
destroyed in 233 by the Alemanni. Many finds indicate a previous
settlement in this place.
The main house was excavated from 1987 to
1989, and was rebuilt in 1992 and 1993. A colonnade links two protruding
buildings to form a typical villa with protruding façade bays. The
west section had a representational room with an apse and a hypocaust
heating system, which is still visible in places, as well as two
sleeping chambers to the north. The east wing had a cellar, whose rubble
walls still stand up to a height of 1.5 metres. Above the cellar was
the kitchen. Heavy beams supported the Roman tile roof. The museum
offers a unique chance in southern Germany to literally enter into
provincial Roman living culture. The exhibits are all objects found on
the grounds of the Villa Rustica. Thus, despite the randomness of their
conservation, they illustrate the individual fate of a "familia" as well
as antique housekeeping and farming within the history of the Roman
Empire. The animal park is a further attraction. The animals kept here,
horses, longhorn cattle, woolly pigs, goats, sheep and chickens are
typical Roman farm animals. Antique grain types are farmed and harvested
with Roman harvesting machines. Today the site offers a pet park containing a large number of Roman breeds of the time as well as the opportunity to experience grinding at the rustic mill, fiddling with the former iron castle or riding, combined with a carriage ride. In addition, the equestrian center has a qualified social and riding pedagogue for therapeutic riding.
Another
Roman fort nearby is that at Weltenburg-Frauenberg on the Danube
outside Kelheim and the Weltenburg monastery. More a fortlet also known
as Weltenburg-Galget, this had been constructed on the low hill
overlooking the bend of Danube near present-day Weltenburg offering an
advantageous location, as the Danube takes a sharp bend here, which
allowed viewing a wide section of the area north of the riverbank.
As a result, on the west side towards the steeply sloping bank of the Danube, there was obviously no need for a surrounding ditch. In the south, towards the ascending slope, as well as in the east of the fortification, three parallel trenches were archaeologically accessible. Remains of prehistoric and late Roman settlement are both present on the
'Wolfgangswall hill, along with Roman finds of the 1st century such as
coins, militaria, glass and ceramics. It was constructed either under
the reign of Emperor Claudius or in Flavian times in order to guard
traffic on the Roman road in the Am Galget valley. Based
on scarce finds, Fischer suggested that the fortlet was constructed
under the reign of Claudius or in Flavian times in order to guard traffic on the Roman road in the Am Galget valley, although Farkas István Gergő in his Roman Army in Raetia
argues that "it is altogether unlikely that a sole Roman fortlet were
established on the lower Danubian ripa preceding the last decades 1st
century." What little material was found at the site comprised entirely ofceramic fragments of mortars, two shards of so-called "soldiers' plates " with Pompeian red overlay and remains of amphorae. The only fragment of glass came from a blue ribbed bowl. The main parts of the metal finds include iron nails and bronze remains, of which only one handle holder can be identified. For a more precise dating of the fort site, Rind was able to use a disc brooch with doplphins and an as, the basic denomination of the Roman currency before the introduction of the denarius around 211 BCE, struck in Rome from the reign of Emperor Claudius. Later considerations brought a date to the Claudian- Early Flavian period suggesting that the fortification could also have been established during the reign of Vespasian.
The site was a destination for treasure hunters early on. Prehistoric finds and especially Celtic coins have been found. Aventinus reported the legend that Saint Rupert of Salzburg had a chapel here built over a Minerva temple. The building visible there today is a baroque church that was built under Abbot Maurus Bächl in the early 18th century. The first proper excavations took place in 1909 in the monastery itself and in the adjoining monastery garden. In addition to two garbage pits from the older Bronze Age, a Celtic cemetery was also found, its three dead uncovered having been buried in the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. The next excavation was not carried out until 1938 when a small area was uncovered near the northeast slope of the mountain. Again traces of settlement from the older Bronze Age was found as well as the remains of a Celtic child buried at this point in the middle of the settlement.
A couple of miles away towards Hienheim is this "Hadrian's Pillar", one
of a series of memorial stones on the Limes built in the middle of the
last century under King Max II of Bavaria. At this point it marks the
end of the Rhaetian Wall on the Danube. West of the pillar stands a
reconstructed wooden watchtower. Representations from Trajan's column in
Rome served as a model, on which such towers with handling and
palisades were reproduced. They did not have stairs in their interior;
Roman sentries came with a retractable ladder to the entrance halfway up
the tower. The distance between the sentries was chosen so that from a
tower always the two neighbouring towers were in sight. From the
watchtower you have a good view of the Danube valley and over to the
castle Abusina. The foundations of the stone tower are only recognisable
as a small hill. From here you can follow the fairly exactly westbound
Limes for about two miles and on a clear day one can see visible remains
of four other sentinels.
On the left is my bike parked in front of a reconstruction of a wooden watchtower built about fifty metres west of the historical location at WP 15/46. From 1975 to 2009, a predecessor building was on the site of today's Limeswacht Tower, which was destroyed by arson. The GIF compares the two.
Drake and the wife at watchpost 15/44. As early as the 1930s, employees of the Reich Limes Commission speculated about a possible Roman guard post that could have been located in this area - around two miles from the village of Hienheim. This assumption was due to the unusually long distance between the two watchtowers Wp 15/44 and Wp 15/46, which was 1210 metres. Attempts to find this sentry failed at the time and it wasn't until 1975 that a wall structure ten metres long was excavated around fifty metres south of the Limes whilst a farmer was plowing the area. In 1979 the clearly visible foundations and trench were first recorded by aerial photo archeology and subsequently documented Before the introduction of digital technology and the rectification of aerial photos, however, Hienheim was misinterpreted as a watchtower (Wp 15/45). Eventually a further investigation with ground penetrating radar took place in spring 2012 which made it possible to document that the findings still preserved were at a depth between 0.40 and 1.10 metres. Since the small fort is now on land that is used intensively for agriculture, its existence is acutely threatened. This was also confirmed by the electromagnetic field inspection in 2012 which showed that above a depth of 0.40 metres, the radar images only showed wall rubble, which also came to light on the surface in the form of limestone lumps. A classic excavation has not yet taken place at thisIn the early second century, perhaps under Trajan, wooden watchtowers appeared for the first time on the stretch between the Rhine and Danube, but it is only in Hadrian’s reign that a barrier element, an oak palisade, was added alongside the patrol track which ran in front of the towers. In the middle of the century the (now probably decrepit) wooden towers were replaced with stone towers, and at or after the beginning of the third century the final change was implemented: in Upper Germany a ditch was dug between the fence and the towers, and in Raetia the fence was replaced with a three metre-high wall. The construction of watchtowers (which would also have facilitated lateral signaling) would have been a very obvious thing to do once troops with the basic function of exploratores became static for even a few days. However, we should remember that once the towers were built, their existence is not evidence that they were occupied permanently: for long periods they may have been visited only by patrols, or manned in times of heightened alert.Erdkamp (231) A Companion to the Roman Army
Drake Winston at the Oppidum of Manching, a
large Celtic settlement at modern-day
Manching, near Ingolstadt and as reconstructed from D. van Endert in Das Osttor des Oppidums von Manching [Stuttgart 1987]. The settlement was founded in the 3rd century
BCE and existed until about 50-30 BCE, reaching its largest extent
within the late 2nd century BCE, when it had a size of 380 hectares. At
that time, five to ten thousand people lived within its five mile walls.
