Castellum Mattiacorum

Map of Moguntiacum and Castellum (= No. 4)

Lyons lead medallion depicting Moguntiacum and Castellum

The Castellum Mattiacorum (Latin, German fort in the land of the Mattiaker ) was a Roman military camp in Mainz-Kastel in the urban district of Wiesbaden . The ancient name is attested by two inscriptions.

The multi-phase camp was located in the vicinity of today's Catholic Church of St. George. It was built around the year 11 BC. When the Romans built a bridge (initially only a temporary ship bridge ) from Mogontiacum (today's Mainz ) over the Rhine and secured the bridgehead on the right bank of the Rhine with a fort. The background was the expansion efforts of the Drusus in the territory of the free Germania .

At the same place in the 2nd quarter of the 1st century AD there was a triumphal arch , probably built in honor of Germanicus , which was excavated in 1986.

The early fort, built of earth and wood , has not yet been proven archaeologically. It was probably destroyed in 69 AD and replaced in 71 AD by a 71 × 98 m stone fort. The fort was exactly on the axis of the Roman bridge. The period of occupancy of the stone fort is unknown; it may have been abandoned at the beginning of the 2nd century when the Civitas Mattiacorum was established. Immediately to the northeast was a camp village ( vicus ), it had an extension of about 250 meters in an east-west and 500 meters in a north-south direction. In the 3rd century, the vicus was surrounded by a protective wall. Around 300 AD the bridgehead was also fortified again, this situation is shown on the lead medallion of Lyon . According to the inscriptions, it shows Mogontiacum and Castellum ( CASTEL ), connected by an arched bridge .

To the northeast of the vicus area, other Roman fortifications have become known through aerial photographs. These are temporary marching camps from the 1st to 2nd centuries, one of which was excavated in summer 2009. The camp was about 1.5 km from the bridgehead fort. It dates from the 2nd half of the 2nd century, had an area of ​​75 × 60 meters, rounded corners (playing card shape) and four goals.

literature

• Jacob Becker : Castellum Mattiacorum. The Roman Castel. Reprint from the annals of the association for Nassau antiquity and historical research Volume 7, 1, 1863 (digitized version)
• Max Ihm : Castellum 10. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 2, Stuttgart 1899, Col. 1758 f. ( Full text ).
• Dietwulf Baatz , Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann (ed.): The Romans in Hessen . Theiss, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-8062-0267-2 , pp. 369-371.

Web links

• Museum Castellum in Mainz-Kastel

Remarks

1. ↑ CIL 13, 6740a = Epigraphic Database Heidelberg 32496 : castell (o) Mattiac (orum) , CIL 13, 7317 : kastello Mattiacorum , 224 AD.
2. ^ Hans G. Frenz : The Roman arch of honor from Mainz-Kastel, city of Wiesbaden. An imperial monument of the early imperial era apud ripam Rheni . State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen, Wiesbaden 1988, ISBN 3-89822-076-1 .
3. ^ Maria R.-Alföldi : To the Lyon lead medallion. In: Schweizer Münzblätter. 8, 1958, pp. 63-68 (full text) ; Dietwulf Baatz, Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann (ed.): The Romans in Hessen . Theiss, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-8062-0267-2 , p. 371; Illustration .
4. ^ Frank Lorscheider: Mainz-Kastel - Kurt-Hebach-Str. Excavation of a Roman marching band (2009). Final report . (PDF) ; Claus Bergmann, Frank Lorscheider: Observations on a military training camp from Roman times in Mainz-Kastel, city of Wiesbaden. In: Monument Preservation and Cultural History. 2010, 3, pp. 7-12.

Coordinates: 50 ° 0 ′ 31.7 ″  N , 8 ° 16 ′ 57.5 ″  E