Vemania Castle

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Isny Castle
Alternative name a) Vemania ,
b) Vimania
limes Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes ,
Raetia II
Dating (occupancy) AD 260 to early 5th century
Type Alenkastell
unit ala II Valeria Sequanorum
size 45 × 80 m (fort plateau)
Construction Stone and wood
State of preservation Irregular, pentagonal system with gate, corner and intermediate towers
place Isny in the Allgäu
Geographical location 47 ° 41 '53.3 "  N , 10 ° 4' 2"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 41 '53.3 "  N , 10 ° 4' 2"  E
height 701  m above sea level NHN
Previous Fort Bregenz (Brigantium) (southwest)
Subsequently Kastell Kempten-Burghalde (Cambodunum) (northeast)
Location of the fort on the Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes (Iller line)
Antoninian of Probus
Findings sketch of the fort after J. Garbsch
Reconstruction model of the fort in the Isny ​​City Museum
Bed wall - western corner of the fort plateau
View of the fort plateau
Gold jewelry from one of the hoard finds
Necklace from the treasure trove
River bed of the Argen near bed wall
Information board at the fort area

The fort Vemania (also Vimania ) was a late Roman equestrian fort ( Alenkastell ) in what is now the municipality of Isny im Allgäu in the district of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg .

It was part of the chain of fortifications of the late antique Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes in the Roman province of Raetia II . This Limes was established from 280 AD - mostly under Emperor Diocletian - as a new border and replacement for the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, which was abandoned in the late 3rd century AD . The fortification was probably also the nucleus of the later town of Isny, first mentioned in 1043.

Surname

Vemania is mentioned in several main ancient sources: the Tabula Peutingeriana , the Itinerarium Antonini and the Notitia Dignitatum . So the place must have been of some importance. In the 19th century it was believed that the name of the city of Isny ​​was derived from a temple of the goddess Isis , which is said to have once stood in the immediate vicinity of the fort. Significant remains of the rising masonry must have been visible up until the Middle Ages, as the name of the neighboring hamlet "Bettmauer" probably refers to the ruins of the fort.

location

The area of ​​the fort is located two kilometers east of the outskirts of Isny, at the foot of a ridge ( Adelegg ) between Kleinhaslach, about 500 m north-north-west of the hamlet of Bettmauer in the district of Burkwang. The camp stood on a twelve meter high, 60–80 m long, 40–45 m wide, at the top of a spur-like moraine terrace above the lower Argen floodplain , which was heavily marshy in ancient times . From here you could see the surrounding hill country to the north and west and a nearby ford through the river. The east and north slopes are very steep. In Roman times, the river bed may have passed close to the plateau. The resulting impact slope in the east offered natural protection, while the west and south sides had to be protected from attackers by a ditch.

function

Vemania is generally equated with the fort near Isny ​​/ Burkwang. However, this possibly also included a civil settlement in the Gestratz-Maierhöfen-Grünenbach area, which it could also have served to protect. The cavalry unit stationed here primarily had to monitor the Limes section as far as Bregenz / Brigantium . The camp was probably the location or assembly point of a mobile task force. If necessary, larger troop units could be brought together here and marched to endangered focal points of the Limes. The crew of the fort then controlled the river crossings and a traffic junction where road connections from

Presumably, a route to Augsburg / Augusta Vindelicorum also led - before the imperial border to the Iller was withdrawn - via “Viaca” , because it saved a whole day's stage compared to the somewhat longer route via Cambodunum . Particularly in the immediate vicinity of Vemania , the routes are largely dictated by the natural conditions of the mountainous topography and the narrowness of the valley floors through which the Argen and its tributaries flow.

development

In 213 AD, the Alemanni troops broke through the Rhaetian Limes for the first time, but did not get very far into the hinterland. They only succeeded in doing this twenty years later. It was mainly possible because the troops of the Roman border army on the Rhine and Danube had largely been withdrawn to the eastern theater of war to fight the Sassanids in the late 3rd century . The defenses of the border garrisons were considerably weakened. The population of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes was practically left to its own devices by the government in Rome, which was soon to attract barbarian bands who were greedy for prey. However, their incursions did not yet have the aim of conquering the country, but rather only pillaging and plundering the rich cities and manors that were completely open in the countryside.