Thus, the Manching oppidum was one of the largest settlements north of
the Alps. The ancient name of the site is unknown, but it is assumed
that it was the central site of the Celtic Vindelici tribe.
Drake exploring the ruins of a wartime airfield behind the walls. Excavations
at Manching have been necessitated by construction projects that
started with a military airfield between 1936 and 1938. During that time during
the Nazi remilitarisation of Germany, the Luftwaffe constructed an
airfield here which led to the destruction of large
proportions of the site without providing the opportunity for systematic
archaeological research. Only very few finds were recovered from the
construction site. In 1938, the archaeologist Karl-Heinz Wagner started
an excavation of the northeast part of the enclosure. Within the visible
earthen bank, he discovered the remains of a wall, which he described
as a murus gallicus according to Cæsar's description of such structures. A
central portion of the settlement was destroyed when mechanical
equipment was used to strip the area and tear away part of the wall.
Efforts to recover artifacts were restricted by the exigencies of
impending war, and only those materials that could be rescued from the
spoil piles were saved. Due to the presence of the
airfield, Manching was the target of multiple bombing raids during the
war, leading to further destruction of archaeological evidence. In the last year of the war, Fort VIII near Manching was
the branch of the destroyed Wehrmacht prison in Munich in which during
1944-1945 saw 76 Wehrmacht soldiers executed for desertion; today there
is an honorary grove to them in the Westfriedhof.
In
1955 Allied forces decided to rebuild the airfield and, following
negotiations with archaeologists, contributed an unprecedented sum of
money for investigation of the settlement and of the area that would be
affected by renewed construction. Excavations began that year and
continued until 1974 under the direction of Werner Krämer. A subsequent
excavation was organised in 1984 following a ten-year hiatus in response
to the planned construction of an exit ramp on the B16 secondary roadway
that passes through the site and focused on a
previously unexplored tract in the northern part of the settlement.
Approximately one kilometre in length by 35–60 metres in width, a strip
running from the centre of the roughly circular enclosed area to the
wall was examined. The earliest settlement is concentrated toward the
centre of the enclosed area and predates the construction of the wall. A
track oriented east-west runs through the old centre and provided the
foundation for a later main road linking the east and west gates of the
murus Gallicus. The construction of the wall
during the second half of the 2nd century BCE established Manching as a focal point for activities
centred on production and exchange, encompassing not only collection of raw materials and
manufacture of goods but also feasting and other functions associated with
market towns and fairs. It's likely that the function of the wall changed through time from
display to defence because a third stage of construction reinforces the
entire five mile length of the enclosure. Furthermore, burials of
individuals who died of battle injuries attest to an attack on the
settlement and finds at the site include bronze finds, tools, fibulae, glass, faunal material,
graphite pottery, imported pottery and coarse wares, smooth wheel-thrown
pottery and painted pottery, and human burials. At the Kelten-Römer-Museum nearby in Manching. In the Celtic section are displayed the finds of the Oppidum in Manching which is located in the immediate vicinity. Of particular importance is the gold treasure discovered in 1999, consisting of 450 gold coins which make it the largest Celtic gold find discovered in the 20th century. At the end of 2022 it was the victim of a spectacular gold coin robbery that saw 483 Celtic gold coins stolen in the middle of the night. Gold coins that are 2,000 years old are difficult to sell, and as many traders would be suspicious, police fear that the perpetrators could melt down the treasure and then get the gold value for it. The perpetrators themselves appeared to be professionals; on the night of the robbery, almost all of Manching was paralysed: as fibre optic lines were sabotaged, leaving around 13,000 private and corporate customers without telephone or internet.
The so-called cult tree found in 1984 is unique worldwide with its gold-plated image of a branch from the 3rd century BCE entwined with leaves, buds and fruits. The centrepiece of the Roman section are the two fifteen-metre long Roman military ships dating from about 100 CE from the time of Trajan. The wrecks were found in 1986 within a silted branch of the Danube. They were only salvaged according to plan in 1994 and then restored and preserved in the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz.
Drake
beside the remarkable remains of two hulls of Roman military ships that were found
nearby at Oberstimm within the area of a silted-up Roman pier in 1986 and, after eight years of restoration work,
were excavated in 1994 according to plan and for the
purpose of conservation and restoration by 2005. These swift vessels were used for
patrols and escort trips along the Danube River system. One ship was demonstrably a rowing ship, as the preserved oarlocks and
seat throws show. There is evidence that there were ten rowers on the starboard
side, so that the entire rowing crew was probably twenty men. In addition,
it could be sailed, as evidenced by the remains of the keel. The course of the
old river Brautlach is today still visible as a depression in the
terrain. When a test trench was dig through the depression in 1986, the
timbers of the boats came to light. Thanks to the water-logged milieu in
the old riverbed the organic material was still in good condition.
