Roman camp apud aram Ubiorum

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Apud Aram Ubiorum
Alternative name unknown
limes Lower Germanic Limes
Dating (occupancy) tiberian
Type Double legion camp
unit a) Legio I Germanica
b) Legio XX Valeria Victrix
size unknown
State of preservation archaeologically not localized
place Cologne
Geographical location 50 ° 56 '32 "  N , 6 ° 57' 28"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 56 '32 "  N , 6 ° 57' 28"  E
height 40  m above sea level NHN
Previous Durnomagus
Subsequently Naval fort Alteburg

The Roman historian Tacitus narrated apud Aram Ubiorum (in German: "at the Altar of the Ubier" ) for the year 14 AD a winter camp for two Roman legions , the Legio I Germanica and the Legio XX Valeria Victrix . This double legionary camp has not yet been proven archaeologically, but its existence is undisputed. According to Tacitus, it must have been in or near the oppidum Ubiorum , today's Cologne .

history

Legions I and XX, together with Legio V Alaudae and Legio XXI Rapax, were in summer camp in the Ubier region in AD 14 when news of the death of Emperor Augustus arrived in August . In the turmoil after the Princeps' death, the soldiers refused to obey. They demanded higher wages, more humane treatment by the officers, a reduction in the length of service and the dismissal of veterans. Germanicus , who at the time was in command of the Germanic legions, could only restore military discipline through payments from his private assets and the promise to enforce the demands in Rome. At the end of August 14, the legate Aulus Caecina Severus led the I. and the XX. Legion to the winter camp near today's Cologne, where the high command of the Roman Rhine Army was located. Germanicus himself moved into the oppidum Ubiorum . In September of that year a senatorial delegation under the leadership of Lucius Munatius Plancus arrived from Rome. After Tacitus they met with Germanicus apud Aram Ubiorum , that is at the altar of the Ubier , which was located within the settlement. A violent group of the temporarily exempted veterans feared Munatius Plancus would deliver a Senate resolution that would reverse the early layoffs won during the mutiny. They invaded the settlement and threatened Germanicus and the embassy. Munatius Plancus took refuge in the flag shrine of the 1st Legion, where he was freed by Germanicus the next morning. Subsequently, Germanicus motivated the soldiers to kill the ringleaders of the mutiny and to be loyal to Tiberius .

Location and occupancy

Location of the Alenkastell in the course of the Lower Germanic Limes.

Tacitus's description shows that the Ubier settlement, from which the city of Cologne emerged, and the military camp were spatially separated, but must have been close to one another. There are no more detailed topographical information. The archaeological evidence is increasing that it was on the field side of the north gate of the settlement around today's Cologne main station . Here freshly minted coins with the counterstamp of Germanicus and typical military ceramics were found. The flood-free area here is also large enough to accommodate a double legion camp. The graves of soldiers from the two legions were south of the settlement. Two tombstones dating from the early imperial era were found in 1632 on today's Chlodwigplatz . This is the tomb of the veterinarian of the XX. Legion Gaius Deccius and Gaius Vetienius, tubics of the 1st Legion. The tombstones of veterans of the I. and XX. Legion are known outside the city wall in the area of ​​Aachener Straße 19-21.

There is also little data on the question of occupancy. It is possible that the Cologne camp was preceded by an Augustan forerunner. The I. Germanica was stationed in Bonna ( Bonn ) around AD 35 . The XX. Legion was moved to Novaesium ( Neuss ) in the late Iberian era . Presumably the Cologne legion camp was closed at this time.

Research history

Research in the 19th and early 20th centuries rarely differentiated between the assumed camp of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and the camp mentioned by Tacitus. The prevailing opinion was that the later CCAA had emerged from the camp and not from the Ubier settlement and thus occupied the same space. After deducting the I. and XX. Legion should have given the camp to the Ubi as settlement area. In 1885, the Prussian Major General Karl von Veith submitted a city map of Cologne in which he projected the floor plan of the camp.

