Main limits
The Main Limes , also known as the Nasser Limes , was established around 90 AD and, as part of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, formed the border of the Roman Empire in the area between the present-day villages of Großkrotzenburg and Bürgstadt . In this section the Limes meets the Main (Moenus) , which formed a natural border here over a length of about 50 kilometers.
development
Individual watchtowers in connection with the forts of the units located here were sufficient to secure the river bank; a continuous barrier, consisting of palisades and moats, never existed here. Of the watchtowers suspected along the Main, only one south of Obernburg am Main has so far been reliably proven. On the other bank of the Main was the then largely uninhabited Spessart , which, like the Odenwald to the south-west , was economically interesting for the Romans due to its abundance of wood. Inscriptions tell of the exillations of the Legio XXII of woodcutters , who were stationed in Stockstadt , Obernburg and Trennfurt .
In the majority of the forts, settlement activity continued even after the fall of the Limes, which is why, as in Obernburg, Niedernberg , Seligenstadt and Großkrotzenburg, they are now located under the medieval town centers. Alemannic finds were also made in Großkrotzenburg, Hainstadt , Stockstadt and Obernburg .
course
To the north of the Main, the Limes initially runs through the marshland of the Schifflache and the Bulau , followed by the Wetterau Limes . At the Main crossing at Großkrotzenburg, a Roman bridge was proven by finds of pile shoes . In the south it extended in its early days to Obernburg or Wörth . The exact starting point of the Odenwald Limes (Obernburg or Wörth) has not yet been clearly documented. With the abandonment of the Odenwald Limes in the 2nd century AD under Antoninus Pius and the relocation to the younger Limes line in the building land , the Main Limes was also extended, as the forts in Trennfurt and Miltenberg were added (younger Main Limes).
Castles
| Fort | ORL | place | visible condition / comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| ( Fort Hainstadt ) | - | Hainburg - Hainstadt | modern development, no traces, only briefly occupied |
| Großkrotzenburg Castle | 23 | Großkrotzenburg | Medieval overbuilding, remains of the wall visible, street grid can be seen in the townscape |
| Seligenstadt fort | 32 | Seligenstadt | medieval overbuilding, no traces |
| Stockstadt Castle | 33 | Stockstadt am Main | modern development, no traces |
| Niedernberg Castle | 34 | Niedernberg | Medieval overbuilding, no building traces, road grid is evident in the townscape |
| Fort Obernburg | 35 | Obernburg am Main | Medieval overbuilding, no building traces, road grid is evident in the townscape |
| Fort Wörth | 36 | Woerth am Main | barely visible traces of ground |
| Trennfurt Fort | 37 | Klingenberg am Main - Trennfurt | no more traces of soil, location known, not built over, Roman votive stone in the tower of the church Trennfurt |
| Miltenberg old town fort | 38 | Miltenberg | Location partially marked |
| Miltenberg-Ost fort | 38a | Miltenberg / Burgstadt | partly modern overbuilt, no traces |
Note
Since little of its fortifications has been preserved, the Roman remains are mainly in local museums such as B. Roman Museum Obernburg , Museum of the town of Miltenberg , Stiftsmuseum Aschaffenburg and Museum Großkrotzenburg issued. Some fort locations such as Obernburg and Stockstadt have a rich inventory of stone monuments.
literature
- Dietwulf Baatz , Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann (ed.): The Romans in Hessen . Licensed edition of the 3rd edition from 1989, Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-58-9 .
- Bernhard Beckmann: Recent studies on the Roman Limes fort Miltenberg old town . Publisher Michael Lassleben. Kallmünz 2004, ISBN 3-7847-5085-0 .
- Bernd Steidl : World Heritage Limes - Rome's border on the Main . Accompanying volume for the exhibition in the Archäologische Staatssammlung München 2008. Logo, Obernburg 2008, ISBN 3-939462-06-3 .
- Kurt Stade : The Main line from Seligenstadt to Miltenberg with an addendum to Section B No. 33 Stockstadt Castle. In: Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roman Empire . (ORL) Dept. A, section 6 (1933), pp. 3-70.
- Britta Rabold , Egon Schallmayer , Andreas Thiel : The Limes. The German Limes Road from the Rhine to the Danube. Association of German Limes Street, K. Theiss Verlag Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1461-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ AE 1923, 30 ; Hermann Finke : New Inscriptions. In: Report of the Roman-Germanic Commission 17, 1927, pp. 1–107 No. 201; Helmut Castritius , Manfred Clauss , Leo Hefner: The Roman stone inscriptions of the Odenwald (RSO). (= Contributions to the study of the Odenwald 2, 1977). Pp. 237-308, No. 69; Marion Mattern: Roman stone monuments from Hesse south of the Main and from the Bavarian part of the Main Limes. (= Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani . Germany Bd. 2, 13) Verlag des Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseums, Mainz, on commission from Habelt, Bonn 2005, ISBN 3-88467-091-3 , no. 201.
- ↑ Map of the main limit
- ↑ Dietwulf Baatz : The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube . 4th edition. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , pp. 178f .; Egon Schallmayer : The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , pp. 71f.
- ↑ For the inscriptions see D. Baatz: Die Römer in Hessen. 1989, p. 103; Stockstadt: CIL 13, 11781 ; Obernburg: CIL 13, 6623 as well as Helmut Castritius, Manfred Clauss, Leo Hefner: The Roman stone inscriptions of the Odenwald (RSO) . Contributions to the investigation of the Odenwald 2, 1977, pp. 237-308. No. 28; Trennfurt: AE 1899, 194 .
- ^ Großkrotzenburg: Claus Bergmann: From the state border to the garbage heap. In: hessenARCHEOLOGIE. 2001, p. 101f .; Hainstadt: Bernhard and Christamaria Beckmann: The local ceramics from the area of the Roman Limes fort Hainstadt am Main (district of Offenbach). In: Bonner Jahrbücher 178, 1978, pp. 235–258; Stockstadt: Hans Schönberger : The body graves of the fourth century from Stockstadt a. Main. In: Bavarian History Leaves 20, 1954, pp. 128-134; Obernburg: Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, p. 57.
- ↑ Dietwulf Baatz in: D. Baatz, F.-R. Herrmann (Ed.): The Romans in Hessen. Licensed edition of the 3rd edition from 1989, Nikol, Hamburg 2002, p. 326; Ernst Hollstein : Central German oak chronology (= Trier excavations and research. 11). von Zabern, Mainz 1980, ISBN 3805300964 , p. 64.
- ↑ Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, p. 67f.
- ↑ Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, pp. 25-28.
- ↑ Homepage of the museums on the Main Limes
- ↑ Marion Mattern: Roman stone monuments from Hesse south of the Main and from the Bavarian part of the Main Limes (= Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani . Germany. Vol. 2.13). Publishing house of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum, Mainz, commissioned by Habelt, Bonn 2005, ISBN 3-88467-091-3 .