However, professional recovery, conservation and presentation need
careful planning and skilled specialists, so that the excavation of the
boats only began in 1994. Today
the traces of the excavation are identifiable by the patches in the
tarmac surface of the market and the gap in the line of trees. Apart from the destruction caused by the dredger in 1986, the
boats’ hulls were preserved to a length of about fifteen metres and were almost
complete. The bow and stern are missing, but
judging by the shape of the hull that has been preserved, it could not
have been much longer. While the starboard side was completely preserved
from the gunwale to the keel, the port side is completely gone. The wood for the boats came from two different kinds of
trees; the planks were of pine, whereas the supporting structure was
made of oak. the planks are made of pine, the keel, the keel, the ribs and the
thorns are made of oak. Wooden nails on the inside of some frames suggest that a stringer was
originally attached there. It is likely that crossbeams were placed on
it, which the rowers used as footrests. Possibly there was a crossbeam in the ship to which the gordings of the sail could be attached. Dendrochronological investigations revealed
felling dates for the oak to have been from 90 CE.
Another time limit was made possible by oak piles, which had been driven
into the ground as bank reinforcement and had penetrated both ships. Both ships therefore belong to the Domitian /
Trajan period. When the fort was abandoned, the boats were in a bad state
of repair and were sunk in an area which was already being used as a
rubbish dump. A quayside was later built on the river bank and wooden
piles were driven through the buried boats. The boats provided space for
twenty rowers, and in addition had a mast and sail. The narrow stern
and bow are typical for boats used by the army for purposes such as
transporting troops, patrolling and conveying
messages.Dendrochronological analyses revealed that the boats were built
around 100 CE. As the oldest wooden piles from the quayside date to
118, the boats must have been used and then sunk some time before then.
Kastell Celeusum
The fort at Pförring was the easternmost fort on the Raetian Limes, situated on the Biburg plateau, a terrace surrounded by steep slopes, northwest of today's Pförring. Its main task was to supervise the road running north of the Danube leading to Abusina. Mayer described gateways, ramparts and moats clearly visible to the naked eye in 1838 when many coins, especially from the reign of Hadrian, were found. Fink had carried out the first excavations between 1891 and 1893 under the ægis of the Reichs-Limeskommission during which time he identified four gates, a double ditch and the principia. Aerial surveys and geophysical prospection offered further details of the fort’s inner layout and attested that the vicus surrounded the fort on three sides (west, south and east). The cemetery was located northeast of the fort, along the road leading to Eining. The fort covered an area of 3.9 hectares, with sides 194 × 201 metres long respectively.
The fort at Pförring was built during Emperor Trajan’s military reorganisation between 106 and 117. As with the neighbouring auxiliary fort at Kösching, the towers of fort at Pförring were also reinforced in 141, as attested by a building inscription. In the 1870s a coin hoard containing 1,300 pieces was discovered nearby, the latest coins having been issued in 224, thus indicating that the fort and the vicus were still active during the crisis of the 3rd century. The fort at Pförring was reinforced when the eastern section of the Raetian Limes between Weißenburg and Ellingen was abandoned. The fort was operational until the collapse of the Raetian Limes in 254. Based on a votive inscription350 and a Raetian military diploma, the fort at Pförring was garrisoned by the Ala I Flavia singularium civium Romanorum pia fidelis. Tacitus mentions this unit with its Prefect Iulius Briganticus in his Historiae (iv.70) in connection with events of the Year of the Four Emperors during which the unit was probably set up by Vitellius. Iulius Briganticus and his unit switched to Vespasian's side, for which the Ala later received the honorary title of Flavia from Vespasian. Based on the building inscription found in a field in 1843, it is known that the Ala built the fort in stone in 141.
As mentioned above, it's believed that Caracalla visited the camp in 213 as indicated by the remains of a limestone slab on which nine centimetre high gilded letters made of sheet bronze were originally attached. This plate is considered part of an honorary inscription for the emperor. The end of the camp took place during the Alemanni storm of 233. An incomplete treasure hoard contained a coin from the reign of Severus Alexander who had been murdered two years later, but the end could also have come much later.
In 2007 the excavation site was invaded at night and material from documented findings as well as metal objects found by metal detectors were stolen. Above is shown the attempt to reconstruct the east gate as an
hideous steel frame, built in 2013 in which five to seven metre long
bored piles were driven into the ground and a concrete slab was imposed
directly over the ancient foundations. The entire undeveloped area of
the fort and neighbouring camp village is threatened by intensive
agriculture, erosion and ongoing robbery excavations. No excavations
have taken place inside the fort since 1893. The formerly restored
remains of the east gate and the north corner tower have fallen into
disrepair again.
Weißenburg
fort in ancient Biriciana was a former Roman ala castellum, possibly garrisoned by the ala I Hispanorum Auriana and built around 90 CE as part of Trajan’s military
reorganisation.
On the left is an idealised virtual reconstruction of its northern gate with an additional storey in comparison with it too low 1990 reconstruction. In its last expansion phase the site was an almost square stone fort for an ala with dimensions of 170 by 174 by 179 metres. Its walls were rounded at the corners and provided with defensive towers. The total of four gates were flanked by double towers, between these and the corner towers there was a further, smaller tower. Today the castellum with
its remains of buildings- some of which have been preserved underground-
the reconstructed north gate, the large thermal baths and the Roman
museum with integrated Limes information centre is one of the most
important addresses for Limes research in Germany. On the left is the site at the turn of the century during initial excavations and how it appears today with the reconstructed gate. The fort was reinforced with stone structures and defences during the
course of the 2nd century; again, on the right below is a GIF comparing a visualisation of how it may have appeared compared to the site today. As can be seen in these images, the wall itself was surrounded by a double moat; another moat has so far only been proven on three sides of the fort. This pit system was only interrupted in the area of the camp gates. On the northern front in 1986 the archaeological excavations also cut into the moat. It was found that the outermost pointed ditch was 2.70 metres wide and 1.60 metres deep. The middle trench was measured with a width of 4.50 metres and a depth of 1.40 metres with the innermost trench widest at 5.40 metres. As a special feature, this trench was created as the Fossa Punica. The enemy-facing side was sunk vertically into the ground, whilst the side facing the surrounding wall sloped. The garrison served there to secure the newly
conquered territory north of the Danube, which had been incorporated
into the province of Raetia. As the excavations of 1986 showed, the porta decumana existed on the northern front of the wood-earth bearing
made of twelve posts, six of which posts each belonged to one of the two
gate towers by which the actual gate was flanked. The two wooden
rectangular towers had a 3.20 x 3.60 metre floor plan. A palisade ditch
around 0.60 metres wide connected the gate on both sides with the
adjoining intermediate towers, each supported by four posts. After its
construction, it covered an area of 3.1 hectares, with sides measuring
175 × 179 metres. Weißenburg was destroyed between 240-250 along with nearby
Ellingen in the course of the Alemannic invasions. The latest coins found on the Via principalis dextra date to the years 251 and 253. In the Middle Ages the site served as a quarry for the new city until everything was removed and overgrown. The fort was not rediscovered until 1885 and was excavated between 1889 and 1913.
