Mediolanum (Germania inferior)

Mediolanum is the name of a former civil Roman vicus near Pont , a district of Geldern on the left Lower Rhine .

location

Mediolanum in the Roman road network of the Lower Rhine

In the Itinerarium Antonini you can find Mediolanum in the province Germania inferior on the Heerstraße from the Colonia Ulpia Traiana / Xanten to Coriovallum / Heerlen . In today's settlement and traffic geographic situation, the soil monument is located on the federal road 58 , which largely coincides with that of the ancient road at Geldern-Pont (“Venloer Straße”) on the southern edge of the town. It is not certain whether the current name Pont is derived directly from Roman times (from Latin pons, pontis , bridge), because the trunk road crossed the river Niers there by means of a bridge.

Findings, finds and history

Up until the second half of the 20th century, archaeological excavations revealed the findings of a settlement and a total of 121 cremated burials in the associated burial ground were examined. Although it was primarily a civilian settlement, various indications also spoke in favor of the location of a beneficiary station in this area.

According to the finds, the vicus was inhabited from the second half of the first to the first half of the third century AD. One of the most striking finds is a 67 cm by 45 cm by 17 cm tombstone with the inscription

D (is) [M (anibus)] / Priminio / Tullio ve [t (erano)] / leg (ionis) XXX U (lpiae) V (ictricis) / Ulp (ia) Casua / co <n = I> iugi pi / [en] tissimo / [et sibi v] iva / [fecit]

Translator: “Consecrated to the gods of the dead. Her beloved husband Priminius Tullius, veteran of the Thirtieth Legion, the Ulpian Victorious, and Ulpia Casua (this tombstone) himself had it erected during his lifetime. "

This suggests that veterans of the Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix were settled in this rural area south of Colonia Ulpia Traiana , a legion whose vexillations were stationed in various places in the Rhineland from around the year 120, for example in Vetera / Xanten, in the CCAA / Cologne and in the Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum / Nijmegen.

Only in 1999 did another unusual find come to light, the bronze figure of a mythical creature, a snake-like creature with the head of a panther.

Monument protection and remains

The Vicus Mediolanum and its burial ground are ground monuments according to the law for the protection and care of monuments in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Monument Protection Act - DSchG) . Research and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval. Incidental finds are to be reported to the monument authorities.

A large part of the former collection of Roman artifacts from Geldern-Pont was lost in the course of the Second World War. The remaining finds are now in the Niederrheinisches Museum für Volkskunde und Kulturgeschichte eV Kevelaer .

literature

Clive Bridger: The civitas traianensis. The Roman area around Xanten . In: Martin Müller , Hans-Joachim Schalles , Norbert Zieling (eds.): Colonia Ulpia Traiana. Xanten and its surroundings in Roman times . Zabern, Mainz 2008, ISBN 978-3-8053-3953-7 , pp. 607-626.
Heinz Cüppers : Two imperial cremation grave fields in the Geldern district . In: Bonner Jahrbücher 162, 1962, pp. 299–390.
Fritz Geschwendt: Archaeological finds and monuments of the Rhineland. District of Geldern . Böhlau, Cologne 1960, pp. 210-221.

Web links

Klaus Oerschkes: The Romans in Pont . Report on an exhibition of the Archaeological Working Group in the Historical Association for Geldern and the surrounding area from March 30th to April 20th, 2008 on its website.