Vetera

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Location of the legionary camp Vetera and the Colonia Ulpia Traiana in the course of the Lower Germanic Limes

Vetera (also: Vetera Castra ; sometimes in older literature, on maps and colloquially also Castra Vetera ) was the name of the location of two successive Roman legionary camps in the province of Germania inferior near today's Xanten on the Lower Rhine . The legionary camps of Vetera belonged to the Lower Germanic Limes .

In research and in the scientific literature, a distinction is made between the older fort site Vetera I (13/12 BC to 70 AD) and the younger fort site Vetera II (71 to 275/276), which is about one Roman mile ( mille passus = almost 1500 m) apart. Vetera was one of the most important garrisons on the northern flank of the Roman Empire and in its early days was an important deployment base for the Romans' efforts to expand on the right bank of the Rhine.

location

Location of the legionary camps Vetera I and II, as well as the Colonia Ulpia Traiana

Vetera I was located on the southern slope of the Fürstenberg , a glacial terminal moraine that was surrounded by swamp and moorland in ancient times , a good two kilometers south-southeast of the center of Xanten. Today's soil monument is located under largely agricultural areas immediately north-north-west of the Birten district of Xanten . In ancient times, the camp was in an exposed position opposite the mouth of the Lippe , which at that time was not in Wesel , but a little north of it.

In Roman times, the course of the Rhine itself roughly corresponded to the current one and was only slightly shifted to the south or west compared to this. From the position on the Fürstenberg, a good control of the river valleys of the Rhine and Lippe (Lupia) was possible.

Vetera II was built in 71 AD after the restructuring of the Lower Germanic army as a result of the events of 69/70 about one and a half kilometers east of Vetera I on a then flood-free lower terrace of the Rhine. In today's topography, the ground monument is located in the area of ​​the so-called Bislicher Island , surrounded by the Rhine in the north and an old arm of the Rhine from the east, south and west. In ancient times, it was presumably located directly on the Rhine, which passed to the north. The now visible, partially silted up arm of the Rhine, which forms a loop reaching far to the south, was not created until the Middle Ages, from around the year 1200. In the following centuries, this loop of the Rhine shifted further and further south, washing under the fort area and covering it with gravel deposits . Only when in the years 1788/89 the Rhine was forced into the course by an artificial puncture, which it approximately also takes today, the loop became a dead old arm of the Rhine.

Ancient sources and the name of the fort square

The name Vetera is first mentioned by Cornelius Tacitus in the Historien (Historiae) and is referred to twice as Vetera castra and several times briefly as Vetera .

The name is likely to go back to a nearby, pre-Roman settlement of the Cugernians , whose Germanic name was Romanized and transferred to the fort square. The meaning of the name Vetera is uncertain. In his 1839 publication on the Xanten antiquities, Philipp Houben used the term "Castra Vetera" , which has since been used on maps and in colloquial language, in reverse of the name handed down by Tacitus , although it never existed in this way. In the scientific literature, however, since Hans Lehner (1866–1938) at the latest , the correct terms “Vetera” (mostly, with the differentiation between “Vetera I” and “Vetera II” ) or “Vetera Castra” (isolated) have been used again.

Research history

Immediately after their abandonment, the Roman military camps were used as quarries, initially by the Romans themselves, who used the stone material from Vetera I to drive the expansion of the neighboring Colonia Ulpia Traiana . In the Middle Ages, the remains were used as a quarry for the construction of the monastery on the Fürstenberg . Vetera II, on the other hand, disappeared around the year 1200, when the Rhine formed a loop reaching south and in the process undermined the previously flood-free area of ​​the fort, so that the finds and findings of Vetera II are now five to ten meters below the visible surface, under the The gravel and waters of the Old Rhine and the Bislicher Island are located.

Stephanus Winandus Pighius, painting around 1585,
Historical Museum, Deventer
Record by H. Ewich with the image of a consecration stone ( CIL 13, 8625 )

The mass of Roman remains in the Xanten area aroused the interest of scholars early on. Stephanus Winandus Pighius (1526–1604), scholaster and canon at the collegiate church since 1575 , was the first to make systematic records of the Roman relics. From 1623 to 1633 Johannes Turck illustrated the appendix to a Klevian chronicle by Gert van der Schuiren with drawings of ancient legacies. He was followed by the Wesel pastor Hermann Ewich, who documented the antiquities of his home region between 1628 and 1654, and the theologian and humanist Werner Teschenmacher (1590–1638). In the late 17th and 18th centuries, the Vynen priest Theodor Tack and especially the Xanten priest Johannes Spenrath dedicated themselves to the ancient legacy of the Xanten area.

Pighius had already complained about the ongoing overexploitation of the Roman ruins, but despite the gradually awakening interest and the protests of individual scholars, he continued unabated. For the years 1714 to 1716 alone, pastor Johannes Spenrath reported over 5,000 tons of stones that were broken out of the former legionary camp Vetera I. Overall, the stone eruptions from the Middle Ages to modern times - documented quite clearly in ancient sources - took on such dimensions that the insignificance of visible traces is hardly surprising nowadays. Even the excavations that have been carried out in a targeted manner since the early modern period were not yet scientific investigations using field archaeological methods as we know them today. The find itself was the focus of interest, the finding, the context of the find, was not recognized or ignored. The early scholars were ancient collectors, not archaeologists . Their corresponding approach to excavations also contributed to the irretrievable destruction of many findings.

Philipp Houben (1767–1855)

Philipp Houben (1767–1855) stood on the threshold between antique collecting and scientific archeology . Houben came to Xanten in 1798 and was infected by Johannes Spenrath with a passion for classical studies. In 1803 he founded the first museum in Xanten by buying the old provost's office and equipping it with antique finds. Between 1819 and 1844 he carried out extensive excavations at his own expense in the area of ​​the legion camp, the CUT and the burial grounds. He went to work more carefully than his predecessors and was the first to document not only the finds, but also the excavations and sites themselves. At about the same time and partly together with Houben, whose graphic documentation he provided with texts, the Wesel senior teacher Franz Fiedler (1790 –1876) in the Xanten area.

Opening of the first museum of the Lower Rhine Antiquities Association in Klever Tor (1908)

Another step on the way to modern archeology was the founding of the Niederrheinischer Altertumsverein , which was run by the doctor Josef Steiner from Xanten and which took place in 1877. The association carried out extensive excavations in the area of ​​the CUT, on the Fürstenberg, in the grave fields and in the Xanten area, during which a brick factory was discovered that had been built by the Legio XXII Primigenia . The association cooperated closely with the scientists of the Provinzialmuseum Bonn, the forerunner of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn , and received financial support from them. The development of the association's archaeological collection, whose holdings were published by Paul Steiner , the son of the association's founder and later department director of the Trier State Museum , was also groundbreaking .

Systematic, comprehensive and modern archaeological excavations in the area around the Fürstenberg were finally started in 1905 by the Provinzialmuseum Bonn. Hans Lehner, who was also director of the museum from 1899 to 1930, was in charge of the excavation. During these excavations, carried out from 1905 to 1914 and from 1925 to 1933, Lehner and, from 1930, his successor Franz Oelmann (1883–1963) succeeded in precisely determining the location of Vetera I , differentiating between different camps with different dates and different construction phases and to expose parts of the fencing and the interior development. In addition, the canabae legionis , the civil suburb of the camp, could be identified, the amphitheater excavated and dated and the location of the burial grounds made out. However, during these excavations, the focus of observation was placed on the stone fort and the earlier construction phases were only considered incidentally.