The inner courtyard of the administration building, the principia. On the left is the praetorium hypocaust and, inset, when it was excavated in the 1890s. On the right is the well and how it has been virtually reconstructed.
Drake on the right at the camp of the Numerus Brittonum reenactment group on the grounds during a wet Römertage 2017. The historical Numerus Brittonum was a Roman auxiliary unit of a nominal strength of probably 160 men, consisting of two centuries with eighty men each, probably all of whom were foot soldiers. The soldiers would have been recruited in the province of Britannia when the unit was established around 100 CE, possibly under Domitian. According to Marcus Reuter, the British would have arrived to Germania superior as a closed contingent and were only then divided into the individual units. He assumes there would have been 1500 to 2000 British in this first contingent.
At the nearby baths, the oldest thermal bath building probably built at the same time as the wooden fort. During the Marcomanni wars the thermal baths were burned down and destroyed. After, around 180, the reconstruction work on the thermal baths began through which a significantly changed and larger facility was created which included a large gymnastics hall (basilica) with approximately 320 square metres of interior space complemented the thermal baths. In a later renovation, almost the entire bathing area was lined with limestone slabs. In the final stage, the now luxurious thermal baths were 65 metres long and 42.5 metres wide. In the course of the Alemanni incursions after 230, the complex was again destroyed by fire after which the facilities were forever abandoned.
At the Theilenhofen bath complex located just southwest of the fort, on an elevated plateau 2.2 kilometres south from the limes palisade. It was was rediscovered in 1820. Between 1968 and 1970, Hermann directed excavations of the bath complex, determining its layout and two construction phases. The buildings of the baths have been reconstructed and, as seen in this GIF comparing the site in 1969 and today, have been altered considerably as a result. A timber fort here was first built around 120, as part of Hadrian's military reorganisation and expansion. By the 160s, the fort was reinforced with stone defences. By the time of Marcus Aurelius’ the military reorganisation, the fort was cleared away and reconstructed at a larger size with further stone defensive structures. This new fort was subsequently destroyed during the Germanic incursions of 254 along with the rest of the Raetian Limes. It was at the site that the famous Theilenhofen helmet was found as a deposit together with an outstanding cavalry parade helmet in a stone building of the vicus which had been destroyed by fire. Also found were fragments of Antonine sigallata and a coin of Commodus indicating use of the building through the end of the 2nd century and into the first third of the 3rd century. The helmets themselves do not show any traces of a fire and may therefore have been hidden in the building after the destruction.
At the Theilenhofen bath complex located just southwest of the fort, on an elevated plateau 2.2 kilometres south from the limes palisade. It was was rediscovered in 1820. Between 1968 and 1970, Hermann directed excavations of the bath complex, determining its layout and two construction phases. The buildings of the baths have been reconstructed and, as seen in this GIF comparing the site in 1969 and today, have been altered considerably as a result. A timber fort here was first built around 120, as part of Hadrian's military reorganisation and expansion. By the 160s, the fort was reinforced with stone defences. By the time of Marcus Aurelius’ the military reorganisation, the fort was cleared away and reconstructed at a larger size with further stone defensive structures. This new fort was subsequently destroyed during the Germanic incursions of 254 along with the rest of the Raetian Limes. It was at the site that the famous Theilenhofen helmet was found as a deposit together with an outstanding cavalry parade helmet in a stone building of the vicus which had been destroyed by fire. Also found were fragments of Antonine sigallata and a coin of Commodus indicating use of the building through the end of the 2nd century and into the first third of the 3rd century. The helmets themselves do not show any traces of a fire and may therefore have been hidden in the building after the destruction.
Standing
at the very end of the Raetian Limes wall at Schwäbisch Gmünd. On the
top left is a visual representation from the Aalen museum of how it
would have appeared whilst below is an actual reconstruction at the
entrance to the park. Up until this point the Upper German Limes from
the Rhine to the Rotenbachtal here, northwest of Schwäbisch Gmünd,
consisted most recently of a rampart and a moat serving as a substitute
for a wooden palisade. During the last expansion phase, a continuous
stone wall was erected in the province of Raetia, from the Rotenbachtal
to the Danube at Ausina. That
this spot really does mark the transition from the Limes wall to the
Upper German palisade is strongly supported not only by the wall's
precisely constructed terminus, but by the fact that in front of it was
found the remains of an altar that was possibly dedicated to the fines,
or border deities, a replica of which I'm standing beside in front of
the wall and how it appeared when uncovered by Steimle at the end of the
19th century in the Rotenbachtal at the beginning of the Rhaetian Wall
near Kleindeinbach. It has four rosettes on the face of as many
bulges atop with no remains of inscriptions below the cornice beyond
seven radial grooves, apparently from the grinding of tools. This altar,
and the finished nature of the roughly hewn sandstone blocks of the
wall itself, provide considerable evidence that this section marked the
end of the Upper Germanic Limes and the start of the Rhaetian Limes.
Here from about 160 to 260 CE, the Rems Valley was the outermost border
zone of the Roman Empire, guarded by over 1,500 soldiers within the
Gmünd area stationed in cohorts in Lorch, at Schirenhof and Böbingen as
well as in some smaller facilities such as Freimühle, Kleindeinbach and
Hintere Orthalde.
At the bath complex near Schirenhof fort a mile away, shown in 2008
and when I visited in 2021. The fort itself had been built around 150
CE halfway up a mountain spur with a view over the Rems to the Rhaetian
Limes. This structure had been excavated for the first time in 1893 and
was opened to the public in 1975 in this restored condition after new
excavations carried out during urbanisation. These excavations showed
that the Cohors I Flavia Raetorum, named on brick stamps and the
fragment of a genius statue, had been the main troop unit garrisoned
here after having been transferred either from Eislingen-Salach or
another unindentified fort in Raetia. Shortly after 247 at the latest,
the last soldiers left the place based on the evidence from Roman coins
discovered here in the fort’s bath.
