Quadriburgium

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Qualburg Castle
Alternative name Quadriburgium
limes Lower Germanic Limes
Dating (occupancy) 69/70 AD
to the beginning of the 5th century AD
Type Small fort
unit Numerus Ursariensium
size unknown
Construction unknown
State of preservation no longer visible above ground
place Qualburg
Geographical location 51 ° 46 '40 "  N , 6 ° 10' 44"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 46 '40 "  N , 6 ° 10' 44"  E hf
Previous Harenatium (Fort Kleve-Cattle) (northwest)
Subsequently Steincheshof Castle (southeast)

Quadriburgium , also called Qualburg Castle , was a Roman fortification on the Lower Germanic Limes in the 1st to 5th centuries. The place was on a 17 meter high, alluvial dune on a now silted up arm of the Rhine . Today the dune is built over with the village of Qualburg near Bedburg-Hau on the Lower Rhine .

The place name Quadriburgium , handed down by the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus in his work Res gestae , is generally equated with this site.

location

St. Martinus Church.
Location of Fort Qualburg in the course of the Lower Germanic Limes.

Today's ground monument is located in the municipality of Qualburg. The church of St. Martinus rises today above the presumed center of the Roman-Franconian settlement area.

history

As a result of the Batavian uprising , the first, probably already military, installation was built on the dune. At the beginning of the 2nd century the military character is more tangible. At that time the facility was secured by a double trench. So far, there is no knowledge of the findings within this enclosure. Possibly there was a small fort or a beneficiary station here . Around the middle of the 3rd century, the Quadriburgium fortification was renewed by the Numerus Ursariensium and surrounded by two 16-meter-wide trenches. It is assumed that the numerus , which is documented by a stamped brick, was stationed here, which is why the facility is referred to as a numerus fort. The trenches were backfilled by 275, which indicates that the facility was destroyed in the course of the Germanic invasions of 275/76. The findings indicate a reconstruction under Probus . Shortly thereafter, however, the fort was abandoned and only reopened during the renewed German invasions in the middle of the 4th century under the later emperor Julian , as reported by Ammianus Marcellinus. The site was finally given up at the beginning of the 5th century.

Vicus and tombs

The camp village ( vicus ) has not yet been excavated. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that it existed without interruption from the second half of the 1st to the beginning of the 5th century. Finds from the Martinus Church, which is now in the center of the ancient settlement area, indicate settlement continuity even in Franconian times. Among them are an openwork gripping buckle from the 7th century and four presumably earlier grave slabs on which the Germanic names "Alfruc" and "Gerhard" have been handed down. The burial at the Martinus Church indicates a surviving Romanesque tradition.

Monument protection

The fort and the area of ​​the camp service 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.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gechter 1987, p. 347.
  2. ↑ Res gestae 18,2,4.
  3. ↑ Law on the protection and maintenance of monuments in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Monument Protection Act - DSchG)