Caelius Mons
| Caelius Mons | |
|---|---|
| Alternative name | Caelius Mons |
| limes | Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes , Raetia II |
| Dating (occupancy) | from AD 297 to the 5th century |
| Type | Cohort fort |
| unit | Cohors III Herculea Pannoniorum |
| size | 8600 m² |
| Construction | Stone and wood |
| State of preservation | Foundation walls were tw. preserved and are visible above ground. |
| place | Kellmünz on the Iller |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 7 '13.6 " N , 10 ° 7' 40.9" E |
| height | 541 m above sea level NHN |
| Previous | Kempten-Burghalde Fort (south) |
| Subsequently | Burgus Finningen (north) |
| Reconstruction of the fort (4th century) |
|---|
| Image in the area of the Archaeological Park in the center of Kellmünz |
| Archaeological Park Kellmünz - CAELIUS MONS
Link to the picture |
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Caelius Mons was a late antique cohort fort in the area of the municipality of Kellmünz an der Iller , Neu-Ulm district , Bavaria , Germany.
In the late 3rd century AD, the Romans built a fort on the Kellmünzer plateau on the Iller high bank. The crew was responsible for the control and security of the Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes (DIRL) ( Limes ) in the Lower Illertal, which was built to protect the province from attacks by the Teutons and Alemanni. Before the military base was set up, there was a small settlement of half-timbered buildings here; due to its size, it was probably a construction warehouse. Between 1986 and 1993 the remains of the fort buildings were scientifically researched as part of an excavation campaign. Only the foundations of the wall and some towers in the west and north remain of the fortress. A hall-like building in the fort served during the first half of the 4th century for the state representation during the presence of high-ranking officials and dignitaries of the civil and military administration, as well as for the reception of Alemannic embassies and for jurisdiction. Its area is now part of the Kellmünz Archaeological Park.
location
Kellmünz was about halfway along the 70 km long Iller section between Cambodunum / Kempten and Guntia / Günzburg, in the north-west of the Raetia secunda province . The fort stood on a 35 m high above the Iller ( Hilaria ) on a plateau made of tertiary sands and protected by natural conditions. It towers above the valley by 35 m (572 m above sea level) to the west and south-west it drops steeply to the river valley. It was cut off in the north from the Johannesberg, the Hennental and in the south from the Holy Garden by two deep erosion channels, which were only recently filled. The southwest side of the plateau has always been exposed to severe erosion because the foot of the Iller served as an impact slope . It was therefore only easily accessible on its east side. The remains of the fort are located in the western part of the center of Kellmünz and are almost completely built over. Today the Roman Catholic Church of St. Martin rises on its former southeast corner .
The connections to the regional Roman road network and the route of the main road from Camboduno / Kempten - Celio Monte / Kellmünz - Guntia / Günzburg listed in the Itinerarium Antonini are still largely unknown. The latter probably ran in the flood-protected area, in parts probably on the eastern Iller high bank or in the hilly hinterland, such as. B. the section Kempten - Memmingen, or maybe in the Rothtal.
Surname
The ancient name is passed down in the Notitia dignitatum as Caelio , derived from Caelius , the name of one of the seven hills of Rome . The place name in use today could also be traced back to him.
function
The camp belonged to the late Roman Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes , a line of border fortresses that arose on the banks of these rivers after the fall of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes around 300 AD. Its crew was responsible for the communication, control and security of the imperial border in the lower Illertal. There may also be a bridge over the river there, which also had to be monitored.
Research history
Roman walls were uncovered as early as the middle of the 19th century when the first public aqueducts were being built by Kellmünz. Scheduled excavations of large parts of the stone defensive wall took place for the first time between 1901 and 1913 by the historically interested Kellmünzer businessman Roman Lindner with the help of his three sons. The archaeologist Paul Reinecke (1872–1958) was there to advise them. His eldest son, Johann Lindner, also wrote several essays about the late antique Kellmünz.