At the Limesmuseum in Aalen,
located on the site of the largest Roman equestrian fort north of the
Alps. The size of the fort indicates that it was garrisoned by the ala II Flavia milliaria, the only ala milliaria of the province. Indeed, the elite mounted unit, the ala miliaria,
is what gives Aalen its name. In May 2019, after two and a half years
of renovation and closure, it was reopened with a newly designed
permanent exhibition with over 1,200 original finds. The main focus is
on the relationship between Teutons and Romans and the understanding of
borders. In the main rooms on the ground floor, visitors are forced to
interactively learn about seven people who lived in Roman Aalen 1,800
years ago using specific archaeological objects and get to know their
living conditions better. For me, this completely ruined the experience
as one can't walk anywhere or view some of the spectacular pieces in
peace- such as the masked cavalry helmet found during the expansion of
the Limes Museum and the huge Osterburken Mithras relief- without
setting off a cacophany of sound effects- horses, for example- and loud
voice overs that could not be shut off.
At
the staff building, the principia, with a modern statue of Hadrian
despite the fort being built during the 160s as part of the military
reorganisation and expansion of Marcus Aurelius; the dendrochronological
records fall in the period between 159 and 172. An impressive number of
sixteen building inscriptions have been found from Aalen, all datable
to the Severan dynasty. The fort was operational until the middle of the
3rd century and evidence from coins indicates that the fort was
destroyed following the reign of Aemilian, in the years after 253/254,
although there have been two disputable coins issued under Emperors Valerian and Gallienus that have also been found.
Part
of the Roman fort has been incorporated in the town cemetery in which
is located St. Johann's Church, one of Aalen's oldest buildings, dating
back to the 13th century. Located directly in front of the former porta praetoria, the main gate of a Roman camp, the Roman stone
blocks which were reused at the time to build it can be clearly seen in
the area of the foundation. The excavation in 1997 whose preserved
remains are shown here and from the same spot today offer valuable insights
into the history of Aalen in the early Middle Ages. For example, it was
discovered that the church was not the oldest building in this
location. The articles found date back to the seventh and eighth
centuries. It appears that around this time, directly on the road in
front of the former main gate of the garrison, a residential building or
an early monastery cell was located here. The oldest parts of the
buildings 1 and 2 belong to this era as well as a number of graves
nearby which were excavated at the start of the 20th century. The
present-day church itself was built sometime around the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. Work was carried out on Building 2 at the same
time, also using stones from the fortress as building material. On the
western corner there was a Roman inscription to the goddess Minerva
which is now in the Limes Museum.
On a small hill about a mile from the Limes are the remains of a cohort fort at Buch,
in which a roughly 600-man partially mounted unit was stationed. It was
sited near a trade route that ran from Augusta Vindelicum to the Danube
near Guntia and from there via Alae to the Limestor at Dalkingen, about
a mile and an half away. It was the location of an unknown cohors equitata
built around 150 and occupied until the Limes were abandoned around
260. A spatha had been found here; such a type of sword had been used by
the Roman cavalry since the early imperial era. In addition, there were
around 1,600 other weapon parts at this point, of which at least 800
were iron projectile tips, the rest consisting of arrow and lance tips.
The fort was about 2.1 hectares in size and had four circumferential
trenches that were up to six metres in width. In its first phase of
construction, it was protected with a wooden fence, which was later
replaced by stone and a raised inner earth ramp. There were four camp
gates- my bike here is at the remaining southern gate, the porta principalis dextra-
with a double passage flanked by two towers. There were an additional
eight intermediate towers in the defensive wall. The staff building
(principia) with the flag sanctuary (aedes) was in the centre of the
fort, where the camp streets crossed via principalis and via praetoria. In
this location a bronze model of the fort stands in the centre of the
complex shown here, so that one gets a good impression of the original
appearance. Next to it was a granary building (horreum) on one side and
the commandant's house (praetorium) on the other side. The cavalry
barracks were located over the rest of the storage area.
The
fort was discovered at the beginning of the 19th century with the first
scientific investigations taking place in 1897. The southern gate, an
intermediate tower and part of the defensive wall were excavated in 1972
followed by further excavations and geomagnetic investigations between
1992 and 2000. Besides the south gate, and southern intermediate tower
with parts of the defensive wall that remain,the remaining corner and
intermediate towers and the stone walls of the fort are marked by bushes
and trees and an earthen wall to offer an idea as to its size.
A couple of yards from the two stone towers is a replica wooden tower with a surrounding balcony which was reconstructed in 1966. However, when this had to be demolished due to its dilapidation, a new structure was built in 2008 that corresponds to the latest scientific findings and therefore no longer has a platform. It was formally inaugurated in the presence of the President of the State Office for Monument Preservation, Dieter Planck, based on the determination of Dietwulf Baatz who sought to replace the typical view of the type of wooden watchtowers based on Trajan's column which still dominate the public's imagination. In order to climb inside it, one needs to go to Schwabsberg's town hall to ask for the key.
The triumphal arch at Dalkingen built for Caracalla on the occasion of his successful Germanic campaign, probably to impress the defeated Germanic tribes and built from a later stone gatehouse. There was probably a passage through the Limes already at the time when the Limes was still secured with wooden palisades and wooden towers. The passage through the Limes from Dalkingen changed over time from a simple control point to a strongly secured border station due to the expansion of the Limes. Around 160, when the Limes still consisted of a simple wattle bridle with wooden watchtowers in between, the passage was a simple guarded gate in the Limes, which was controlled by the soldiers stationed in the watchtower. Over the course of time a gatehouse, also made of wood, was added next to the watchtower, in which further office and watch rooms were located. By 190 the wooden watchtower was replaced by a stone tower, but the gatehouse and the wooden palisade remained unchanged. It wasn't until 206 that all the buildings in the passage were demolished and replaced by a 12.6 x 9.3 metre stone gatehouse with a 2.1 metre wide gateway that was integrated directly into the stone Limes wall. Since the watchtower interfered with it, it was rebuilt at another location nearby. In the last construction phase between 213 and 214 on the occasion of the victorious campaign of Caracalla against the Alemanni, a 13-metre-high grand gate, which resembled a triumphal arch erected and a larger than life bronze statue of the emperor erected. A gate of this type has not been found anywhere else in the entire Limes and is therefore to be regarded as unique. According to a fragmentary inscribed source, the Acta Fratrum Arvalium, the emperor crossed the Rhaetian border on August 11, 213 in the fight against the Germanic tribes. Besides the ruins of the arch there have been many conspicuous small finds, particularly noteworthy of which are around fifty bronze fragments of a larger-than-life statue of Caracalla of excellent quality, most of which were picked up on the front side in front of the southwestern front of the former archway. The statue's sword pommel adorned with an eagle's head and other stylistic elements refer to the early 3rd century. Among pieces of the statue's sword and armour were numerous decorative swastikas:
Presumably
in 233 the gate was set on fire and destroyed during the Alemanni
invasions and never rebuilt. A denarius minted between 231 and 235 from
the reign of Severus Alexander is considered the last minted coin found
at the Limestor. The Limestor was excavated between 1974 and 1975, but
has since been heavily exposed to the weather. In 2010 a glass cube was
erected over the remains of the foundation wall to stop the remaining
substance from decaying. In addition, the triumphal arch was visualised
on a floating metal construction covered with printed tarpaulin. Today
one can still see the original remains of the walls as well as the
impressive size and the former appearance of the gate.