The search for Vetera II was unsuccessful for a long time. Although some suspicions pointed to the area around Bislicher Island, there was no evidence. Only an accumulation of finds in connection with the excavations recorded after the Second World War alarmed the archaeologist Wilhelm Piepers , who was then active in Xanten . Harald von Petrikovits then initiated underwater archaeological investigations in 1955, 1957 and 1958, through which the former legionary camp could be definitively established and its extent sufficiently clarified.

Historical background

After Caesar's Gallic War (58 to 51/50 BC), a dangerous population vacuum for the Romans had developed on the Lower Rhine. In particular, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa tried as governor of Gaul from 39/38 BC. And 20 to 18 BC To fill this vacuum through the resettlement of Germanic tribes, the development of administrative structures and the creation of a trunk road network. At that time, the Rhine was still seen as the border of the Roman sphere of interest. The main focus was on securing and developing the provinces conquered by Caesar. A further expansion policy was not yet on the agenda, the legions were distributed deep in the Gallic hinterland.

This state of affairs changed due to constant encroachments by Germanic tribes on the left bank of the Rhine, which culminated in the so-called Clades Lolliana . In this battle in 17 or 16 BC The Roman governor Marcus Lollius was defeated by a united force of the Sugambri , Tenkerites and Usipeters . The political damage seems to have been greater than the actual military consequences and led to a fundamental change in the Roman policy on Germania. Augustus came in the year 16 BC. Chr. Personally to Gaul to finally settle the "Germanic question". He stayed for three years and judged - after he had defeated the Raeter and pacified the area between the Alps and the Danube - from 15 BC. The deployment of the Lower Germanic army from anew.

The Rhine line lost its formerly rather defensive character and became an offensive deployment base against the Germanic areas east of the river. The troops released after the Alpine campaign were relocated to the Rhine, and the Noviomagus legionary camps were built near Nijmegen and Vetera . Whether the more offensive orientation of the Germanic politics ( Augustan German wars 12 BC to 16 AD) actually aimed at the occupation of Germania on the right bank of the Rhine up to the Elbe, as had long been suspected, is doubted in the more recent literature .

Campaigns of Drusus (marked locations do not necessarily correspond to the state of science.)

When Augustus in 13 BC When he returned to Rome, he handed over the supreme command to his stepson Drusus , whose name for the large-scale offensive against the Teutons in the years 12–8 BC. Chr. Stands. As part of the Drusus campaigns , Vetera probably served as the base of operations for the campaigns into Germania on the right bank of the Rhine. Its location across from the mouth of the Lippe was ideal, as the Lippe Valley opened up an access way to the east into the enemy territory. The tribal areas of the Sugambres and Usipeters were also within easy reach from Vetera .

With Vetera as a base, flanked by the auxiliary fort Asciburgium and the Oberaden legionary camp newly built by Drusus on the right bank of the Rhine , the Sugambrians could be “gripped”. Drusus led a total of four campaigns in Germania on the right bank of the Rhine, with the main activities shifting to the area of chatting in the course of the conflict . After his early death, the campaigns of Tiberius (9–6 BC), Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (around the year 3 BC), Marcus Vinicius ( immensum bellum , 1 to 5 AD) and from the Continued again by Tiberius in AD 4.

Germanicus (15 BC – 19 AD)

In the spring of the year 6, however, the operations had to be broken off because an uprising in the province of Pannonia made the presence of the general and part of the legions necessary there. His successor as governor, Publius Quinctilius Varus (7-9) proved a less fortunate hand, which in 9 led to the Clades Variana , the so-called "Battle in the Teutoburg Forest", which resulted in the complete annihilation of three legions, three Alen and six cohorts ended. Presumably the army was on the march back to Vetera and it was almost certain that two of the lost legions, the Legio XVIII Augusta and the Legio XVII Augusta , had previously been stationed in Vetera .

In the period that followed, the Romans evacuated all garrisons on the right bank of the Rhine and significantly reduced their ambitions towards Germania. Under Tiberius, who had rushed back to the Rhine, the expansion and consolidation of the river border were now in the foreground. The number of legions on the Rhine was increased from six to eight. The lost associations from Vetera were replaced by the Legio V Alaudae and the Legio XXI Rapax . Vetera became the capital of the Lower Germanic Army District (Exercitus Germanicus Inferior), which was newly established around 11/12 AD .

After Tiberius returned to Rome in 12, Germanicus took over command of the Rhineland the following year. He prepared further offensives in Germania on the right bank of the Rhine, but first had to put down a mutiny of the Rhenish legions in 14, which had risen against his successor Tiberius after the death of Augustus. Legions V and XXI from Vetera were also involved in this mutiny , which at that time had been brought together with two other legions in a summer camp (presumably in the so-called "Camp C" in Novaesium ). Then began the large-scale and complex forays into free Germania ( Germanicus campaigns ). Here Germanicus led the southern wing of the Roman army, operating from Mogontiacum ( Mainz ), while Aulus Caecina Severus was in command of the northern army group operating from Vetera .

  • Campaigns of Germanicus and A. Caecina Severus in the years 14-16

  • Military actions of the year 14

  • Campaigns of the year 15

  • Operations of the year 16

After the risky, costly and costly campaigns had not produced the desired success up to the year 16, Tiberius broke off the offensive and ordered Germanicus back to Rome. In the period that followed, the Lower Rhine remained a defensive border. At this border, and thus also in Vetera , it remained relatively peaceful for over half a century. The time of Claudius was primarily characterized by the expansion of the road network that connected the various military camps in the Rhineland. This quiet situation only changed with the events of 69/70 , which were to shake the entire empire.

Vetera I

Vetera I
Alternative name Vetera Castra,
Castra Vetera
limes Lower Germanic Limes
Dating (occupancy) 13/12 BC Chr. To 70 AD
Type (Double) legionary camp
unit Aa)  Legio XVIII Augusta
A.b)  Legio XVII Augusta
B.a)  Legio XXI Rapax
B.b)  Legio V Alaudae
C)  Legio XV Primigenia
size Wall: 902 m × 621 m
Total area:
926 m × 636/640 m
Construction a) Wood-earth warehouse
b) Wood-earth warehouse with stone interior buildings
State of preservation Ground monument; only the amphitheater visible
place Xanten Birches
Geographical location 51 ° 38 ′ 47 "  N , 6 ° 28 ′ 12"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 38 ′ 47 "  N , 6 ° 28 ′ 12"  E hf
Previous Burginatium (northwest)
Subsequently Wesel-Büderich Fort (east)
Upstream Vetera II (east;
following in time)

Legion camp

Augustan-Tiberian period (16 BC-37 AD)

Caelius stone

The time of the establishment of the first camp cannot be precisely determined historically and archaeologically. In any case, it falls into the period when, according to the Clades Lolliana from the year 16 BC. The Germania policy was oriented more expansively by Augustus, which finally culminated in the Drusus campaigns (12–8 BC). From the archaeological findings, the years immediately before the offensive began, i.e. 13/12 BC. In question. At least seven different, partially overlapping trench systems (trenches A – A 'to G – G') from this period were found, which theoretically do not exclude an earlier date of foundation, but the finds that clearly date these findings are missing. In addition to the trenches, a pottery kiln (another one can be dated to the early Claudian period) and a number of rubbish pits have also been archaeologically recorded from these camps, which were built using a purely wood-earth construction method .