In the course of these investigations, a large number of high-quality spoils from the late antique masonry (towers of the east wall) were recovered, including architectural parts of monument buildings and marble statues that were cut to fit before installation. It was about mid-imperial architecture and building fragments, such as B. Column shafts and bases as well as column and pilaster capitals made of marble, tuff (molasses sediments) and Jurassic limestone. Presumably they weren't dragged here from Kempten. They probably come from the necropolis of a stately manor in Kellmünz itself or in its immediate vicinity. In the first few years, the excavations were mainly financed by the sale of these spoils to the Bavarian National Museum in Munich .
In 1917 Eduard Anthes considered the fort to be a fortified city because of the irregular floor plan and the medieval settlement that was also assumed at this point. Hans-Jörg Kellner also saw the fortification in 1957: " ... not as a pure fort ...", but assumed that civilians were constantly present in the fort in addition to the military occupation. In 1959, N. Walke was able to take a closer look at the northern flank tower of the fort gate - before it was finally destroyed by road construction.
Between 1986 and 1993, the University of Munich carried out an excavation on behalf of the Late Roman Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences (headed by Michael Mackensen ). Large parts of the fortress walls, including the main gate as well as the intermediate and corner towers of the east wall and the north-west wall, as well as parts of the ancient buildings in the now almost completely built-up interior, were examined. In 1987, the southern flank tower of the east gate, which had been almost completely destroyed by the construction of a ravine and stone robbery, was re-dug in the area of the cemetery embankment and its remains were partially exposed. The most recent Roman layers of the fort were destroyed, and late antique finds have only survived to a small extent, but Roman settlement activity could be proven up to the first decades of the 5th century due to the argon sigillates that were found and decorated with rolling stamps . The oldest layers of settlement, dating from around 300 AD, were preserved within the old cemetery. Isolated stray finds from the middle and second half of the 4th or early 5th century represented the younger settlement layers of the camp, which were also almost completely disrupted by the excavation of medieval and (early) modern graves.
In 1995 the excavations were finished. The Kellmünz Archaeological Park was then set up, in which the remains of the fort that have still been preserved have been preserved and made accessible to the public. The western wall with two round towers was restored and preserved on the park area. The lower masonry is still original Roman, the upper layers were partly supplemented from small tufa blocks between 1993 and 1994. At the same time, the entire site was placed under monument protection.
In 2001 an emergency excavation by the Neu-Ulm District Archeology took place at the northeast corner tower.
development
The settlement of the Kellmünzer region continued around 1500 BC. A. A Bronze Age barrow from this period was discovered on the Fuchsbühl . A bronze sword came to light on the banks of the Iller during canal construction work in 1927 (approx. 1200 BC), graves from the Hallstatt period (Am Brenner) could be dated to 800 BC. To be dated. From 600 BC The Celts ( Vindeliker ) took possession of the land around Kellmünz. 15 BC After hard fighting, the Romans finally conquered their territory and incorporated it into their empire as the province of Raetia. Thereafter, the region was economically developed through the systematic settlement of Roman veterans by building roads, establishing cities ( civitas ), villages ( vici ) and farms ( villa rustica ).