At
the site of the fortlet at Halheim which had covered an area of 0.67
hectares, with sides 80 × 82.5 metres in length which are visualised
through the use of trees planted to mimic the walls and towers. It had
been built during Marcus Aurelius’s reign around 160 and would have
housed a numerus, a unit belonging to the Roman auxiliary forces, but
not as standardised. The need for such small units for border
surveillance grew enormously, which also had financial consequences for
the empire leading to young locals being recruited regionally and
assigned to newly established locations with lower pay and less strict
standards. These numera, like the auxilia, would have been named after
their original ethnic origin but would not have received Roman
citizenship when they were released. The fortlet was probably destroyed
during the Germanic incursions in 254; coins found offer 241 as the terminus post quem
for the fortlet’s destruction. The ruins of the fortlet were still
visible in the 19th century when, in 1884, an iron depot containing
nearly seven hundred metal objects, mostly arrowheads, were uncovered.
However, as the field name "Buschelacker" ("Buschel" = South German for
Burgstall ) indicates, the knowledge of an old fortification was never
completely lost.
It had apparently been garrisoned by the cohors III Batavorum. until 118 when evidence for the garrison is lost to the historical record. Coins found at the site date the fall of the fort at Ruffenhofen to the period during or after 244/247. Both the size of the barracks and the presence of drainage in the stable barracks buildings suggest that Ruffenhofen housed an unidentified ala. It has been proposed that from 175 to the middle of the 3rd century the fort was garrisoned by the cohors IX Batavorum. Inscribed small finds were found at the site displaying the centuria-sign although one artefact had the inscription 'turma' which again suggests the presence of a cavalry unit. What sets the current site apart from others is the use of plantings through trees and hedges to offer a visualisation of the site. There is also this 1:10 scale fort replica that allows for an understanding of what it would have looked like shown above.
At watchtower 13/2
at Mönchsroth where I camped out one night, showing how it appears and
as it might have originally looked. This tower stump was built in 1986
from frost-proof sandstone as a partial replica of a Limes tower. The
Limes itself and the site on which the tower is believed to have stood
are further north. In building the replica, an attempt was made to
create the impression of a collapsed wall. Originally, all Limes towers
had an outer layer of white lime plaster, onto which grooves were
painted in red. As in the forts, these were intended to create the
illusion from a distance of solid ashlar masonry It is important to
distinguish between a replica and a reconstruction. A true
reconstruction requires detailed plans and information relating to the
monument as a whole. Along the Limes, such replicas of course can only
be realised on the basis of general tradition dating from classical
antiquity, which offer no more than an approximate overall impression of
the original conditions. They are, however, of significant value as a
source of information to visitors seeking a better understanding of the
Roman frontier. South of the Mönchsroth-Wittenbach road, in the "Unterer
Espan" forest, are the remains of a wooden and stone tower at watchtower
13/3.
Cycling past the Roman graveyard (now displaying copies of Roman stone monuments at Römerpark Ruffenhofen) towards Ruffenhofen fort and as it would have appeared at the time. The fort is located on a hill north of the Alb mountain, between the forts at Oberdorf and Gnotzheim, above
the Wörnitz in the border area between the municipalities of
Weiltingen, Wittelshofen and Gerolfingen, and about a mile away from the
Limes. It was a cavalry fort with an interior area of about 3.74
hectares which has never been built on since antiquity. Its structures
and its civilian settlement are known from geophysical investigations
and have been visualised for visitors since 2003.
It had been constructed during Hadrian’s
reign and was operational until the middle of the 3rd century, when
it fell victim to flames, as indicated by a thick burnt layer found
amongst the ruins of the towers, the principia and the horreum. It had apparently been garrisoned by the cohors III Batavorum. until 118 when evidence for the garrison is lost to the historical record. Coins found at the site date the fall of the fort at Ruffenhofen to the period during or after 244/247. Both the size of the barracks and the presence of drainage in the stable barracks buildings suggest that Ruffenhofen housed an unidentified ala. It has been proposed that from 175 to the middle of the 3rd century the fort was garrisoned by the cohors IX Batavorum. Inscribed small finds were found at the site displaying the centuria-sign although one artefact had the inscription 'turma' which again suggests the presence of a cavalry unit. What sets the current site apart from others is the use of plantings through trees and hedges to offer a visualisation of the site. There is also this 1:10 scale fort replica that allows for an understanding of what it would have looked like shown above.
Throughout
the site are also numerous replicas of various stone monuments. This
one on the left shows a copy of the altar to the victory goddess
Victoria and the original stone kept in the Römisches Museum Augsburg,
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 in 260 CE; it's an important record for the so-called ‘Gallic Empire’ that was set up by the rebel-emperor Postumus, in the north western provinces of the Roman empire, which he governed separately from the Roman empire of Gallienus. The altar records the 259 CE invasion of the limes Germanicus, by the northern tribes the Jugunthi and the Suebi, and the capture of thousands of Italians as their captives. The discovery of the altar in 1993 provided the first evidence for this dramatic event, as well as further clarifying the expansion and chronology of Postumus’ rival empire and the framework within which he attempted to govern. It reads:
Deae sanctae Victoriae / ob barbaros gentis Semnonum / sive Iouthungorum die / VIII et VII Kal(endarum) Maiar(um) caesos / fugatosque a militibus prov(inciae) / Raetiae sed et Germanicianis / itemque popularibus excussis / multis milibus Italorum captivor(um) / compos votorum suorum / [[M(arcus) Simplicinius Genialis v(ir) p(erfectissimus) a(gens) v(ices) p(raesidis)]] / [[cum eodem exercitu]] / libens merito posuit / dedicata III Idus Septemb(res) Imp(eratore) d(omino) n(ostro) / [[Postumo Au]]g(usto) et [[Honoratiano co(n)s(ulibus)]].