The first camps probably served as a starting point for the campaigns into Germania on the right bank of the Rhine and to control the lower Rhine (Rhenus) and the Lippe (Lupia) . Hans Lehner assumed that at this early point in time, Vetera was not yet a permanent storage facility. Rather, the legions would probably have used the flood-free Fürstenberg again as winter quarters every year after their summer campaigns, which explains the large number of camp ditches. It is not certain whether it was already a double legion camp at that time. The earliest reference to two legions in Vetera dates back to AD 14.

Presumably, however, the Legio XVIII and the Legio XVII were stationed in Vetera before they set out for Germania on the right bank of the Rhine, which ultimately ended with their destruction in the Varus Battle . This is supported by the finding of the tombstone of Marcus Caelius , a centurion of the XIIX. Legion.

The stone bears the inscription:

M (ARCO) CAELIO T (ITI) F (ILIO) LEM (ONIA TRIBV) BON (ONIA)
[I] O (RDINI) LEG (IONIS) XIIX ANN (ORVM) LIII S (EMISSIS)
[CE] CIDIT BELLO VARIANO OSSA
[LIB (ERTORVM) I] NFERRE LICEBIT P (VBLIVS) CAELIVS T (ITI) F (ILIVS)
LEM (ONIA TRIBV) FRATER FECIT

Translated: “For Marcus Caelius, son of Titus, from the Tribus Lemonia, from Bononia, Centurion 1st order of the 18th Legion, 53 years and a half old. He fell in the War of the Varus. The bones of the freedmen may be buried here. Publius Caelius, son of Titus, out of the tribe Lemonia, his brother, made (add .: the tombstone) " .

This tombstone is probably part of a cenotaph , since the fallen of the Varian defeat are said to have been buried by Germanicus six years later at the site of the event. It was discovered in the early 1620s. Its exact location is not known. It probably comes from the burial grounds that adjoined the legionary camp, probably from the Augustan burial ground on the top of the Fürstenberg.

After the Clades Variana , which was connected with the total loss of three legions including the associated auxiliary troops , the Legio V Alaudae and the Legio XXI Rapax were sent to Vetera as replacements for the lost legions. They are documented from the year 14 AD, when they were involved in the mutiny of the legions stationed in Germania and Pannonia when Tiberius took office. Subsequently, under the command of Aulus Caecina Severus from the Vetera base of operations, the legions took part in the Germanicus campaigns in the years 14 to 16, before - due to the fundamental change in Germanic policy under Tiberius from the year 17 - the Vetera garrison became a more defensive one Character received. The camp of the two legions had a two-phase fence with a three-meter-wide wood-earth wall and a double moat. Nothing is known of the interior development.

Claudian-Neronian period (41-68)

Pliny Phalera from Vetera, now in the British Museum , London
Gravestone of Quintus Petilius Secundus, soldier of the Legio XV Primigenia (copy, today in the APX . Original in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn)

The two legions stood together in Vetera until the Legio XXI Rapax was replaced by the Legio XV Primigenia around the year 46 . In this context, a new warehouse was built, in which parts of the interior were already made of stone. Apart from a valetudinarium (military hospital) and a few other walls of unexplained purpose, nothing is known of the interior of this camp. It is said that Pliny the Elder was stationed here as prefect of an Ala in the early to mid 1950s of the 1st century AD, perhaps in 57 . This is indicated by the discovery of a phalera with the inscription PLINIO PRAEFEC (TO) EQ (uitum) [Translator: by the (in the sense of "under the") rider prefect Pliny].

The best known of all the construction phases is the last camp of the V and XV built around the year 60. Legion. The double legion camp was surrounded by an enclosure wall, the dimensions of which were 902 m by 621 m. The upstream wall and ditch system resulted in dimensions of around 926 m by 636/640 m. With the resulting total area of ​​about 60 hectares, it is the largest known warehouse of its kind. The wall was three meters wide and consisted of wooden posts and studs into which mud bricks or simple lumps of clay were set. The outside and inside were provided with a half-timbered construction, the compartments were filled with clay-plastered strip bricks, the battlement was covered with floor slabs. Corner and intermediate towers are suspected, but have not yet been archaeologically proven. The wall had a total of four gates with a passage width between 8.50 m and 9.50 m, each flanked by two towers and provided with a bridge. With its praetorial front (front) the fort was oriented to the south so that the porta praetoria (main gate) was at the foot, the porta decumana (rear gate) on the top of the Fürstenberg. In front of the wall there were two pointed ditches and knots as obstacles to approach. The trenches drew slightly inward in front of the gates, adapting to the course of the wall, and were suspended in their course.

The investigations of the internal structures were essentially limited to the storage center. Large areas of the praetentura (front part) and the retentura (rear part) have remained unexplored to this day.

The camp was divided by the two main streets ( via praetoria and via decumana in north-south direction and via principalis in east-west direction). Through the distribution of finds of brick stamps within the garrison , it could be clearly proven that the western half of the camp was from the V Legion and the eastern half from the XV. Legion was occupied. The Via Principalis was lined on both sides by colonnades, behind which there were mostly two-room tabernae (shops). At the intersection of the main streets of the camp, in the center of the camp, was the Principia , the staff and administration building of the garrison. Behind them was another large administration building (so-called "Building G"), which was addressed as the residential and official building of Praefectus Castrorum , the camp commandant. These two buildings interrupted the north-south flight from Via Praetoria and Via Decumana , and in their place were two streets in this area that led past the two building complexes on the right and left. The Principia were flanked by the two comfortably laid out praetories , the residential palaces of the legates , the commanders of the legions.

Aerial view of the central area of ​​Vetera I; the structures of the principia can be seen through the floor

The Principia had a rectangular shape, 120 m long and 94.80 m wide. Its walls were made of greywacke , basalt and tuff stones , which were mortared with lime. One entered the building complex from the south, from Via Praetoria , through a gate and first came into an almost square courtyard, which was surrounded on all sides by porticoes . Behind the porticos, the courtyard was surrounded by two rows of chambers on its west, south and east sides, most of which were interpreted as armamentaria (armory). In the north there was a column-supported, three-aisled basilica , which probably served sacred purposes. Remnants of wall painting and fragments of richly decorated capitals point to an elaborate decoration. On its western narrow side was the Sacellum (flag shrine) of the V, on its eastern narrow side that of the XV. Legion, which contained the standards, the troop coffers and the images of the gods of the legions. On the north side of the basilica, the building complex was closed off by a series of nine rooms.

The praetories , the two palaces of the legates, were to the west and east of the principia and aligned with their entrance gates and porticos towards them. The building complexes were arranged around three peristyle courtyards , one of which had an elongated shape with rounded apses and was addressed as a splendid garden. The western legate palace of the commander of the 5th Legion was 97 m long and 77 m wide, including the portico. The dimensions of the eastern palace, that of the commander of the XV. Legion, were 109 m by 78.50 m.