In 213 AD, the Alemanni troops broke through the Rhaetian Limes for the first time, but did not get very far into the hinterland. They did not succeed in doing this until twenty years later and was only possible because most of the units of the Roman border army on the Rhine and Danube had been withdrawn in the late 3rd century for the most part to the eastern theater of war to fight the Sassanids . The defenses of the border garrisons were considerably weakened. The people of the Upper German-Rhaetian Limes were left to their own devices by the government in Rome, which was soon to attract Alemannic looters. Their incursions, however, did not yet have the aim of conquering the country, but only of pillaging and plundering the rich, completely unsecured towns and manors in the country. Once the Alemanni had crossed the border - which was unguarded for long stretches - the well-developed Roman road network offered them the opportunity to advance quickly into the Limes hinterland. Emperor Maximinus Thrax (235-238) was able to stabilize the Rhaetian Limes again, but already under his successors Valerian (253-260) and Gallienus (253-238) the border defense in Raetia collapsed again. As a result, the Alemanni were again able to devastate the province unhindered, destroying Augsburg and Kempten and even penetrating as far as Milan / Mediolanum . Once again, these raids hit the civilian population living on the Limes particularly hard. The Dekumatenland could no longer be held and was evacuated by the army and administration (see Limesfall ). In between, however, individual soldier emperors were still able to take vigorous action and were thus able to give the border provinces a short respite. Finally, under Emperor Probus (276–282), a new chain of castles was built from Lake Constance to the mouth of the Iller to protect them more effectively . Instead of the much larger facilities of the middle imperial period , only smaller fortifications were built here, which were adapted as far as possible to the local terrain structures. Similar systems were built in Kempten ( Cambodunum ) on the Burghalde , Isny ( Vemania Fort ) and Gundremmingen ( Bürgle ).
The fort was probably built as part of the fortress building program of Emperor Diocletian and his co-regent Maximianus. Two coins from the period 296 to 297, minted in Ticinum and Carthage , are stratigraphically secured . The two, only slightly worn bronze coins were discovered in a building of the construction warehouse. The minting time of the coins marks the earliest possible point in time for the construction of the fort (so-called timber construction period). In the area of the so-called “head building” (officer's quarters) of the crew barracks, the excavators also found a thick layer of fire that could be localized to the years 300/303 using the coins found, which could also be detected at other excavation sites within the fort. The cause could no longer be determined. Mackensen therefore left it open as to whether this was due to carelessness, forces of nature or fighting. A coin hoard from the year 308 found outside the fort cannot be associated with it either. Perhaps its concealment is related to the brief expansion of the sphere of power of the co-emperor Maxentius (306-312) who ruled with Constantine the Great during the Second Tetrarchy . This major fire destroyed the fort buildings, the reconstruction lasted at least until the year 310. The construction of a large hall ( auditorium ) during this period is also remarkable . Mackensen assumed that such an elaborate construction project could only be achieved with the - at least temporarily - presence of high-ranking civil and / or military officials, such as B. the commander of the Rhaetian frontier army, during the first half of the 4th century can be declared. In addition to representational purposes and for judicial purposes , it was also used to receive Alemannic embassies ( legitationes ) before their onward journey to the northern Italian imperial residence in Milan / Mediolanum or as a meeting point for their escort .
Most of the forts on the DIRL were only occupied until the early 5th century AD. Presumably, however , Caelio was not given up by the regular army until around 430. During the Great Migration , the region around Kellmünz was occupied by the Alamannic Alaholfingers . At the end of the 6th century the castle was abandoned by its residents. Resettlement did not begin until the 9th or 10th century. Between 980 and 990 the dominion of Bechthold, the last Alaholfinger, passed through Gerberga, Duchess and daughter of Konrad, King of Burgundy, to her husband, Duke Hermann III. from Swabia. During the Middle Ages , the fort was gradually demolished and its stone material was used for other construction projects in the area.
Fort
According to the findings, it was a polygonal fort with a multi-period internal structure (three construction phases). The 112 m long, massive east wall is followed by the 60 and 64 m long north and south walls. The south wall bends in the west at an angle of 45 degrees to the north-west, the north wall continues at an angle of 20 degrees to the south-west, so that the west wall as the end of the steep slope was only 25 m long. The ground plan thus corresponded to almost a square, but with (for topographical reasons) withdrawn north-west and south-west corners, which were able to use the very favorable terrain of the plateau for a fortification. At these two points the fort wall was sloped and pushed forward again at an obtuse angle in the north.
dig
A pointed ditch (5-6 m wide, 2.5 m deep) and a second, six-meter-wide base ditch were dug on the east side to prevent the approach . The inner ditch in front of the gate was drawn through by these, but here it was somewhat narrowed. Analogous to this, the course of the outer trench is likely to have been narrowed in the same way.
