Caesar's Rhine bridges

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There is certainly a great deal of specialist literature on the subject. To rely solely on Caesar is actually inadmissible here. In particular, the localization or the discussion about it would have to be documented with more recent specialist literature. - Lumpeseggl ( discussion ) 12:21, Feb. 13, 2015 (CET)

Coordinates: 50 ° 24 ′ 48 ″  N , 7 ° 28 ′ 24 ″  E

Caesar's Rhine bridges
Caesar's Rhine Bridge by John Soane (1814)
Convicted	Troops from Julius Caesar
Subjugated	Rhine
place	presumably Neuwied
construction	Yoke bridge made of wood
overall length	approx. 400 m
width	9 m
Number of openings	approx. 50
completion	55 BC Chr.
construction time	10 days
closure	after withdrawal of the troops, approx. 18 days after the first use
location
Crossing the Rhine from Caesar
Assumed crossing of the Rhine by Caesar's troops 55 BC Between Andernach and Koblenz

The construction of the first Rhine bridge by Gaius Iulius Caesar during the Gallic War in 55 BC. BC describes Caesar in his classic work De Bello Gallico , in which he describes in detail the course of the war. According to Caesar, the bridge was built in order to be able to carry out a punitive expedition against Teutons on the right bank of the Rhine. A second bridge was built over the Rhine two years later as part of another armed Rhine crossing.

First bridge construction 55 BC Chr.

During the Gallic War , Caesar conquered between 58 and 51 BC. BC Gaul , which largely corresponded to what is now France . In 55 BC The campaign was actually already over, but Caesar decided to impressively demonstrate Roman power to the Germanic tribes on the right bank of the Rhine. The Roman domination should by no means end on the Rhine.

Schematic representation of the yoke bridge after a reconstruction attempt in the Deutsches Museum in Munich

Reconstruction of a Roman pile driver, as Caesar used when building the Rhine bridge in 55 BC. Could have used it, exhibited in 2008 at the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Koblenz

Caesar's troops reached the Rhine in the military expedition against the Germanic peoples and considered a crossing by ship to be too dangerous. In addition, Caesar found such a type of crossing not appropriate to the dignity of the Roman people. The troops began in the early summer of 55 BC. BC - according to Caesar's description in just ten days - to build a bridge over the Rhine.

The bridge construction carried about 50 yokes . The pointed tree trunks were driven into the bottom of the Rhine with a pile driver, which was probably on a raft. In order to be able to withstand the pressure of the current, there were inclined piles on the sides. The roadway was nine meters wide, covered with earth and brushwood, and consisted of tree trunks and wooden planks that lay across the river. The extremely short specified construction time of only ten days (this also includes the felling and processing of the trees and procurement of all materials) suggests that work was carried out around the clock.

The Roman troops consisted of two legions. A security force guarded the building after the legions had been brought across the Rhine to advance further into Germania. Caesar set up a camp in the corridor of what is now Limburg-Eschhofen. A trench was dug around the camp for defense, 2 to 2.5 m wide. This camp was right next to an existing Celtic settlement; Romans and Celts were not yet hostile to each other here. After only 18 days in enemy territory and the destruction of some villages, Caesar returned to the left bank of the Rhine; the Rhine bridge was dismantled again.

For Caesar, not only was the punitive expedition to Germania a complete success, but also the construction of the Rhine bridge. Thus the Roman power was impressively demonstrated and the technical and strategic masterpiece increased Caesar's reputation in Rome .

Second bridge construction 53 BC Chr.

In 53 BC Caesar crossed the Rhine again. The reason for this was a punitive expedition against Germanic tribes that had previously provided auxiliary troops to the rebellious Treverern. Caesar moved, presumably through the Lahn valley, back to the place where he had camped two years earlier and set up his second camp there. The defensive trench was now significantly larger than that of Camp I: 2.4 to 8 m wide and 2.5 m deep. When the Ubians reported to Caesar that the Suebi had withdrawn into the woods, he gave up their pursuit. On their return across the Rhine, the Romans only tore off the end of the bridge on the right bank of the Rhine over a length of 60 m; A four-story tower was erected on the left bank of the Rhine and a crew of 12 cohorts moved there. With this, Caesar showed the Germanic tribes that the Romans were able to cross the Rhine again at any time and invade Germania.

More Roman bridges over the Rhine

After the Roman colonization of the left bank of the Rhine, but not until long after Caesar, several more permanent bridges were built over the Rhine:

• Mainz Roman Bridge under Tiberius (approx. 30 AD)
• Koblenz Roman Bridge around AD 49
• Cologne Roman Bridge under Constantine from around 310 to 400 AD

See also

• List of Rhine bridges
• List of Roman bridges
• List of ancient bridges

Web links

Commons : Caesars Rheinbrücken  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Relatively new visualization of bridge construction in Daniel Hinz's bachelor thesis

• Replica of Caesar's Rhine Bridge as a model by students from the Hoffmann-von-Fallersleben School
• Julius Caesar's bridge over the Rhine on the bridges side - architecture, history, technology by Bernd Nebel
• Gaius Julius Caesar in Limburg (Roman camp) by Franz-Karl Nieder

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Egon Schallmayer, Sabine Schade-Lindig, Jessica Meyer: With the Celts come the Romans - military installations on the Lahn near Limburg-Eschhofen . tape 2012 . hessen ARCHEOLOGY, S. 95-101 .
2. ↑ Jessica Meyer, Sabine Schade-Lindig & Egon Schallmayer: De bello Gallico in Hessen - archaeological traces of Caesar to the right of the Rhine . In: Monument Preservation & Cultural History Hesse . tape 2013 , no. 4 , p. 2-9 .
3. ↑ Jessica Meyer, Sabine Schade-Lindig: Iron Age relics in the area of ​​the Lahntal Bridge - Late Celtic settlers leave findings with speculative potential . tape 2012 . hessen ARCHEOLOGY, S. 88 .

The next bridge upstream: Urmitzer Railway Bridge

Bridges over the Rhine

The next bridge downstream: Raiffeisenbrücke (Neuwied)