In the north of the Principia the so-called "Building G" followed. It measured 124.50 m in north-south and 95.40 m in east-west expansion. The building complex consisted of a large number of smaller rooms that were arranged around several larger courtyards and halls. Overall, however, the interior structure has only been insufficiently researched in order to be able to make concrete statements about the function of the rooms. The interpretation of the building as the residential and administrative building of the camp commandant, the Praefectus Castrorum , is also hypothetical and not entirely certain.

Four almost identical houses were addressed as tribune palaces. Of these, however, only three (Buildings K, J and M) have been completely excavated, of another (Building Q) only the western room line has been exposed. They were peristyle houses with an almost square floor plan, around 39 meters wide and around 41 m deep. The buildings K, J and M. were next to each other in a row north of the Legate Palace of the V Legion, the building Q was exposed east of the Praetorium of the XV Legion. Five other buildings (four of them along Via Principalis ) with areas between 2410 m² and 3208 m² were also interpreted as accommodation for staff officers.

Of the other large buildings in the interior, only a valetudinarium (military hospital) seems to be secure in its function. It is a square building with a side length of 83.50 m. Around a 43 m by 39 m courtyard, two rows of rooms, separated by a corridor, run on three sides, which were used to receive the injured and sick. On the north side there was a column-supported room, which is interpreted as an operating room. The Valetudinarium was located in the western half of the camp, in the immediate vicinity of the Porta principalis dextra (right side gate) and thus in the camp area assigned to the V Legion. This led to the assumption of a second hospital for the XV. Legion, which has meanwhile been confirmed by aerial photographs in the eastern half of the “Praetentura”.

Vetera during the year of the four emperors (69) and the Batavian revolt (69/70)

Fort Vetera I (Xanten-Birten) approx. 70 AD shortly before the destruction in the Batavian uprising - the location of important buildings has been archaeologically proven. T. hypothetical. Source: LVR-Römermuseum Xanten

After decades of relative calm, the Rhineland was during the events of 69/70 the region of the empire most strongly involved in these events, alongside the Italian motherland. Against the background of this turmoil, which shook the entire empire, and especially in direct connection with the Batavian revolt , the legionary camp Vetera I once again played an important and at the same time its last role.

  • Otho

  • Vitellius

  • Vespasian

Galba , Nero's successor , turned the Lower Germanic Army against them through some unpopular personnel decisions, which in turn proclaimed Vitellius emperor in January 69 . In order to assert his claim to the throne in Rome, Vitellius marched with large parts of the army in two pillars to Italy. These included around 4,000 legionnaires from the Legio V from Vetera (a further 6,000 legionnaires were made up of the other three legions from the Lower Rhine region) and eight auxiliary cohorts of the Batavians . A total of around 70,000 men were withdrawn from the western provinces and military districts, severely exposing the border security.

After the initial success of Vitellius, who had prevailed against Galba and his immediate successor, Otho , the eight Batavian cohorts (around 4,000 men) were ordered back to the Germanic border. They moved into quarters at Mogontiacum in the summer of 69 . At about the same time, Vespasian was proclaimed emperor against Vitellius in the east of the empire, in the provinces of Aegyptus , Syria and Iudaea, and in the Danube regions ; his troops marched towards Rome.

When Vitellius then carried out levies in the tribal areas of the Batavians and the Cananefates, which they perceived as arbitrary, in order to strengthen his associations for the impending conflict with Vespasian, the Batavians and Cananefates rose up together with the Frisians under the leadership of the Batavian nobleman and commanding officer Batavian cohort Iulius Civilis . At first, Civilis cleverly gave the appearance of intervening on the side of Vespasian against Vitellius in the civil war. A punitive expedition by the (Vitellian) Romans ended in disaster, because during the battle the Batavian auxiliary riders changed sides and the ubian and Treverian auxiliary associations fled. The remains of the expeditionary force were only able to save themselves to Vetera with great difficulty .

Batavian Uprising (69/70 AD). The area of ​​the uprising is highlighted, including the location of Fort Vetera

The uprising gained momentum when, in late summer / early autumn 69, the eight Batavian cohorts stationed in Mogontiacum marched north and joined forces with the Civilis. Civilis swore them in on Vespasian and now also called on the parts of the 5th and 15th Legions remaining in Vetera to join the Vespasian cause. However, the Vetera garrison remained loyal to Vitellius. Walls and ramparts of the camp were strengthened, but sufficient provisions were not provided to withstand a prolonged siege. After a first, rejected attack attempt, the civilis' troops, who meanwhile ruled the entire area on the left and right of the Rhine, as well as the Rhine river itself by means of their fleet captured by the Romans, consequently decided to starve the camp. A relief army of soldiers of Legio XXII Primigenia under the command of Gaius Dillius Vocula was set up from the south in March, united in Novaesium with the Legio XVI Gallica , but did not dare continue into the space around Vetera penetrate, but beat at Gelduba a Stock up. Meanwhile, the Army of the Civilis increased incessantly with influx from almost all regions of Germania and began to devastate the areas of the Morin , Menapier , Ubier and Treverer, i.e. the entire Rhineland down to the Moselle and across to the North Sea coast. The siege ring around Vetera was further strengthened, and the attempted assault resumed. Only a failure of the crew provided a little relief and ended the attempts at conquest. However, a successful outbreak was out of the question.

Around this time in northern Italy at the Battle of Bedriacum on October 24, 69 the decision was made between Vespasian and Vitellius in favor of Vespasians. The news of this as well as Vespasian's request to Civilis to end the fighting activities should have arrived in the Lower Rhine at the beginning of November of that year. However, it was ignored by Civilis, who instead sent part of his troops against Vocula and continued the siege of Veteras . Vocula defeated the troops sent against him and marched on Vetera for relief . There the battle raged back and forth until a failure of the castle garrison decided it in favor of the Romans. Vetera was released from the enclosure, but the supply situation remained precarious, the insurgents still dominated the surrounding area, and Vocula failed to pursue the defeated forces of the Civilis. Just at a point in time when Vocula had withdrawn another 1,000 men from the Vetera garrison to be used to secure supplies, Civilis closed the camp again at the end of December 69. Vocula withdrew to Novaesium and was pursued by Civilis, who captured Gelduba and whose cavalry advanced to Novaesium . In the following months, the main events of the war shifted deeper into the south of the Rhineland, where some Gallic tribes, including the Treveri, rose against Vespasian's rule together with the Vitellian legions.

The troops still remaining in the legionary camp Vetera , parts of the Legio XV Primigenia , the Legio V Alaudae and possibly the Legio XVI Gallica , surrendered after the supplies were exhausted in March 70. Vetera was released for looting; the legionaries were granted free retreat after they had been sworn in to the "Imperium Galliarum" , the Gallic Empire of Civilis. However, they were ambushed and massacred by Teutons five miles south of Veteras . A few managed to escape back to Vetera , where they perished in the fire that the insurgents started in the course of the looting. The story of the Claudian-Neronian legion camp ends here.

In the same year, at the end of July or beginning of August 70 AD, Roman troops won one of the decisive battles in the suppression of the Batavian uprising in the "Battle of Vetera" at the gates of the destroyed fort.