Once the Alemanni had crossed the border, which was almost completely bared by soldiers, the well-developed Roman road network offered the opportunity to advance quickly into the Limes hinterland. Emperor Maximinus Thrax (235-238) was able to stabilize the Rhaetian Limes again, but already under his successors Valerian (253-260) and Gallienus (253-238) the border defense in Raetia collapsed again. As a result, the Alamanni were again able to devastate the province unhindered, destroy Augsburg and Kempten and even penetrate as far as Milan / Mediolanum . Once again, these raids hit the civilian population living on the Limes particularly hard. The Dekumatenland could no longer be held and was evacuated by the army (see Limesfall ). In between, however, individual soldier emperors were able to take decisive action and give the border provinces back a certain security for a short time. For example, under Emperor Probus (276–282), a new chain of fortifications was built from Lake Constance to the mouth of the Iller , which also included Vemania .

A Roman settlement has probably existed here since the early 3rd century AD. Based on the findings, archaeologists assume that the first camp was founded around 260. Although Vemania had been rebuilt and strengthened several times under Probus, it is still likely to have been captured and plundered again and again by the Alamanni . Destroyed for the first time in 282/283, it was rebuilt under the rule of Diocletian (284-305) as part of the establishment of the Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes, but went up in flames again as early as 302/303. This is indicated by the series of coins from two of the hoard finds made here. Under Constantine I (306–337) it was repaired again, probably again around 350. The camp was burned down twice in the 360s but rebuilt before being abandoned and abandoned between 401 and 406. The fort crew had probably cleared the camp of all that could still be used beforehand and then set it on fire. During these years, the western Roman regent Flavius ​​Stilicho withdrew almost all border troops to protect the heartland of Italy against the renegade Goths of Alaric . The ruins were then completely torn down by stone robbery over the centuries.

Research history

In 1490 the place was dug up by order of the abbot Georg of the monastery in Isny ​​after supposedly hidden here treasures. Apparently some gold and silver artifacts were actually found. The first excavations, organized according to archaeological criteria, took place in 1855. The main search was for the remains of an Isis temple in order to confirm the theory of the similarity or derivation of the name of the city Isny ​​with the Egyptian goddess Isis. In 1882 Eduard Paulus examined the area. In 1926 Gerhard Bersu carried out the first excavations using modern scientific methods.

The most important excavations were carried out between 1966 and 1970 by the Commission for Archaeological Research of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences in Munich and the State Office for Monument Preservation in Tübingen, headed by Jochen Garbsch . Among other things, around 2000 coins were found, which were of great importance for the chronology of the fort.

Fort

The fortress was built in several phases, the most recent renovation probably took place in the Valentine period. The ground plan, an irregular pentagon, exactly follows the contours of the moraine hill. A total of six construction phases could be distinguished from one another. A first - at first only provisional - fortification was built around 260 AD. Its area was limited to the northern part of the previously leveled plateau. A five-meter-wide and 1.7-meter-deep ditch (Spitzgraben A) of the early fort could only be detected in the north. In the later construction phases or to enlarge the fort, the plateau area had to be expanded by the Roman engineers by means of embankments. The encircling wall (width 1–1.80 m), which can almost only be proven by its foundation trenches, measured 88 m in the east and was additionally reinforced with three corner towers and two intermediate towers. It was up to a meter wide. The fort was only accessible in the northwest through a gate with a passage. It was flanked by two protruding horseshoe towers, each four meters in diameter. On the west and south sides, a twelve-meter-wide and three-meter deep weir ditch (Spitzgraben B) was created, which is still visible today. It separated the plateau from the foreland sloping slightly to the west. Between the fort wall and the moat there was a six to seven meter wide berm .

