Roman stones
The Roman stones are remains of a former Roman aqueduct ( aqueduct ) in the vicinity of the Mainz district Bretzenheim belonging Zahlbach .
Historical background
The year 68/69 AD was marked in the Imperium Romanum by domestic political power struggles ( four emperors year ) and the Batavian uprising , which also left a trace at the Roman Mainz ( Mogontiacum ), an important military base. Vespasian finally asserted himself as emperor at the end of 69. During his reign, the Mainz double legion camp on the Kästrich, which had previously consisted of a wood / earth construction, was replaced by a stone version. Presumably, a stone bridge was built over the Rhine at the same time, and at the same time, around 70 AD, the construction of a stone water pipe to supply the camp and the adjoining camp suburb ( canabae ) began. It is unclear whether this was the first water pipe or whether a wooden predecessor construction already existed. How long the aqueduct was in operation is also unknown.
The length of the aqueduct is generally given as 9 km. This length specification is essentially based on the explanations of the Benedictine Father Joseph Fuchs , who in his work "Old History of Mainz" published in 1771 described the construction and course of the Roman aqueduct for the first time and stated that the origin was the Königsborn near Finthen . His remarks were repeatedly taken over in later works unchecked and handed down as actually given. The 19th century also gave rise to the thesis that the line was also fed by sources near Drais .
In fact, up to 2008 only approx. 3.8 km of the aqueduct could be proven beyond doubt. This is the part of the aqueduct that ran above ground in antiquity and began in the " Bettzieg" parcel south of the Draisberghof and ended in the moated castle near today's gynecological clinic on the premises of the university clinic. The Zaybachtal near Zahlbach had to be bridged. The aqueduct reached a height of approx. 25 m and is therefore the highest north of the Alps .
The underground course from the sources to the transition to the above-ground area has not been archaeologically secured. Nevertheless, there are clear indications that the line originated in the Finther district. In 2006 an excavation in the Gewann Bettzieg was able to document the course of the direction, which points to Finthen. A side arm coming from Drais could not be determined.
The place name Finthen, which according to a linguistic reconstruction is derived from the Latin word "fontanetum" and means something like "area of the springs" or "source area", indicates the abundance of water that was necessary for the camp and the growing civil town to provide sufficient care.
Regardless of this, the description of Father Fuchs must not be disregarded, who clearly states the Königsborn near Finthen as the origin of the line, but at the same time only provides relative location information that is no longer clearly comprehensible today. According to his own statements, Fuchs uncovered a wooden spring socket on the Königsborn, which was found among others. a. Bricks with the stamp of the XIV Legion GM delivered. Comparable brick stamps were discovered again and again along the line, which is why the XIV Legion is to be regarded as the builder of the aqueduct. With the nickname Gemina Martia Victrix, the time of the stationing in Mainz and thus the creation of the aqueduct can be limited to the time between 69 and 92 AD, the time of the Flavian dynasty .
In 1860 a Mr. Hell from Mainz, who ran a pre-industrial factory for the production of linen cloth on the site of the former starch mill and later the Königsborn brewery, discovered an underground aqueduct at the construction of a pond on the Königsborn, “which, with a very similar construction to the one from the Eiffel canal leading to Cöln, in this way extends to the valley ... ” ( Bonner Jahrbücher 29 and 30, p. 142 f.). The exact place of discovery has not been passed down, but it can be narrowed down to the company premises at that time and corresponds to the current properties “Am Königsborn 1–5”. Thus, although there are concrete indications of the Königsborn as a possible origin of the Mainz aqueduct, the archaeological evidence is pending and can be eagerly awaited.
The Roman stones today
The remains of the aqueduct, which are still clearly visible today, are the so-called Roman stones in the Zahlbach Valley in Mainz. There, the aqueduct spanned a double-row arch construction and with a height of up to 25 m a valley floor with the brook called Wildgraben . The remains of 69 pillars made of Roman cement are visible, with a few pillars pieces of the casing have been preserved in situ.
Further pillars are z. B. can still be seen on the sports grounds of the USC at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz or on Koblenzer Straße (between Bretzenheim and Finthen / Drais). The remains of the piers have currently been excavated directly on the slope of the Zahlbach Valley towards the University Clinic / Kästrich. Parts of the collecting basin can still be viewed on the premises of the university clinics.
Others
The family of the Knights of Ageduch supposedly settled near the remains of the aqueduct until it died out in the Middle Ages. The name is a corruption of the Roman aqueduct. The knights of Ageduch are said to have led an aqueduct arch in their coat of arms.
In the meantime it has been found that these Knights von Ageduch and the drawings after their allegedly lost tombstones are fakes from the 19th century by Franz Joseph Bodmann . This much-cited Middle Rhine historical researcher took the name "Ageduch" from the medieval sources known to him for the field name Ageduch / Aduch / Attach / Attich.
See also
literature
- Stephan Pelgen: Mainz - From the "wretched stone lump" to the monument , Archaeological Site Considerations Volume 3, Verlag Philipp von Zabern , Mainz 2003, ISBN 3-8053-3283-1
- Stephan Pelgen: Aqueduct Views - From the monument history of the water supply for the Roman Mainz . Archaeological Site Considerations Volume 5, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-8053-3452-4
- Josef Heinzelmann : Dictus de Ageduch , in: Mainzer Zeitschrift 102 (2007). Pp. 159-166.
- Josef Heinzelmann: On the water supply of Mogontiacum , publisher: Institute for Historical Regional Studies / University of Mainz, regionalgeschichte.net
Web links
- Archeology Directorate Mainz - Aqueduct / Roman stones
- Initiative Römisches Mainz eV
- How the water got to the legionary camp: The Roman stones on www.mainz.de
- Roman Aqueducts, private English-language website with detailed explanations, galleries and bibliographies, Mainz
- Frontinus Society, scientific association for research into water supply and energy technology
Coordinates: 49 ° 59 ′ 22 ″ N , 8 ° 15 ′ 13 ″ E