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103-718: The route of the limes started near the estuary of the Oude Rijn on the North Sea . It then followed the course of the Rhine and ended at the Vinxtbach in present-day Niederbreisig , a quarter in the town of Bad Breisig , the border with the province of Germania Superior . The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes then started on the opposite, right-hand, side of the Rhine with the Roman camp of Rheinbrohl . The Lower Germanic Limes

206-607: A 27 kilometer canal ( Fossa Corbulonis ) in 48 AD between the mouths of the Oude Maas and the Oude Rijn . It was used primarily for troop and supply transport. During the Roman civil war ( Year of the Four Emperors ) in 68/69 AD, a riot among the allied Batavians under Julius Civilis spread to almost all other Germanic tribes along the Rhine. All forts north of Mogontiacum were besieged or destroyed. The Classis Germanica

309-427: A battering ram at the bow. Liburna were usually about 21 meters long, 3.30 meters wide and had a depth of about 0.7 meters. The crew consisted of 44 rowers, 4 sailors and 16 marines. Larger than the liburna were the triremes , which were very similar to the liburnians, but distinguished by a third, additional sail. Cargo and load rafts could be up to 30m long, based on finds from Alphen Zwammerdam . Numerous wrecks on

412-664: A chain of watchtowers or signal towers, forts and fortified ports (Gaul). Most of the Saxon Shore camps probably served as naval bases. The garrisons of the forts were composed of infantry and several cavalry regiments. Monitoring and surveillance of the Channel were the responsibility of the Classis Britannica and Classis Sambrica , whose headquarters were in Locus Quartensis (Port d'Etaple), guarding

515-505: A ditch. The width of the Fossatum is generally 3–6 m but in exceptional cases may be as much as 20 m. Wherever possible, it or its highest wall is constructed on the counterscarp . Excavations near Gemellae showed the depth there to be 2–3 m, with a width of 1 m at the bottom widening to 2–3 m at the top. The Fossatum is accompanied by many small watchtowers and numerous forts, often built within sight of one another. The Limes Arabicus

618-467: A fixed frontier rather than a staging post for the next conquest. Over the following four centuries the army brought with it industrial and engineering activities (Limekilns, pottery making, roads, canals, a naval base and a water supply aqueduct, for example). Civilian settlements, administrative, commercial, religious and entertainment sites also grew up alongside the more overtly military constructions. The listed properties are each tightly defined around

721-687: A little west of today's German-Dutch border, roughly in the area of the legion camp of Noviomagus , the Lower Rhine Plain transitions into the watery marshland formed by the Rhine and Meuse and which finally ends at the North Sea in the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta . In 2021, UNESCO accorded WHS status to the Lower Germanic Limes, identifying 44 properties (some being clusters of several sites) strung out along

824-570: A place of banishment. However Romans controlled the Nile many miles into Africa up to the modern border between Egypt and Sudan. In Africa Romans controlled the area north of the Sahara, from the Atlantic Ocean to Egypt, with many sections of limes ( Limes Tripolitanus , Limes Numidiae, etc.). The Fossatum Africae ("African ditch") of at least 750 km controlled the southern borders of

927-472: A site or cluster, or could indicate unproven but possible areas where significant remains are yet to be discovered. The following 19 sites/clusters fall within the modern jurisdiction of Netherlands. They are principally located on the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta , characterised by flat alluvial plains. Waterlogged conditions have resulted in extremely good preservation of buried timber structures as well as ephemeral items buried in rubbish dumps. All but one of

1030-492: Is considered as evidence that this type of boundary wall had never been used for defensive purposes. The land of Agri Decumates that was guarded by this limes had to be vacated by the Romans in 260–285 AD. They moved their bases back to the banks of the Rhine and Danube, which were much easier to defend militarily. The exact route of the limes along the border between Upper Germania and Raetia has not been fully explored. In

1133-609: Is probable that a second, defensive line was created to the rear ( Castrum Locus Felicis ). The occupying troops, Exercitus Noricus , consisted mostly of auxilia cohorts and a legion stationed in Lauriacum / Enns acted as the strategic reserve. The surveillance and security of the Danube and its tributaries were the responsibility of the Classis Pannonia . Units of the legions, naval and auxiliary forces were commanded by