Canabae Legionis, amphitheater and burial grounds

The canabae legionis , the civil suburb in which the relatives of the soldiers as well as craftsmen, traders, innkeepers, brothel operators and other service providers settled, belonged to almost every Roman legionary camp . Traces of the Canabae Legionis from the first decades of the military presence in Vetera are missing so far, apart from a pottery kiln that dates back to the early Claudian period. However, their existence must be assumed to be probable. Secure traces of a camp suburb, which must have been of a not inconsiderable size, as Tacitus tells us, are only available from the time of the Claudian-Neronian camp. It was proven by soundings. The canabae were separated from the camp itself by a 100 m wide strip of undeveloped land. It will no longer be possible to determine the eastern limit of the civilian settlement, as it was removed by the Rhine. In the south it should have extended to the beginning of the burial grounds in the area of ​​the modern village of Birten. Overall, only few concrete statements can be made about the size and structure of the canabae . It is likely to have drawn around the military camp in a roughly U-shape in the west, south and east. More recent aerial archaeological investigations by archaeologist Baoquan Song show a regular road structure and dense development on the east side of the garrison.

The amphitheater was also built in the time of the Claudian-Neronian camp, which is the only relic of the Roman Vetera that can still be seen above ground. The theater, which was built in wood and earth, had an elliptical floor plan. In ancient times, its walls on the outside measured 98 m by 84 m, the dimensions of the interior were 47.5 m by 34.5 m. At the time of the excavations by Hans Lehner in 1908 and 1909, the wall was up to eight meters high and ten meters wide. In ancient times, the amphitheater could hold up to 10,000 spectators. It owes its preservation to the fact that in the Middle Ages it was believed to have been the place of martyrdom of the holy Victor . Today the amphitheater has been reconstructed and serves (again) as an open-air stage.

A burial ground of the garrison and the civil settlement extended south of the canabae legionis in the area of ​​today's Xanten district of Birten. More than 60 cremation burials have been found there so far, some during the construction of the Birten parish church in 1902/1903, but most of them only when the forest cemetery was set up in 1960. Most of the graves can be dated to the Augustan to Neronian times, only one single grave is Vespasian . Another burial ground was located north of Vetera I. between the camp and the southern medieval city limits of Xanten. Isolated Roman graves were also repeatedly found in the wider area.

Vetera II

Vetera II
Alternative name Veteribus,
Veteris
limes Lower Germanic Limes
Dating (occupancy) 71 to 275/276
Type Legion camp
unit a)  Legio XXII Primigenia
b)  Legio VI Victrix
c)  Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix
Construction Stone fort
State of preservation invisible ground monument
place Xanten - Bislicher Island
Geographical location 51 ° 39 ′ 5 ″  N , 6 ° 29 ′ 24 ″  E hf
Previous Burginatium (northwest)
Subsequently Wesel-Büderich Fort (east)
Backwards Vetera I (to the west;
earlier)

Finds and Findings

Today's topographical situation

For a long time the second Roman fort site, the camp that was eventually to be researched under the name Vetera II , had been searched in vain. There was evidence in favor of the area around Bislicher Island, but no final evidence was available. A project planned in 1935/36, the camp of the XXX. Capturing the Legion through systematic explorations failed due to the worsening political circumstances leading to the Second World War .

It was the indirect consequences of the Second World War that ultimately led to the discovery of the fort site. The booming housing construction of the post-war period led to a great demand for building materials. As a result of this development began to dismantle the gravel deposits of the Bislicher Insel. In the early 1950s, initially completely unnoticed, huge amounts of Roman finds came to light, including small finds such as bronzes, coins and ceramics (the latter almost filled the excavator shovels on some days) as well as building materials such as oak beams, bricks, tufa masonry and lead plates.

Only when Wilhelm Piepers found out in 1954 about the inscribed base of a genius statuette , which had already been discovered in 1953 , did the Xanten and Bonn archaeologists take a closer look at the activities of the excavators. The statue base bore the inscription:

GENIO SIGNIF (erorum)
LEG (ionis) XXX V (lpia) V (ictrix)
P (ublius) AELIVS SEVE
RINVS T (estamento) P (oni) I (vssit)

Translated: "The genius of the standard bearers of the 30th Legion, (add .: with the surnames) the Ulpische , the victorious, had Publius Aelius Severinus (add .: this statuette) erected."

This gave a direct reference to the Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix . This and the situation with the pebbles of the Bislicher Insel, which are now urging the archaeologists' awareness, prompted the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn to use divers for archaeological investigations for the first time in its history. The first dives were carried out in 1955 under the most difficult visibility conditions in the murky water, and more followed in 1957 and 1958. The walls of the sunken legionary camp could be determined under water, sometimes more by feeling than by seeing.

The extensive finds made it possible to determine the troops stationed in Vetera II (brick stamps of the VI., XXII. And XXX. Legion) and the duration of the occupancy of the camp. This began immediately after the end of the Batavian uprising and lasted until the second half of the 3rd century. The latest datable find was a sesterce of Postumus from the year 260. One is therefore inclined to assume the end of the camp in connection with a Franconian invasion around 275/260. A continuation beyond that, possibly up to the 4th century, cannot be ruled out with certainty.

Like all legionary camps, Vetera II also had a camp suburb, the Canabae legionis , the approximate extent of which was determined by mapping surface finds. It surrounded the camp to the west and south.

Today Vetera II lies at a depth of up to ten meters under the surface of a quarry pond.

Occupancy

After the reorganization of the "Exercitus Germaniae Inferioris" (of the Lower Germanic army) following the Batavian uprising, only one legion was stationed in Vetera, the Legio XXII Primigenia detached from Mainz . Instead of Vetera maintain a double legion camp, dislocated to a legion into the center of the tread area, according Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum ( Nijmegen ). The old camp, which was destroyed during the uprising, was not rebuilt, but replaced by a new single camp around one and a half kilometers further east in the area of ​​today's Bislicher Insel in 71.

At the turn of the first to the second century AD, the XXII. Legion moved back to Mainz and replaced by Legio VI Victrix , which is recorded in Vetera from 104/105. The VI. was moved to Britannia ( Britain ) between 119 and 121/122 and replaced by the Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix , which can be traced back to the year 275/276. At that time Franks destroyed the Colonia Ulpia Traiana . The most important late antique fortress on the Lower Rhine was built on its ruins between 306 and 311, where the Tricensimae recorded in the Notitia dignitatum is believed. The remaining troops may have been relocated there, as the similarity of the name of the new fortification with the Latin ordinal number tricesimus of the legion could suggest.

Legion brick

Brick factories can be found at almost all major military sites in the Rhineland, which were operated by the legionnaires primarily for military, but also for civilian purposes. With their advanced technology, the Romans made use of the rich sand and clay deposits and thus compensated for the lack of natural stone deposits in the region. In addition to the brickworks in Cologne , Neuss and Dormagen , such legionary brickwork has also been archaeologically proven in the Vetera area . It was on the connecting road between the fort area of Vetera II and Colonia Ulpia Traiana . The brickworks was discovered and excavated by accident in 1901. The kiln itself that was exposed was from the XXII. Legion built, but stamped bricks of the XV. Legion that were found on the extensive brick works prove that the brick factory as such must have started before. The stove was later from the VI. Legion was taken over and repaired and was then still by the XXX. Legion used until the 4th century. The lifespan of this one furnace alone was 225 years. In addition to the kiln, various production rooms and a drying shed were uncovered.

Further excavations in the area of ​​the brickworks took place in the 1970s and 1990s, mostly as emergency excavations as a result of house or road construction measures. A further two brick kilns, a pottery kiln, some sludge basins as well as drying and storage sheds were found. The fresh water required was supplied through clay pipes, and the process water was disposed of via canals into the Rhine. The range of production included roof tiles, hollow tiles, blenders, wall tiles, hypocaust panels and conduits. The legions that were involved in production could be identified through the typical stamping of the bricks.