Curtain wall
With a length of 101.50 m and width of 98.50 m, it enclosed an inner area of 0.86 ha. It was presumably once about seven to eight meters high and reinforced with battlements at the top . Its core consisted of a mixture of sand, stones and burnt lime; this concrete-like substance was reinforced on the outside by layers of rubble for protection. When it was exposed, the opus caementitium cast wall core was partially preserved up to a height of two or three cuboid layers. The eastern foundations in the lower area consisted to a large extent of the second-used spolia . On the approx. 112 m long and 3.6 m wide east wall ( shield wall ), the towers stood at unusually small distances of only about eight to ten meters apart. The foundation strength of the south wall, with a slip gate discovered by Lindner, was around 1.85 m as in the north. On the northwest side, however, it was only 1.5 m thick.
East gate
The gate system ( porta praetoria ) had a passage, an overlying guardroom with battlements and two semicircular flank towers protruding 8 m in front of the curtain wall. The actual fort wall ran between the two towers and in front of it another 2.5 m wide wall. They were in turn connected by two transverse walls, which also served as the foundation for the inner cheeks of the flank towers. The probably only partially covered passage widened to a 3.60 m wide and a total of 8.0 m deep, harassed angled gate chamber, which could be closed on its front and rear. The two-winged front gate could probably also be secured by a portcullis ( cataracta ). Such portcullis are u. a. depicted on, 294 silver coins minted in the coin of Siscia ( Argentei with the legend Virtus Militum ).
Towers
The wall was additionally reinforced with fourteen intermediate towers, about 12-15 m high and covered with tiles. They had semicircular floor plans, ¾-round at the corners of the east side, and protruded far from the wall. Torsion guns ( ballista ) were probably also set up on them . The only exception to this standard is a tower (T7) on the west side of the fortification. It was constructed with a rectangular floor plan, probably due to static problems on the eroded steep slope. According to Mackensen, this "buttress-like" tower was built at the same time as the fort wall. The curtain wall was clearly set back from the edge of the terrain and ran diagonally from T8 to T7 to the south wall. There were no more traces of T6; it may have fallen victim to slope erosion over the course of time. A symmetrical addition to the floor plan assumed on the southwest side with another semicircular tower on the wall that was pushed forward at an obtuse angle could not be proven south of tower 8. Neither foundation traces nor an excavation pit could be found here. The outlines of the northeast (T1) and southeast corner towers (T4) were also three-quarters of a circle, but only with a semicircular foundation recess. The distance between the T9 and T10 (outer diameter 7.3 and 7.8 m) was 20.5 m, much larger than the one on the east wall (8-10 m). The 4.20 × 5.25 m measuring T5 had the same masonry technology in the foundation and rising as T9 and T10.
Interior development
The focus of the excavations from 1986 to 1993 was the area of the abandoned cemetery around the church of St. Martin. In Roman times this area was located directly behind the gate and south of the 3.6 m wide main road for the fort. This continued through the main gate in a straight line and thus formed the survey axis for the other streets, which is why the inner buildings were probably also arranged in a regular grid.
Headquarters: The fort probably had a staff building made of stone, a so-called principia . Possibly it also housed the camp commandant's quarters, the praetorium . It should have stood relatively centrally at the end of the main street at a T-shaped intersection.
Crew barracks: Near the gate there was a 6.85 m wide and 26 m long wooden building with a latrine and screed floor. The walls were built using truss technology. An interpretation as a tile-roofed team barrack with about five Contubernien is obvious. Shortly after it was built, at the end of the 3rd century, it burned down again. To the west of this, two fireplaces were observed that were aligned with the same northwest / southeast alignment and possibly belonged to another crew accommodation.