Until recently there have been efforts to equate the winter camp with the Alteburg fleet fort . The clearest argument against this thesis is that the usable flood-free area with only about 16 hectares is too small for the space requirements of two legions.

literature

Ancient sources
  • P. Cornelius Tacitus. Annals. Latin-German (= Tusculum Collection ). Edited by Erich Heller. With an introduction by Manfred Fuhrmann. 3. Edition. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-7608-1645-2 .
Secondary literature
  • Wolfgang Binsfeld : The names of Cologne in Roman times. In: Heinz Ladendorf, Horst Vey (Ed.): Mouseion. Studies in art and history for Otto H. Förster. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne 1960, pp. 72-80.
  • Werner Eck : Cologne in Roman times. History of a city in the context of the Roman Empire (= history of the city of Cologne. Vol. 1). With an introduction to the complete works of Hugo Stehkämper . Greven, Cologne 2004. ISBN 3-7743-0357-6 .
  • Leonard Ennen : History of the city of Cologne. Volume 1. Schwann, Cologne et al. 1863.
  • Philipp Filtzinger : To localize the two legion fortress apud aram Ubiorum. In: Cologne yearbook for prehistory and early history. 6, 1962/1963, ISSN  0075-6512 , pp. 23-56.
  • Philipp Filtzinger: The western enclosure ditch and the rear gate (porta decumana) of the two legion camp of the 1st and 20th Legion apud Aram Ubiorum in Richmodstrasse in Cologne. In: Cologne yearbook for prehistory and early history. 17, 1980, pp. 59-75.
  • Hansgerd Hellenkemper : Oppidum and legion camp in Cologne. Considerations on the early Roman topography. In: Cologne yearbook for prehistory and early history. 13, 1972/1973, pp. 59-64.
  • Peter La Baume: Oppidum Ubiorum and two legion camp in Cologne. In: Gymnasium. 80, 1973, ISSN  0017-5943 , pp. 333-347.
  • Peter La Baume: On the location of Oppidum Ubiorum and two legion camps. In: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (Hrsg.): Guide to prehistoric and early historical monuments. Volume 37: Cologne. Volume 1: Introductory Articles. von Zabern, Mainz 1980, ISBN 3-8053-0306-8 , pp. 53-61.
  • Joseph Klinkenberg : The Roman Cologne (= The art monuments of the Rhine province. Department 6: The art monuments of the city of Cologne. Vol. 1, 2). Schwann, Düsseldorf 1906, p. 143 ff.
  • Bernd Päffgen , Werner Zanier : Considerations on the localization of oppidum Ubiorum and legion camp in Cologne during the early imperial period. In: Wolfgang Czysz among others: Provincial Roman Research. Festschrift for Günter Ulbert on his 65th birthday. Leidorf, Espelkamp 1995, ISBN 3-89646-000-5 , pp. 111-129.
  • Bernd Päffgen, Werner Zanier: On the interpretation of the Alteburg as a late August-early-Tiberian military camp. In: Kölner Jahrbuch. 31, 1998, ISSN  0947-1553 , pp. 299-315.
  • Harald von Petrikovits : The Roman Rhineland. Archaeological research since 1945 (= Bonner Jahrbücher. Supplements 8, ISSN  0067-4893 = Working Group for Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Humanities 86). Westdeutscher Verlag, Cologne et al. 1960, pp. 74 ff., 84 f.
  • Carl von Veith: The Roman Cologne. Along with a plan of the Roman city with the drawing of the most remarkable finds. Marcus, Bonn 1885.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 1, 39, 1.
  2. ↑ Eck 2004, p. 115.
  3. ↑ Tacitus, Annalen 1, 37, 2.
  4. ↑ On this Rudolf Haensch: Capita provinciarum. Governor's seat and provincial administration in the Roman Empire. Mainz 1997, p. 67; Eck 2004, chap. 4 note 72.
  5. ↑ Eck 2004, p. 119.
  6. ↑ CIL 13, 08287
  7. ↑ CIL 13, 08275
  8. ↑ LaBaume 1980, p. 56 f.
  9. ^ Jerome H. Farnum: The Positioning of the Roman Imperial Legions. BAR International Series 1458, Oxford 2005. p. 44.
  10. ^ Gustav Müller: Neuss military camp . In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): The Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia . Theiss, Stuttgart, 1987, ISBN 3-8062-0312-1 , p. 583.
  11. ↑ Ennen 1863, p. 10 f.
  12. ↑ Veith 1885, p. 28.
  13. ↑ Veith 1885, appendix.
  14. ^ Päffgen, Zanier 1998.
  15. ↑ Eck 2004, p. 117.