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1236-461: The Classis Britannica , whose headquarters were in Rutupiae (Richborough). Legions, auxilia and the fleet were commanded by the provincial governors. From the 3rd century, units of comitatenses , limitanei and liburnaria (marines) came under the command of two generals: This section of the limes existed from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD and covered the provinces of: This limes of

1339-583: The Alteburg naval fort . The main city of Germania Inferior was Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (CCAA), capital of the province, an important economic center and a trading center of great national importance. The Rhine in turn served not only as an important transport route for the transport of goods produced in Cologne , but also for the import of goods from other provinces. Late Antiquity bases included Mainz / Straubing , Speyer and Passau . After

1442-565: The Battle of Mursa Major in 351 AD the naval port in Mainz was expanded and became a major base for the Rhine fleet. The naval base in Mainz was used mainly in the second half of the 3rd and the 4th century. The newly organized Rhine fleet in the first third of the 4th century was their primary source of power the central portion of the Rhine was occupied periodically with castles as supply bases and safe havens. Without this support, an effective use of

1545-818: The Black Sea , and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast. The positions of the borders changed especially during the main periods of Roman expansion and contraction, and first became more stable during the early Empire period under Augustus , but the borders continued to change with time in different provinces. The borders had different constituents depending on local needs; often they consisted of natural boundaries (e.g. rivers) with roads behind for easier movement of troops between linked forts (e.g. Danubian Limes ), or else roads with linked forts (e.g. Stanegate , Fosse Way ). The remains of

1648-459: The Bructeri tribe, before returning the Rhine fleet back into Germanic territory in 313. In 355 AD Julian was named Caesar of the west. Under his rule the defense effort was increased. It was used for several campaigns and Rhine crossings: 356/357 found defensive battles take place on the Rhine and Main. In the winter of 357/358 Julian's troops joined a large group of Frankish marauders on

1751-597: The Classis Germanica to assist, they were attacked during the night by the Batavians and lost all his ships, including Cerialis' own trireme . However, the lost ships were quickly replaced. The Batavians used their new fleet in an attempt to stop the supply transports of the Romans from Gaul in the Rhine delta. At the mouth of the Meuse (Mosa), the numerically inferior but better trained Classis Germanica fought

1854-589: The Frisii rebelled against Roman rule. The Rhine fleet brought an expeditionary force in the revolting area, including to the besieged Roman port facility Flevum (Velsen). However, the frisii could not be stopped. The Romans lost control of the North Sea coast to the mouth of the Rhine. Between 46 AD and 47 AD the Romans tried to subdue the Frisians but despite the use of the fleet, the Romans could not maintain their gains. The legate Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo built

1957-877: The Late Antiquity ran through the territory of the present-day United Kingdom and France . In the 3rd century, a separate military district, the Litus Saxonicum , was established on the British side of the English Channel between the estuaries of the Wash and the Solent , to repel Saxon pirates and plunderers. The Gallic side of the English Channel and Atlantic coast were included therein. Monitoring and coastal surveillance were carried out by

2060-684: The Revolt of the Batavi of AD 68-69. By the third century many military features were being abandoned, although some remained in use for a further 200 years. The civil settlements also persisted in use, and many have a direct successor in their modern settlements. In the 450s AD a Frankish invasion took control of Cologne, signaling the end of Roman control of the Lower Rhine. A number of sites can be matched with Roman place names, particularly from writers such as Tacitus and from ancient documents such as

2163-729: The Rhine , defended by a chain of camps , that ran from the North Sea (Katwijk-Brittenburg camp) to Vinxtbach (opposite Rheinbrohl fort on the Upper Germanic Limes ), forming the border between the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superior . By contrast with the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes , it was not marked by a solid palisade or wall. Neither can any defensive ditch or rampart be identified. The guards were stationed in nearby castra and watchtowers usually built immediately on

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2266-643: The Roman Empire to defend and control the southern borders of the Empire in the Roman province of Africa . It is considered to have many similarities of construction to Hadrian's Wall at the northern border of the Empire in Britain. Generally the Fossatum consists of a ditch and earth embankments on either side using the material from the ditch. Sometimes the embankments are supplemented by dry stone walls on one or both sides; rarely, there are stone walls without