Hall construction : Instead of the crew quarters, a 26 × 14 meter single-nave hall construction was built parallel to the east wall around 310. The monumental building, also known as the auditorium or reception hall, had canal heating, a columned vestibule, a gable roof and a semicircular, apsidal closure, but no adjoining side rooms. This finding, which is unusual for Rhaetian forts, can otherwise only be verified in late Roman forts in the Pannonian province of Valeria in present-day Hungary (e.g. Fort Tokod , Fort Pilismarót ). Similar hall structures were only erected there in the late 4th century - in conjunction with a large horreum (storage building). Representative buildings of this type can also be found in the provincial capitals and imperial residences of the Roman Empire.
Construction warehouse
Before construction began, a number of half-timbered buildings were erected on the plateau. One of these buildings was even equipped with a Y-shaped duct heating. Two freshly minted Roman coins that came to light under the mortar screed of this house date its creation to 297 AD at the earliest. Next to this settlement there was also a 4.5 meter wide pointed ditch that protected it to the east. The excavators suspected that the building as accommodation for the questions of the army construction vexillations served.
garrison
In the Notitia Dignitatum, the crew of the fort is given as the Cohortis tertiae Herculea Pannoniorum (= the third Pannonian cohort of Hercules), a limit cohort under the command of a tribune . The addition of " Herculea " to the name could mean that this troop was formed during the first tetrarchy . She could originally have stood in the ranks of the army of Diocletian's co-regent in the west, Maximian , whose nickname " Herculius " (= Hercules ) was. The supreme command of the Raetian Limitanei (= border guards), or Ripenses (= bank guards) was held by a Dux Raetiae .
Whether the Pannonians were stationed in Kellmünz since 300 AD cannot be proven due to a lack of written sources. The relevant troop list in the ND (created between 420 and 425) only reflects the current distribution of troops in Raetia in the second half of the 5th century, which was constantly changing in the second half of the 5th century . Due to the size of the inner area, around 300 men could be accommodated here, with crew quarters only with a ground floor and no floor. However, due to a lack of knowledge of large sections of the interior development, this number is only pure speculation. It is assumed that this unit - probably consisting mainly of Teutons - was in Kellmünz until 430 AD.
Hints
In the small archaeological park in the center of Kellmünz you can explore the excavated ancient wall remains of the fortress. In addition to numerous small finds, it vividly presents the foundations of trenches, walls, towers and buildings of a defensive system from the late Roman period. The foundations of the semicircular towers T9 and T10 with the curtain in between were completely exposed and preserved. The square tower T7 was rebuilt and plastered. The research history of the excavations in the fort is presented on the ground floor of the museum tower, the history of the province of Raetia on the upper floor. The east gate was also reconstructed by drawing. The spolia are now in the State Archaeological Collection in Munich, casts of them are in Kellmünz. The course of the fort walls can be followed on a signposted archaeological tour, starting at the church of St. Martin. At the church, the foundations of the south-facing Roman auditorium are also marked by colored paving. The park area can be visited all year round and free of charge. The museum tower is open from April to October on weekends between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. or by appointment, only the park area can be visited during the winter season.
Monument protection
The fort and the facilities mentioned are registered ground monuments within the meaning of the Bavarian Monument Protection Act . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, random finds must be reported to the monument authorities.
See also
literature
- Michael Mackensen : The fort Caelius Mons (Kellmünz an der Iller) - a tetrarchical fortress construction project in the province of Raetien. In: Arheološki vestnik. 45, 1994, ISSN 0570-8966 , pp. 145-161.
- Michael Mackensen: The late Roman border fort Caelius Mons in Kellmünz on the Iller (= guide to archaeological monuments in Bavaria. Swabia. Vol. 3). Published by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation. Theiss, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-8062-1203-1 .
- Michael Mackensen: Settlement and military border area in the lower Illertal and on the upper Danube in the late Roman Empire. In: Brigitte Reinhardt, Kurt Wehrberger (Hrsg.): Römer an Donau und Iller. New archaeological research and finds. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1996, ISBN 3-7995-0410-9 , pp. 135-151.