Inside the fort there were mostly simple timber and half-timbered buildings that were arranged along the defensive wall. The only stone-built buildings were probably the tiled Principia or principia cum praetorio (15 × 19.50 m), with living or administrative rooms for the camp commanders located on the east wall. Up to five half-timbered barracks stood at a distance of 1.50–5 m on the north, south and west walls, which served as accommodation for the soldiers, as workshops and horse stables. Their dimensions fluctuated during the various construction phases. In the workshops mainly iron, bronze and woodworking was carried out. The drinking water supply was ensured by two wells.

Street post

The fort was probably also a stopping point for travelers on the Bregenz – Kempten road running from east to west. Numerous burgi were built along this route to protect them . To the nearest watchtower to the east, near Nellenbruck, contact with fire and smoke signals was possible. In an easterly direction to Kempten, after the Wengener Tobel (today near Weitnau , later Höhenburg or Alttrauchburg Castle via OT Kleinweilerhofen), near Schwarzerd (near Buchenberg ) there was a watchtower (its remains are still visible today) and a little further shortly before Kempten the Burgus Ahegg . In the west of Heimenkirch in the districts of Meckatz, Dreiheiligen and Kappen there are the remains of no less than four late antique burgi. There were almost certainly more of these fortifications in the region.

The linear arrangement of the watchtowers clearly reflects the security system pursued in the Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes of crossing the border area from cities with a network of well-developed roads that are controlled and controlled by a chain of forts and intervening watchtowers or burgi were secured. In the event of a crisis, this made it possible to send messages quickly and to alert all available troop units stationed along the Limes.

garrison

The occupation unit and the rank of the camp commandant are known from the Notitia Dignitatum , where they appear in the troop list of the commander in chief of the province, the Dux Raetiae . This contains the following entry for "Vimania" :

Praefectus alae secundae Valeriae Sequanorum, Vimania (“the prefect of the second Valerian cavalry squadron of the Sequaner in Vemania ”).

The majority of the members of this troop were probably Celto-Roman Sequan people who had originally been recruited in the area of Besançon / Vesontio (between Saone and western Swiss Jura), province of Maxima Sequanorum . An ala generally consisted of around 500 riders, and a maximum of 200 soldiers should have been housed in the fort itself. The remaining 300 men were presumably a crew of twelve to fifteen Burgi between Vemania and Brigantium . From 296 to 299 AD, the unit took part in an African campaign by Emperor Maximian . Numerous coins with the stamp of the imperial mint in Carthago from one of the hoard finds (see below) attest to their use in North Africa.

Finds

The most important artifacts include four hoard finds; two - a stray find near the gate and one of 387 coins in the barracks on the southern part of the east wall - can almost certainly be dated to the years 282/283. Another hoard with 771 Folles from Carthage was found in the team barracks on the north wall and a second - consisting of coins and women's jewelry - at the southern end of the same barracks. The latter consists of 157 coins that were originally kept in a linen pouch. In a wooden box there was a selection of gold necklaces, arm, ear and finger rings. Due to their value, the most likely owner of the items is a senior officer or possibly the camp commandant and his wife. Both can be dated to the years 302/303.

Finds of slag residues and tools, drills, planes, chisels, bolt projectiles and arrowheads document the operation of blacksmiths, bronze and wood workshops in the fort. In addition, various kitchen utensils, fittings, vehicle parts and stirrups, two lime kilns, sixty-five pits, five hundred post holes, fifty hearths or fireplaces and around 5700 animal bones of various kinds were observed. Remarkably, these included those of a camel . They could be identified as the bones of a Bactrian camel. It was probably carried as a pack animal by the crew when they returned from Africa.

Course of the Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes from Fort Vemania to Cambodunum

ON / name Description / condition Illustration
Watchtower / Burgus Nellenbruck
Watchtower / Burgus Wenk Tower with a square floor plan, 11.5 mx 11.5 m.
Watchtower / Burgus Buchenberg
Watchtower / Burgus Ahegg
Cambodunum Castle

Notes and whereabouts

Arrival by car is via Kleinhaslach, crossing to Rotenbach or Burkwang. From here you can reach the site on foot via a dirt road leading to the east. A model of the Roman fort and some finds are shown or kept in the museum at the mill tower in Isny. All other finds are exhibited in the Württemberg State Museum in Stuttgart.

