Agri decumates
Agri decumates or decumates agri (literally "Zehntland"), German Dekumatland , is in Tacitus ( Germania 29, 3) the name for an area beyond (i.e. east or north) of the Rhine and Danube , which according to his statement was originally from Inhabited by the Celts (Gauls), but soon also by Germanic Suebi and belonged to the Roman Empire .
Tacitus wrote in 98:
“I do not want to count the people among the peoples of Germania who work on the agri decumates , although they have settled on the other side of the Rhine and Danube. The most adventurous Gauls whom need has made bold have occupied the land, the possession of which was disputed; since then the Limes was laid out and the border guards moved further forward, they have formed an outpost of our empire and part of the province. "
history
Towards the end of the 1st century AD, the Romans under Emperor Vespasian around 72 AD occupied the area beyond the Rhine and Danube, which they had already indirectly controlled, with troops. They secured it from Domitian (around 85 AD) by a series of fortifications, which were last advanced around 150 AD under Antoninus Pius ( Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes ). Since Domitian the Dekumatland belonged to the newly established province Germania superior . The country flourished under Roman protection; it benefited from the presence of the wealthy border troops who had to be supplied. As Tacitus also reports, this seems to have lured many immigrants into the country early on, especially from Gaul .
Only during the imperial crisis of the 3rd century was it considerably devastated by raids by plundering Teutons and was finally lost to the Alamanni between 260 and 280 (at the latest after the death of Probus ) after it had been evacuated by the Roman troops (see Limesfall ). At the end of the 3rd century, from the Roman point of view, it belonged to the Alamannia , although the empire never formally renounced its claims to the Dekumatland and campaigns were carried out there until well into the 4th century and the princes there were forced to submit (e.g. . Julian ).
location
The Dekumatland occupied at least the southwest of what is now the state of Baden-Württemberg . It is unclear whether the areas of Rome on the right bank of the Rhine north of the Neckar and the parts of Raetia north of the Danube also belonged to the agri decumates ; Tacitus' brief note seems to speak against it, but it only reproduces the circumstances of the late 1st century. As far as is known, the only Roman town in the Dekumatland whose inhabitants had Roman citizenship prior to 212 was the municipium Arae Flaviae ( Rottweil ), which Emperor Vespasian founded.
population
In the area of the former Dekumatland, around 60 village settlements ( vici ) and over 1300 villae rusticae have been identified to date . These Roman manors housed an average of about 50 people; It is estimated, however, that at most a quarter of the former establishments are still known. Since the inhabitants of the vici and civitates must also be added, modern research estimates the population to be at least 250,000 people. Since the Roman soldiers stationed here were added, the Dekumatland can be regarded as an unusually densely populated and agriculturally intensively used area.
Origin of name
The origin of the name agri decumates , mentioned only by Tacitus, is controversial. It is often translated as “ tenth country ”, and it would be conceivable that it was a country that had to pay tribute to the Roman emperor and that had to give up a tenth of its products. But some scholars consider this explanation to be etymologically impossible. Alternatively, the name could come from a now unknown place called Decuma or Decumum ; research is discussing further possibilities.
literature
- Helmut Benedikt Leibinger: Decumates agri. An introduction to Roman provincial archeology. Re Di Roma-Verlag, Remscheid 2009, ISBN 978-3-86870-052-7 .
- Günter Neumann , Hans Ulrich Nuber , Dieter Timpe : Decumates agri. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 5, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1984, ISBN 3-11-009635-8 , pp. 271-286.
- Walther Sontheimer : Decumates agri. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, column 1416.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Non numeraverim inter Germaniae populos, quamquam trans Rhenum Danuviumque consederint, eos qui decumates agros exercent. Levissimus quisque Gallorum et inopia audax dubiae possessionis solum occupavere; mox limite acto promotisque praesidiis sinus imperii et pars provinciae habentur. Tac. Germ. 29.3.
- ↑ See Peter Dinzelbacher , Werner Heinz: Europa in der Spätantike. 300-600. A history of culture and mentality. Primus-Verlag, Darmstadt 2007, ISBN 978-3-89678-624-1 , p. 11.