Practice camp between Xanten and the Alps

As is the case today in a modern army, the troops in the Roman army were kept in shape during peacetime by means of all kinds of exercise and training measures for deployment at any time. This included, in particular, training in warehouse construction. Through aerial archaeological surveys, more than sixty such training camps between Xanten and the Alps could be identified on both sides of the road that connected Vetera with Asciburgium and which corresponded in its course to today's B 57 . All in all, there was an ancient military training area, more than ten square kilometers in size. In most cases, these training camps are not fully implemented. Rather, the instructors limited themselves to training the technically demanding areas of warehouse construction, in particular the construction of the warehouse corners. Two of the camps were excavated in 1961/62 by Hermann Hinz on the Kaninenberg in Winnenthal . A fully completed camp located on the southern edge of the training area is referred to as a marching camp, in which a reinforcement force camped on the way to Vetera . Unfortunately, there is no dating finds for all camps, so that none of these facilities can be assigned to a specific construction phase in Veteras .

Monument protection

The forts of Vetera are ground monuments according to the law for the protection and care of monuments in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia . Research and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval. Incidental finds are to be reported to the monument authorities.

See also

literature

  • Norbert Hanel : The military camps of Vetera I and their camp settlements . 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 , p. 93-107 .
  • Dirk Schmitz: The Vetera II camp and its legions . 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 , p. 141-170 .
  • Dirk Schmitz: The Batavian Rebellion in the context of the Roman civil war 68-70 AD. In: Martin Müller, Hans-Joachim Schalles, Norbert Zieling (ed.): Colonia Ulpia Traiana. Xanten and its surroundings in Roman times . Zabern, Mainz 2008, ISBN 978-3-8053-3953-7 , p. 117-140 .
  • Julia Obladen-Kauder: Searching for clues in Xanten. An archaeological hiking guide . Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-88094-927-1 .
  • Werner Böcking : The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 .
  • Michael Gechter: The military history on the Lower Rhine from Caesar to Tiberius. A sketch. In: T. Grünewald, S. Seibel (Ed.): Continuity and Discontinuity. The Germania Inferior at the beginning and at the end of Roman rule, contributions to the German-Dutch colloquium in the Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, June 27-30, 2001. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Supplementary volume 35, de Gruyter, Berlin 2003, pp. 147–159.
  • Michael Gechter: Early Roman military installations and Ubian settlements in the Lower Rhine. In: T. Blagg, M. Millett (Eds.): The early Roman empire in the West. 2nd Edition. Oxford Books 2002, ISBN 1-84217-069-4 , pp. 97-102.
  • Norbert Hanel : Vetera I. The finds from the Roman camps on the Fürstenberg near Xanten . (= Rhenish excavations. 35). Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1995; Habelt, Bonn 1995, ISBN 3-7927-1248-2 .
  • Tilmann Bechert , Willem JH Willems : The Roman imperial border from the Moselle to the North Sea coast . Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 978-3-8062-1189-4 .
  • Norbert Hanel : On the ancient name of the legion camp on the Fürstenberg near Xanten: Vetera castra. In: Xantener reports , Volume 5, Rheinland Verlag, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-7927-1415-9 , pp. 263-265.
  • Michael Gechter: The legionary camps Vetera I and II . In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): Die Römer in Nordrhein-Westfalen, licensed edition of the 1987 edition . Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 619-625 .
  • Michael Gechter: The Roman Army in the Province of Lower Germany. In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): The Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia . Licensed edition of the 1987 edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 110-138.
  • Jürgen Kunow : The military history of Lower Germany. In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): The Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia . Licensed edition of the 1987 edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 27-109.
  • Christoph B. Rüger : Alps. Roman practice and marching camp. In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): The Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia . Licensed edition of the 1987 edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 332–334.
  • Hans Schönberger : The Roman troop camps of the early and middle imperial period between the North Sea and Inn. In: Report of the Roman-Germanic Commission . 66, 1985, pp. 321-495.
  • Tilmann Bechert : Roman Germania between the Rhine and Maas. The province of Germania inferior . Hirmer, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7774-3440-X (Edition Antike Welt, 4).
  • Michael Gechter: The beginnings of the Lower Germanic Limes. In: Bonner Jahrbücher . 179, 1979, pp. 1-129.
  • Julianus Egidius Bogaers , Christoph B. Rüger (Hrsg.): The Lower Germanic Limes. Materials on its story . Rheinland Verlag, Cologne 1974, ISBN 3-7927-0194-4 .
  • Hermann Hinz : An early Roman burial ground on the church hill in Birten, Moers district. In: Rhenish excavations. 12. Rheinland-Verlag, Bonn 1973, pp. 24-83.
  • Hans Schönberger : The Roman Frontier in Germany. An Archaeological Survey. In: The Journal of Roman Studies . Volume 59, 1969, pp. 144-197.
  • Hermann Hinz: Xanten in Roman times . Th. Gesthuysen, Xanten 1960, W. Renckhoff, Duisburg-Ruhrort 1963, Th. Gesthuysen, Xanten 1967, Dombuchhandlung, Xanten 1971, 1973, 1976 (6th edition).
  • Harald von Petrikovits : The legion fortress Vetera II. In: Bonner Jahrbücher. 159, 1959, p. 89 ff.
  • Harald von Petrikovits: Fortifications in the North-Western Roman Empire from the Third to the Fifth Centuries AD In: The Journal of Roman Studies. 61, 1971, pp. 178-218.
  • Harald von Petrikovits: Vetera. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VIII A, 2, Stuttgart 1958, Col. 1801-1834.
  • Hans Lehner : Vetera at Xanten . Schwann, Düsseldorf 1936
  • Hans Lehner: Vetera. The results of the excavations at the Bonn Provincial Museum up to 1929 . De Gruyter, Berlin / Leipzig 1930.
  • Hans Lehner: The Roman camp Vetera near Xanten. A guide through the excavations of the Bonn Provincial Museum. Röhrscheid, Bonn 1926.
  • Philipp Houben : Monuments from Castra Vetera and Colonia Traiana in Ph. Houben's Antiquarium at Xanten. Xanten / Wesel 1839.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ It is doubtful that this could be the Cugern settlement in the area of Colonia Ulpia Traiana (the so-called "core settlement"). Rather, at least one other Cugern settlement in the Birten area that has not yet been archaeologically proven is assumed.
  2. ↑ The twisting of Houben's words and the resulting theoretical translation of Castra Vetera as “Old Camp” spread outside of Germany. In the English-speaking world, especially on the web, Castra Vetera or "The Old Camp" is still used today .
  3. ↑ a b 636 m at the rear, 640 m along the Via Principalis .