Monument protection

The ground monument is protected as a registered cultural monument within the meaning of the Monument Protection Act of the State of Baden-Württemberg (DSchG) . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

See also

List of forts in the Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes

literature

  • Anton R. Vincenz : Chronicle of the city of Isny ​​in the Allgäu and the surrounding area from the year 200 to 1854 after the birth of Christ . Strehle, Isny ​​1854.
  • Eduard Paulus: excavation of the Roman fort near Isny. In: Württemberg quarterly for regional history. 6, 1883, ISSN  0179-0889 .
  • Friedrich Hertlein, Oskar Paret, Peter Goessler: The Romans in Württemberg. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1928.
  • Jochen Garbsch : The late Roman Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes. Gentner Publishing House, Aalen 1970.
  • Dieter Planck : The late Roman fort Vemania near Burkwang, community Grossholzleute, district of Wangen. (= Cultural monuments in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Small guides, sheet 2) Baden-Wuerttemberg State Monuments Office, Stuttgart 1972.
  • Jochen Garbsch: Excavations and finds in the late Roman fort Vemania. In: Allgäu history friend. 73, 1973, pp. 43-57.
  • Winfried Piehler: The bone finds from the late Roman fort Vemania . Dissertation University of Munich 1976.
  • Jochen Garbsch, Peter Kos: The late Roman fort Vemania near Isny. In: Two treasure finds from the early 4th century. Verlag Beck, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-406-33303-6 .
  • Bernhard Overbeck : The late Roman fort Vemania near Isny. II: A treasure trove of coins from the time of Probus. Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 3-406-10759-1 .
  • Jürgen Weber, Karlheinz Eckardt: The late Roman time, experimental groups in Europe, historical series, volume 2, ec Verlag, Benningen / N, 1998.
  • Jördis Fuchs: Late antique military horrea on the Rhine and Danube. A study of the Roman military installations in the provinces of Maxima Sequanorum, Raetia I, Raetia II, Noricum Ripense and Valeria. , Diploma thesis, Vienna 2011.
  • F. Pigière, D. Henrotay: Camels in the northern provinces of the Roman Empire. Journal of Archaeological Science 39, Brussels 2012.
  • Jürgen Oldenstein: Alzey Castle. Archaeological investigations in the late Roman camp and studies on border defense in the Mainz ducat. 2009.

Web links

Commons : Kastell Vemania  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Material / technology: necklace: glass beads, profiled gold sheet cylinders; Foxtail chain with amulet capsule: gold; Necklace: gagat, glass river pearls; Earrings: gold sheet, gold wire, lapis; Coins: bronze, silver plating. Dimensions: necklace: L 40 cm; Foxtail chain: L 44 cm; Capsule: L 5.2 cm; Earrings: H 1.3 cm, W 1.4 cm, probably made 3rd – 4th. Century AD

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ SEGMENTVM IV
  2. ^ Information board of the city of Isny ​​2009 at the fort.
  3. ↑ Garbsch / Kos 1988, p. 11
  4. ↑ Plank 1972, sheet 2.
  5. ↑ Plank 1972; Garbsch 1973, p. 43, Weber / Eckard 1998, p. 45, Oldenstein 2002, p. 258.
  6. ^ Jördis Fuchs 2011
  7. ↑ Notita Dignitatum Occ. XXXV, 20.
  8. ↑ Jürgen Weber, Karlheinz Eckardt 1998, p. 45
  9. ↑ Garbsch 1973, p. 49.
  10. ↑ Information board on site.
  11. ↑ F. Pigière, D. Henrotay 2012, p. 1535.
  12. ↑ Jochen Garbsch: 1988, p. 119.