(To
the holy goddess Victory, on account of barbarians of the race of the
Semnones or Iuthungi killed on the eighth and seventh days before the
Kalends of May and put to flight by soldiers of the province of Raetia
as well as Germani and locals, freeing many thousands of Italian
captives; in fulfilment of his vow, Marcus Simplicinius Genialis, vir
perfectissimus acting for the praeses with his army] happily and
deservedly erected this altar, dedicated three days before the Ides of
September when the Emperor, our lord [Postumus Au]gustus, and
[Honoratianus were consuls])
The
mention of the rebel emperor Postumus dates the creation of the altar
to September 11, 260. Made of Jura limestone, it's 1.56 metres in height
and was found in 1992 by construction workers in Jakobvorstadt in a
former section of the Lech, almost 400 metres from the former Roman town
making it possible that it was originally displayed at a river
crossing. The stone probably also had a statue of the goddess Victoria,
but this is now lost with only the base surviving. It was a recycled
monument with its original dedication, dating to the time of Severus
Alexander, still legible above the actual inscription as it was hidden
under a lipped stone lid, as were working marks on the side corners of
the cornice.
On the grounds of
the Ruffenhofen Roman Park is the LIMESEUM, opened on October 13, 2012,
and which provides illustrative information about the UNESCO-World
Heritage site through the daily routine of a soldier named December, a
name authentically documented as it had been found stamped on his
helmet. As one follows the exhibition tour through the building, one
climbs continuously 3% higher until one can look out of a panorama
window at the planted fort of the Roman park. Besides finds from
Ruffenhofen, there are also some pieces from the Dambach fort. One of
the focal points of the artefacts involves wood conservation, for which
the Limes route in the Ansbach district is particularly well known.At the beginning of the second century the Romans erected a small fort in a valley right next to the Limes. This fort at Dambach is
unique given its elongated shape due to the history of its
construction. It is also special from its late construction, its two
large camp villages whose remains can be found in the neighbouring woods
shown below, and the partly unique finds due to the soil that has
retained moisture since ancient times. A local spring shrine with a
large number of votive offerings is also striking. The foundations of
the fort consisted of marshy land due to the river baselets and its
layer of clay, which has led to uniquely well-preserved wood findings,
especially in the vicus- the camp village.
The
fort was extended around 200 CE and garrisoned by the cohors II
Aquitanorum which had relocated here after its fort near Castra Regina
was destroyed during the Marcomannic wars. They were stationed here
until the fort’s destruction in the middle of the 3rd century. The
latest coins from Dambach can be dated to the reign of Philip the Arab.
In 1966, a number of finds were reported from the fort and the camp
village, including a gem, bronze implements and pendants, four lance
tips and an arrowhead as well as various iron tools and keys. The
construction and expansion of three carp ponds between 1958 and 1986
made emergency excavations and observations necessary in the eastern
part of the former camp village. The uncontrolled destruction caused by
fish farming, in addition to the older interventions, led to a complete
loss of substance in the known areas between 2002 and 2006 alone and
ruined any further research efforts.
250
metres from the fort and roughly fifty metres behind the Limes wall are
light earth walls that delineate an oval area where, in Roman times,
there was probably a small amphitheatre of wood and earth construction
now hidden in the thick undergrowth shown here. The inner dimensions of
the slightly ellipsoidal circle are just under 700 square metres. The
slight elevations in the ground made three entrances visible during the
excavation in the 19th century, one each from the west, east and south.
Another similar such structure is in Wales at Fort Tomen y Mur. It is believed that gladiatores militares were sent from the legionary
camps to the Limes, and animal hunts and gladiator fights were held here
in a reduced form for a relatively undemanding audience for special
events and holidays.
Remains
of buildings from the vicus. The area of this apparently very late
civil settlement will never be fully analysed given the construction of
ponds and the large Kreutweiher lake north of the fort although
accidental finds and emergency excavations by the Bavarian State Office
for Monument Preservation have made it possible to imagine an extensive
vicus that almost or completely enclosed the camp and at least partially
reached directly to the border fortifications. A second vicus nucleus
has also become known located on a wide, south-facing arch of the road
from the eastern camp gate that led to the Unterschwaningen fort. This
camp village was not built in one go, but developed steadily.
At the recreated watchtower at WP 13/41 on the eastern outskirts of Kleinlellenfeld.
At the remains of a Roman watchtower deep in the Filchenharder
forest. At first sight the Roman watchtower seems disadvantageously
positioned since steep slopes obstructed the view of the area beyond the
Limes and necessitated the use of reinforcing elements to stabilise the
tower's walls. However, it provided an excellent view along the line of
the Limes and its position allowed quick and far-range signalling along
the Roman frontier. The intervisibility of watchtowers played an
important role in the Limes' defence system, as in reporting
unauthorised crossings of the border to the forts in the hinterland. The
Raetian wall, built around 200 CE, ran about ten metres north of this
watchtower without incorporating it. Instead a second, very small tower
was attached to the limes wall, either in addition to or after the
destruction of the first, freestanding watchtower.At Castra Vetoniana in Pfünz near Eichstatt. Its location on a rocky spur, surrounded on three sides by steep valleys, formed an ideal location for the construction of a fort, which was to protect the Limes section running about seven miles to the north. The Pünz fort was a cohort fort with a mixed garrison of about 600 men (128 cavalry and 480 foot soldiers) from the Cohors I Breucorum equitata civium Romanorum , an auxiliary cohort that belonged to the Legio III Italica stationed in Regensburg . It was first built around 90 as a wood-earth fort and later expanded in several construction phases and expanded with stone buildings. A camp village (vicus) adjoined south of the fort walls, a Jupiter Dolichenus temple, a burial ground and a Roman bath were also found here. A Roman road also led here to the nearest fort at Weißenburg (Biriciana). established around 200, the almost 190×145 metre large fort then had a stone wall running all around with four double gates, corner towers and a defensive wall and was surrounded by a double moat. It functioned as a troop station until about the middle of the 3rd century before it was destroyed together with the vicus during an Alamanni invasion.
