Bataver

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Roman Gaul and Germania on the right bank of the Rhine around AD 70.

The Batavians ( Latin Batavi , also outdated Batavier ) were a West Germanic tribe . Due to a tribal feud, they separated from the Chattas and settled around 50 BC. At the mouth of the Rhine in the Roman province of Belgica . In the year 12 BC They were subjugated by the Romans under Drusus and from then on were considered loyal allies, with one exception: the Batavian revolt under Iulius Civilis in AD 69. In this context, the Teutons succeeded in conquering a Roman legionary camp for the first time ( Vetera at Xanten ). Only after the uprising of 69/70 AD was the establishment of a civitas Batavorum , which was the successor of the oppidum Batavodurum since Trajan, the Roman military base Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum (today's Nijmegen ). In the 4th century the now Romanized Batavians were absorbed by the Franks .

Surname

According to Günter Neumann , the position at Cassius Dio ( Roman History 55, 24) offers a good and transparent approach to the etymology and meaning of the Batavian ethnonym . Dio emphasizes the special quality of the Batavians as excellent riders. In the context of his description of the position and structure of the legions, the remark made about this characteristic of the Batavians and the general position of Germanic contingents in the Roman auxiliary units (auxiliary troops) understandable.

"Ξένοι τε ἱππεῖς ἐπίλεϰτοι, οἷς τὸ τῶν Βαταούων ὄνομα, ὅτι δὴ ϰράτιστοι ἱππεύειν εἰσὶ, ϰεῖται."

"... foreign exquisite riders who were named Batavians because they were the most capable riders."

Tacitus (Tacitus Germania 29.1) noticed their special bravery, which distinguished them from other tribes in the region ( Omnium harum gentium virtute praecipui Batavi ).

Neumann therefore sees with Rudolf Much in Batavi a word stem from Germanic * bata- as it is present for example in Gothic batiza for "better" or in bōta = "benefit" (see also Batimodus ). According to Neumann and Much, the short a of the middle syllable (according to the rendering of the Latin originals) could correctly reflect the Germanic phonetic level , so that a nominative plural Germanic * batawiz (see Chamaver ) can be present in the Bataver name , derived from the adjective * batu- for " good ”, or from batizan =“ better ”. The suffix would have been preserved in full and shows an archaic declination type.

Batavian helmet

Fragments of an iron equestrian helmet. The Batavian helmet dates from the early 1st century and was excavated near Xanten

The warriors of the Batavians, also as equestrian legionaries in Roman service, wore special helmets, of which only a few have been found on the Lower Rhine in the area between Nijmegen and Xanten. It was made of iron and had a thick braided trimming of horsehair that was attached with pitch glue . He also had a visor , iron inside and silver outside, which completely covered the face. Such a helmet was reconstructed in 2008 in the Het Valkhof Museum in Nijmegen with the help of colleagues from Bonn and Mannheim. The composition of the glue that combined the iron and silver layers was also discovered: tree tar, bitumen and beef tallow. In 69 AD, after the Batavian revolt, this type of helmet disappeared. It did not reappear until a hundred years later as a metal replica in the entire Roman army. The plaited braids were now driven into metal. The reconstructed copy is on permanent display in the Xanten Roman Museum .

reception

The myth was widespread among Dutch humanists that the Batavians were not subjugated but were free allies of the Romans. An inscription allegedly found around 1500 near Zoeterwoude , " Gens Batavorum amici et fratres Romani Imperii " = " Batavian people, friends and brothers of the Roman Empire ", served as evidence . Arnoldus Buchelius (1565–1641) assessed this inscription as a forgery and concluded from Roman legionary stamps and coins that he and Johannes de Witt (1565–1622) had found in the Utrecht area that the northern border of the Roman Empire was along the Roman military camp Arenacum - Vada (identified by Buchelius with Wageningen ) - Grinnes - Batavodorum on the Rhine ran.

Batavia is a common name for the Netherlands in humanistic Latin . During the Dutch colonial era , today's capital of Indonesia, Jakarta , was also called Batavia .

The successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Provinces , established in 1795 by exporting revolution , was called the Batavian Republic .

The Bataver-Cohorte, stationed on the “wet part” of the Rhaetian Limes in the 1st century, is today considered to be the eponym for the city of Passau .

Roman auxiliary units

In the early imperial period , the following auxiliary units were recruited into the territory of the Batavians:

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Bataver  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rudolf Much: The Germania of Tacitus. 3rd revised and expanded edition, Wolfgang Lange (Ed.), Herbert Jankuhn , Hans Fromm employee. Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg 1966, p. 366.
  2. ^ Frank Heidermanns: Etymological dictionary of Germanic primary adjectives. (= Studia Linguistica Germanica 33) de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1993 [Reprint 2013], ISBN 978-3-11-087161-6 , pp. 118f. ( fee required from de Gruyter ).
  3. ↑ Angelika Franz: Bataver helmet repaired with a 3D printer. Spiegel Online, August 11, 2014, accessed August 11, 2014 .
  4. ^ Museum Het Valkhof
  5. ↑ Research Current
  6. ↑ Terrifying helmets. in: epoc - history, archeology, culture. Spektrum der Wissenschaft Verlagsgesellschaft, Heidelberg 2009,2, p. 8. ISSN  1865-5718 u. Fear of Roman helmets. (on-line)
  7. ↑ Cf. Tacitus : Historiae V, 20 ; today partially understood as military bases in the hinterland, see p. Lower Germanic Limes .
  8. ↑ See Sandra Langereis: Geschiedenis als ambacht, Oudheidkunde in de Gouden Eeuw: Arnoldus Buchelius en Petrus Scriverius (Hollandse Studièn 37), Hilversum: Verloren 2001, ISBN 907040348X ( online resource of the dissertation , accessed on August 9, 2011), esp Pp. 232-235.