  4. ↑ A – A '= early Augustan, B – B' = last decade before the turn of the times, C – C '= Augustan of the Oberaden type, DD' = beginning of the first century AD, E – E 'and F – F' = before Establishment of the stone camp, G – G '= Augustan
  5. ↑ Today's Bologna .
  6. ↑ So it is not a phalera of the prefect Pliny ("Plinii praefecti"), but one that was awarded under the prefect Pliny. After Lehner, 1926.
  7. ↑ Archaeologically proven only on the south side of the camp.
  8. ↑ 61.80 m by 64.80 m.
  9. ↑ Buildings a, b, c, S and L.
  10. ↑ In this context, a letter from Antonius Primus to Civilis is often cited, which should have reached its addressee in the late summer of 69 and in which the Batavians were asked to intervene in the war on Vespasian's side. (Tacitus, Historien 4, 13; on this Barbara Levick: Vespasian . Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-16618-7 , p. 108.)
  11. ↑ In about 51 ° 38 '15 "  N , 6 ° 28' 23"  O .
  12. ↑ In about 51 ° 38 '9 "  N , 6 ° 28' 34"  O .
  13. ↑ To 51 ° 38 '6 "  N , 6 ° 28' 36"  O .
  14. ↑ To 51 ° 39 '27 "  N , 6 ° 27' 37"  O .
  15. ^ According to Gechter between 92 and 96.
  16. ↑ On the problem of the transition period between 92/96 and 104/105 cf. Gechter 1987, p. 625.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b In Tacitus and occasionally in Roman provincial literature (e.g. in Tilmann Bechert ).
  2. ↑ a b c Philipp Houben: Monuments from Castra Vetera and Colonia Traiana in Ph. Houben's Antiquarium at Xanten . Xanten, Wesel 1839.
  3. ↑ Norbert Hanel: On the ancient name of the legion camp on the Fürstenberg near Xanten: Vetera castra . In: Xantener reports . tape 5 , 1994, pp. 265 .
  4. ↑ a b c Since it has been handed down from Tacitus that Vetera was established by Augustus, and that Augustus established itself in the years from 16 BC. BC to 13 BC BC in Gaul, it was sometimes inclined to date the earliest camp to this time. However, the finds, especially the found pottery stamps and terra sigillata types, point to the time of the start of the Germanic offensive or shortly before it. After Michael Gechter: The beginnings of the Lower Germanic Limes. In: Bonner Jahrbücher . 179, 1979, pp. 106-110.
  5. ↑ Michael Gechter: The Legionary Camp Vetera I and II . In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): Die Römer in Nordrhein-Westfalen, licensed edition of the 1987 edition . Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 619 f .
  6. ↑ Michael Gechter: The Legionary Camp Vetera I and II . In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): Die Römer in Nordrhein-Westfalen, licensed edition of the 1987 edition . Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 625 .
  7. ↑ a b Werner Böcking: When the Rhine formed a loop . In: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 153 .
  8. ↑ Hans Scheller: The emergence of the Bislicher island . In: Bonner Jahrbücher . No. 175 , p. 195 .
  9. ↑ Josef Klostermann: Shifts in the Rhine stream near Xanten during the last 10,000 years (pdf; 1.1 MB), In: Natur am Niederrhein. Krefeld 1986, pp. 5-16.
  10. ↑ histories 4, 21: Civilis adventu veteranarum cohortium iusti iam exercitus ductor, sed consilii ambiguus et vim Romanam reputans, cunctos qui aderant in verbs Vespasiani adigit mittitque legatos ad duas legiones, qua priority acie pulsae in Vetera castra concesserant, ut idem sacramentum acciperent. Histories 5, 14: At Civilis post malam in Treviris pugnam reparato per Germaniam exercitu apud Vetera castra consedit, tutus loco, et ut memoria prosperarum illic rerum augescerent barbarorum animi.
  11. ↑ Histories 4, 53, 3; 4, 57, 1; 4, 58, 1 and 4, 62, 1. Also as in castra quibus veterum nomen est (4, 18, 3).
  12. ^ Tacitus, Annals and Histories in Latin.
  13. ↑ Tacitus, Annalen und Historien in English with translation error : Vetera Castra is uncritically translated as "Old Camp".
  14. ↑ Hermann Hinz: Xanten in Roman times . Gesthuysen, Xanten 1960, p. 11.
  15. ↑ Norbert Hanel: On the ancient name of the legion camp on the Fürstenberg near Xanten: Vetera castra. In: Xantener reports. Anthology 5, Rheinland Verlag, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-7927-1415-9 , p. 264.
  16. ↑ Among others in Müller (2008), Obladen-Kauder (2005), Hanel (1995), Bechert (1995, 1982), Böcking (1989, 1978), Gechter (1987, 1979), Kunow (1987), Schönberger (1985 , 1969), Bogaers / Rüger (1974), von Petrikovits (1971, 1959), Hinz (1960–1976) and Lehner (1936, 1930, 1926); see. also the literature list.
  17. ↑ So in Bechert (2003) and Hanel (1994); see. also the literature list.
  18. ↑ Norbert Hanel: On the ancient name of the legion camp on the Fürstenberg near Xanten: Vetera castra. In: Xantener reports. Anthology 5, Rheinland Verlag, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-7927-1415-9 .
  19. ^ A b Werner Böcking: Stone mining, finds and collections in the past. In: ders .: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations. 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 73.
  20. ↑ Stephani Vinandi Pighii Annales Romanorum . Antwerp 1615 .; Hilde Hiller: Archaeological studies of St. V. Pighius in Xanten . In: Henning Wrede , Richard Harprath (Hrsg.): Antique drawing and antique study in the Renaissance and early Baroque. Files from the international symposium Coburg 1986 . Zabern, Mainz 1989, ISBN 3-8053-1011-0 , p. 167-183 .
  21. ↑ Manuscript in the Klever city archive.
  22. ↑ Ferdinand Schroeder (Ed.): The Chronicle of Johannes Turck. In: Annals of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine. 58 (1894), pp. 1-175.
  23. ^ Message 116 . (PDF) of the Historischen Vereinigung Wesel e. V., 2006.
  24. ^ Wilhelm Diedenhofen, Bert Thissen (ed.): Clivio-polis. The city of Kleve in 1653 . Drawn by Hendrick Feltman, described by Hermann Ewich, printed by Jacob van Biesen. Self-published by the Kleve City Archives, Kleve 2005.
  25. ↑ a b Johannes Spenrath: Ancient peculiarities in the city of Xanten and its surroundings . Krefeld 1837-1839.
  26. ^ Werner Böcking: Stone mining, finds and collections in the past. That these stones become bread ... The Roman ruins as quarries of the Lower Rhine . In: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 73-78 .
  27. ^ Werner Böcking: Stone mining, finds and collections in the past. That these stones become bread ... The Roman ruins as quarries of the Lower Rhine . In: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 74 .
  28. ↑ Werner Böcking: A royal Prussian notary as an archaeologist in Xanten . In: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 81-85 .
  29. ^ Wilhelm von Gümbel:  Fiedler, Franz . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, pp. 5-7.
  30. ^ Franz Fiedler: Stories and Antiquities of Lower Germania. Roman monuments in the area of ​​Xanten and Wesel, on the Lower Rhine and on the Lippe. Essen 1824, as well as the Roman inscriptions in Xanten . Wesel 1839.
  31. ↑ Web presence of the Niederrheinischer Altertumsverein
  32. ↑ Paul Steiner: Collection of the Niederrheinischer Altertumsverein . Frankfurt am Main 1911 ( catalog of South and West German antiquity collections 1).
  33. ^ Werner Böcking: Founding and excavations of the Lower Rhine antiquity association . In: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 74 .
  34. ^ Hans Lehner, 1926, 1929, 1936.
  35. ^ Franz Oelmann: Excavation in Vetera 1930. In: Germania. 15, 1931, pp. 221-229.