- Lothar Bakker : Bulwark against the barbarians. Late Roman border defense on the Rhine and Danube , in: The Alamannen . Exhibition catalog, Theiss, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8062-1302-X , pp. 111–118.
- Michael Mackensen: The tetrarchical fort Caelius Mons / Kellmünz on the Raetian Danube-Iller-Limes. In: Clive Bridger, Karl-Josef Gilles (Hrsg.): Late Roman fortifications in the Rhine and Danube provinces (= BAR. International Series 704). Archaeopress u. a., Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-86054-887-2 , pp. 119-135.
- Ludwig Wamser (Ed.): The Romans between the Alps and the North Sea. Civilizational legacy of a European military power . Series of publications of the Archaeological State Collection Munich. 2000, p. 214.
- Hans-Jörg Kellner : Kellmünz, district of Neu-Ulm, Schw. - Late Roman fort. In: Wolfgang Czysz u. a .: The Romans in Bavaria. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-937872-11-6 , p. 461 f.
- Michael Mackensen: Raetia Secunda - new fortifications and the late Roman army in Northern Raetia. In: C. Sebastian Sommer (Ed.): Archeology in Bavaria, window to the past. Pustet, Regensburg 2006, ISBN 3-7917-2002-3 , pp. 218-222.
Web links
- Ludwig Maximilians University Munich Faculty of Cultural Studies Provincial Roman Archeology - Late Roman Border Fort Caelius Mons / Kellmünz ad Iller (Bavaria)
- District Office Neu-Ulm - Archaeological Park Kellmünz - CAELIUS MONS
- Tour archeology friends Neu-Ulm
- Location of the fort on Vici.org
Remarks
- ↑ Michael Mackensen 1994, p. 149
- ^ ND Occ. XXXV 8, 30.
- ↑ Michael Mackensen 1996, p. 141 and p. 135–136 (especially Figs. 127–129)
- ↑ a b Michael Mackensen 1996, pp. 151–153.
- ↑ Michael Mackensen 1996, pp. 147 and 153, the same 2000, p. 214
- ^ A b Jürgen Weber, Karlheinz Eckardt: The late Roman time, experimental groups in Europe , historical series, volume 2, ec Verlag, Benningen / N, 1998, p. 45.
- ↑ a b c Michael Mackensen 1996, p. 150.
- ↑ Lothar Bakker 1997, p. 116.
- ↑ Michael Mackensen 1996, p. 155.
- ↑ Michael Mackensen 1996, pp. 144 and 153.
- ^ Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 . P. 71.
- ↑ Michael Mackensen 1996, pp. 141-142.
- ↑ Occ. XXXV 8.30. ( Tribunus cohortis tertiae Herculea Pannoniorum )
- ↑ Michael Mackensen 1996, pp. 151 and 155.
Isny Castle (Vemania) | Burgus Ahegg | Fort Kempten Burghalde ( Cambidanum ) | Kellmünz Castle (Caelio) | Goldberg-Türkheim Castle | Burgus Finningen | Burgus Strass | Günzburg Castle (Guntia) | Bürgle near Gundremmingen | Burgus Faimingen (Phoebiana) | Burgus Unterthürheim | Burgus Lauterbach | Burgus Donauwörth | Fort Burghöfe (Submuntorium) | Burgus Oberpeiching | Burgheim forts (Parrodunum) | Small fort Neuburg | Eining Castle (Abusina) | Small fort Weltenburg-Frauenberg | Burgus Thaldorf | Burgus Untersaal | Burgus Alkofen | Burgus Oberndorf | Burgus Großprüfening | Castra Regina (Regensburg) | Fortresses of Straubing (Sorviodurum) | Künzing Castle (Quintana) | Castles of Passau (Batavis) | Fort Füssen (Foetibus) | Fort Zirl (Teriolis) | Wilten Fort (Veldidena)