Standing in front of the reconstructed Porta praetoria and how it was actually supposed to have appeared based on the work of Thomas Fischer and British archaeologist Anne Johnson. The north gate with a Roman guard room, part of the wall with a battlement and corner tower were reconstructed at the original location between 1992 and 1994 in a large, unsuccessful way without specialist scientific assistance and without modern archaeological preliminary investigations. Various findings from other forts that were not made in Pfünz were used whilst actual findings from Pfünz were not taken into account during the reconstruction and so the replica now lacks the cornice on the gate and wall, which is also common in other forts. In addition, the gate and tower were rebuilt one floor too low and the corner tower must have had a roof in antiquity. Thus, this replica only gives a very freely interpreted general idea of a Roman fort. One essential feature of ancient military buildings not shown is the white plaster with red grout to simulate ashlar masonry.
The current name of the town of Pfünz is derived from the Latin pons (= bridge) and clarifies its location at an ancient crossing over the Altmühl.
Copy of a Roman milestone at the site uncovered near Kösching in the 18th century, pays homage to
Septimius Severus and Caracalla and can be thus dated to around 200-201.
Its
original location was 62 Roman miles from Augsburg and 34 from the
legionary camp at Regensburg. The specification of two counting points
was not particularly common, but is characteristic of the Roman road
columns in the Limes area north of the Danube. Text of the inscription on the milestone reads: Imp(erator) Caesar / L(ucius)
Septimius Severus Pius / Pertinax Aug(ustus) Arab(icus) / Adiab(enicus)
Parthicus maximus / pontif(ex) max(imus) trib(unicia) pot(estate) VIIII
/ imp (erator) XII co(n)s(ul) II p(ater) p(atriae) proco(n)s(ul) et /
Imp(erator) Caesar Marcus Aurel(ius) / Antoninus Pius Aug(ustus) trib(
unicia) / pot(estate) IIII proco(n)s(ul) [[[et P(ublius) Septim(ius)]]] /
[[[Geta nobilissimus Caesar]]] / vias et pont(es) rest( ituerunt) / ab
Aug(usta) m(ilia) p(assuum) LXII / a leg(ione) m(ilia) p(assuum) XXXIIII. At this time extensive renovation work was carried out on several major roads leading from the provincial capital in the province of Raetia. The routes from Augsburg to the Brenner Pass, to the Inn Bridge in the direction of Noricum, to Lake Constance and to Regensburg were affected.
Cambodunum
In front of the reconstructed Temple of Hercules showing how it has since been reconsidered. This is within the temple district which consisted of the two large temples of Hercules and Epona, as well as several smaller temples and altars as well as a Jupiter column and was surrounded on three sides by a double hall. It's located in the northwest of the town, close to the steep slope on the Iller and was first uncovered in 1937. Its buildings date from the period between the 2nd and the first half of the 3rd century CE and was open to all classes of the population. There were twelve buildings there, although not all of them must have existed at the same time. Building 4 is important for understanding the complex, a Gallo-Roman temple and a larger building with a later apse. The numerous smaller buildings, including five prostyloi or temples of Anten, may have served not only as temples but also as treasuries for votive offerings . What is remarkable is the central location of the temple district at the intersection of all national roads.
Cambodunum was the administrative seat of the governor of the province of Rhaetia in the 1st century CE; only later did Augusta Vindelicum become the capital. The governor resided in the praetorium which was later converted into a guest house when the place's political importance had declined. The thermal baths that adjoin the building were initially intended for the governor's use and were subsequently converted, for example by installing public latrines. The remains of the bathing complex are well preserved as shown here. The Forum's extensive grounds, with the remains of a basilica, probably rebuilt after a fire around 70 CE, speak to the importance of the site at this time. The temple district reflects the mutual influences of the original Celtic-Germanic population and the immigrated Romans. Although there are no longer any traces of the earlier assumed Celtic settlement, which was already mentioned by Strabo, thirteen temple or cult buildings from the 1st and 2nd centuries CE testify to the coexistence of the religions of the Celts, Germanic peoples and Romans. These buildings have been reconstructed to their original size and altars and dedicatory inscriptions speak in particular of a veneration of the deities Mercury, Hercules and Epona.
Outside the small bath complex. In Roman Cambodunum there were three public bathing facilities, of which only the smallest of the thermal baths can be visited as part of the “Archaeological Park Cambodunum (APC)”. These served as the private baths of the governor and thus located directly next to the Praetorium, the seat of the Roman governor. In the 2nd century they were rebuilt and partly used as a public bath now that the seat of the Roman governor of the province was now Augusta Vindelicium. These bathing facilities are among the earliest structures of their kind north of the Alps and the thermal baths house is considered the earliest stone building in Kempten and was uncovered by Paul Reinecke in 1913.
The public latrine which was accessible from the street, with a reconstruction of the wooden structure above the sewer, which was constantly flushed with fresh water.
In the 4th century BCE, Roman troops conquered the foothills of the Alps and encountered what was probably a Celtic predecessor city of Kambodounon - Cambodunum. The central location in the Alpine region gave the Roman town of Cambodunum the status of a civil administrative centre and became the seat of the governor of the province of Rhaetia in the 1st century CE before the later provincial capital of Augusta Vindelicum. Between around 10 and 54 CE, a new Roman city was built based on the Roman model on what is now the terraced area of the Lindenberg, which retained the old Celtic name.
In June 2020 vandals tore the statue of Augustus in the Archaeological Park on the Lindenberg from its base and severely damaged it. Residents apparently have repeatedly observed cases of vandalism in the area in recent times with damage to the neighbouring lights, increasing amounts of graffiti, and cases of property damage at the school which stands on the site of . According to the resident's observation, the perpetrators are active at night on weekends. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavius – as Augustus is also known – has been welcoming visitors to the park for over 20 years. “Augustus the Exalted” was the first Roman emperor and lived from 63 BC to 14 AD. The original marble statue was found north of Rome in 1803 and is now in the Vatican Museums. The Kempten archeology employee Werner Klinkenberg was able to make a mold there. “Augustus is the symbol for the founding of the Roman city of Cambodunum,” says Sieler, explaining the meaning of the statue, which stands in a place steeped in history: “Under the lawn lies the statue base of the former gate building to the forum of the Roman city.”