  36. ^ Werner Böcking: The excavations of the Provincial Museum Bonn in Vetera I near Birten . In: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 114-142 .
  37. ↑ Michael Gechter: The beginnings of the Lower Germanic Limes. In: Bonner Jahrbücher. 179, 1979, pp. 106-110.
  38. ↑ Harald von Petrikovits: The Legion Fortress Vetera II. In: Bonner Jahrbücher. 159, 1959, p. 89 ff.
  39. ↑ a b Werner Böcking: Excavators and divers discover Vetera II . In: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 147-159 .
  40. ^ Dieter Timpe: Roman-Germanic encounter in the late republic and early imperial times. Requirements - confrontations - effects. Collected Studies . Saur, Munich & Leipzig, 2006, ISBN 3-598-77845-7 , p. 163 ff.
  41. ↑ Johann-Sebastian Kühlborn: On the march in the Germania Magna. Rome's war against the Teutons. 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. 67-91.
  42. ↑ a b Jürgen Kunow: The military history of Lower Germany. In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): The Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia . Licensed edition of the 1987 edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 27-109.
  43. ^ The defeat of Lollius and the Augustan campaigns on the private website of the archaeologist Jürgen Franssen.
  44. ↑ Johann-Sebastian Kühlborn: On the march in the Germania Magna. Rome's war against the Teutons. 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 .
  45. ↑ a b c d Michael Gechter: The legion camp Vetera I and II . In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): Die Römer in Nordrhein-Westfalen, licensed edition of the 1987 edition . Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 620 .
  46. ^ A b Werner Böcking: The excavations of the Provincial Museum Bonn in Vetera I near Birten . In: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 138 .
  47. ^ A b c Werner Böcking: The excavations of the Provincial Museum Bonn in Vetera I near Birten . In: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 123 f .
  48. ↑ a b CIL 13, 8648 and AE 1953, 222 and AE 1955, 34 .
  49. ↑ Hans-Joachim Schalles (Ed.): Death in the Varus Battle. Primus, Darmstadt 2009, ISBN 978-3-89678-808-5 .
  50. ↑ Werner Böcking: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 85 ff .
  51. ↑ Hermann Hinz: Xanten in Roman times . Th. Gesthuysen, Xanten 1960, W. Renckhoff, Duisburg-Ruhrort 1963, Th. Gesthuysen, Xanten 1967, Dombuchhandlung, Xanten 1971, 1973, 1976 (6th edition), p. 8 f.
  52. ^ A b Hans Lehner: The Roman camp Vetera near Xanten. A guide through the excavations of the Bonn Provincial Museum. Röhrscheid, Bonn 1926, p. 49 ff.
  53. ↑ Introduction to the natural history of Caius Plinius Secundus ( Memento from January 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 367 kB) by Manuel Vogel. Marix, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-86539-144-5 , p. 9 f.
  54. ↑ Hans Lehner: Vetera. The results of the excavations at the Bonn Provincial Museum up to 1929 . De Gruyter, Berlin & Leipzig 1930, p. 27.
  55. ↑ Michael Gechter: The Legionary Camp Vetera I and II . In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): Die Römer in Nordrhein-Westfalen, licensed edition of the 1987 edition . Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 620 ff .
  56. ↑ a b Hans Lehner: Vetera. The results of the excavations at the Bonn Provincial Museum up to 1929 . De Gruyter, Berlin & Leipzig 1930, p. 38 f.
  57. ^ Werner Böcking: The excavations of the Provincial Museum Bonn in Vetera I near Birten . In: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 133 .
  58. ↑ More recently, an alternative interpretation as a farm building has been considered. After: Norbert Hanel: The military camps of Vetera I and their camp settlements. 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 , p. 104.
  59. ↑ Hans Lehner: Vetera. The results of the excavations at the Bonn Provincial Museum up to 1929 . De Gruyter, Berlin & Leipzig 1930.
  60. ↑ Norbert Hanel: The military camps of Vetera I and their camp settlements. 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. 93-107.
  61. ↑ Baoquan Song, Norbert Hanel: New aerial photographs of the Roman military camp Vetera castra I on the Fürstenberg near Xanten. In: J. Kunow (Ed.): Caelius… and after that? On the history and future of the Fürstenberg and the Bislicher Insel near Xanten. Materials for the preservation of soil monuments in the Rhineland 23, Print-Concept Waldenmaier, Treis-Karden 2011, ISBN 978-3-9811909-4-6 , pp. 87-96.
  62. ^ Jürgen Kunow: The military history of Lower Germany. The year of the four emperors and the Batavian revolt. In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): The Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia . Licensed edition of the 1987 edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 59–63.
  63. ↑ Dirk Schmitz: The Batavian Rebellion in the context of the Roman civil war 68–70 AD. In: Martin Müller, Hans-Joachim Schalles, Norbert Zieling (ed.): Colonia Ulpia Traiana. Xanten and its surroundings in Roman times. Zabern, Mainz 2008, ISBN 978-3-8053-3953-7 , pp. 117-140.
  64. ^ Tacitus: Historien 4, 22: Adversus has concurrentis belli minas legati legionum Munius Lupercus et Numisius Rufus vallum murosque firmabant. Subversa longae pacis opera, 'haud procul castris in modum municipii extructa', ne hostibus usui forent. Sed parum provisum ut copiae in castra conveherentur; rapi permisere: ita paucis diebus per licentiam absumpta sunt quae adversus necessitates in longum suffecissent.
  65. ↑ Norbert Hanel, Baoquan Song: Recent results of aerial archeology of the Roman military camps Vetera castra I on the Fürstenberg near Xanten. In: Germania 85, Zabern, Mainz 2007, p. 349 ff.
  66. ↑ Michael Gechter: The Legionary Camp Vetera I and II . In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): Die Römer in Nordrhein-Westfalen, licensed edition of the 1987 edition . Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , pp. 624 f .
  67. ↑ Julia Obladen-Kauder: Searching for traces in Xanten. An archaeological hiking guide . Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-88094-927-1 , p. 57.
  68. ↑ Hermann Hinz: An early Roman burial ground on the church hill in Birten, Moers district. In: Rhenish excavations. Volume 12. Rheinland-Verlag, Bonn 1973, pp. 24-83.
  69. ↑ Julia Obladen-Kauder: Searching for traces in Xanten. An archaeological hiking guide. Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-88094-927-1 , p. 58.
  70. ↑ On the Tabula Peutingeriana .
  71. ↑ In the Itinerarium Antonini .
  72. ^ AE 1958, 303 .
  73. ↑ a b Dirk Schmitz: The Vetera II camp and its legions. 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. 141-170.
  74. ↑ Julia Obladen-Kauder: Searching for traces in Xanten. An archaeological hiking guide . Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-88094-927-1 , p. 72 ff.
  75. ↑ Werner Böcking: The Romans on the Lower Rhine. History and excavations . 5th edition. Klartext, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-427-1 , p. 95 ff .
  76. ↑ a b c Christoph B. Rüger : Alps. Roman practice and marching camp. In Heinz Günter Horn (ed.): The Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia. Licensed edition of the 1987 edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-59-7 , p. 332 ff.
  77. ↑ According to Wener Böcking, 2005 (5) , p. 139 f.
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