2369-642: The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes , the Lower Germanic Limes forms part of the Limes Germanicus . In 2021, the Lower Germanic Limes were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the set of "Frontiers of the Roman Empire" World Heritage Sites. As it runs along the Rhine the Lower Germanic Limes passes four landscapes with different topography and natural character. The southernmost and smallest portion, between

2472-517: The limes existed from the 1st to the 5th century AD and guarded part of the Roman province of Noricum . It is on the soil of the present-day Austrian states of Upper and Lower Austria . It ran along the Danube from Passau/ Boiodurum to Zeiselmauer/ Cannabiaca . This is also a ripa (river border), which was guarded by a loose chain of cohort forts. The main road on the Norican Limes

2575-640: The 2nd century, the strategic reserve comprised three legions stationed in Bonna / Bonn, Novaesium / Neuss, Vetera / Xanten and Noviomagus / Nijmegen. The control and surveillance of the waters of the North Sea, the Rhine estuary and the Lower Rhine was the responsibility of the Classis Germanica whose headquarters was in Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium /Cologne. Legions, auxilia and fleet units were commanded by

2678-640: The 2nd century, the strategic reserve was formed from three legions stationed in Mogontiacum / Mainz, Argentorate / Strasbourg and Castra Regina /Regensburg. The monitoring of the Upper Rhine was the responsibility of the Classis Germanica ; that of the Rhaetic Danube came under the Classis Pannonia , whose headquarters was in Aquincum /Budapest. Legions and auxilia cohorts were under

2781-400: The 400km lower Rhine valley. The list identifies, and aims to preserve, a representative selection of places that had Roman military activities along this section of the frontier. They have integrity and authenticity in their archaeological remains and show how the Roman Empire introduced complex new technology and ways of living to the area. A distinctive features of the Lower Germanic Limes was

2884-430: The 4th century, redesigned and massively strengthened in order to match new strategic requirements. The gaps between the camps were closed by a chain of watchtowers or signal towers. In late Roman times huge inland camps were built and towns in the hinterland were fortified to create a second line of defence. In addition, at vulnerable points, units of the Danube fleet were stationed. In the time of Emperor Marcus Aurelius

2987-462: The Batavian fleet in a brief skirmish. Civilis retreated to the northern bank of the Rhine and the Romans ravaged the area of the Batavians. The fleet was never able to achieve decisive successes in the Batavian revolt. In 89 AD large sections of the army of the Rhine mutinied against Emperor Domitian. The Classis Germanica remained loyal to Domitian and helped to defeat the rebels. It was given

3090-589: The Channel Fleet ( Classis Britannica ), it was one of the largest naval forces of the Roman Empire , ranking above all other provincial fleets. The fleet was assembled in 13 BC, and was responsible for monitoring the entire Rhine from the confluence of the Vinxtbach and its navigable tributaries as well as the Zuiderzee and North Sea coastlines in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta . Later on,

3193-565: The Classis Germanica as prefect. The officers each had their own staff and aides. In the 3rd century the rank of fleet tribunes was created ( tribunus classis ) who took over the duties of the first Nauarchs. Later he was called also tribunus liburnarum (tribune of warships). The crew consisted of the officers ( trierarchus ), the rowers ( remiges ) and a centuria Marines ( manipulares / milites liburnarii ). The team ( classiari / classici ) were divided into two groups,

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3296-551: The Classis Germanica in its original format was dissolved. Its area of operations had been largely confined until then on the Lower Rhine . After abandoning Agri Decumates the strategic situation changed. A concentration of the fleet on a few key points was no longer useful. Due to the new situation on the Rhine, wide sections of the river, but also the mouths of the Barbaricum waters now had to be strictly monitored. Unlike

3399-511: The Empire and had many similarities of construction to Hadrian's Wall . There are similar, but shorter, fossatae in other parts of North Africa. Between the Matmata and Tabaga ranges in modern Tunisia there is a fossatum which was duplicated during World War II. There also appears to be a 20 km fossatum at Bou Regreg , in Morocco , although this would not have been within the scope of

3502-665: The Fosse Way road was a frontier. From the 1st to the 2nd century first the Gask Ridge and then the Stanegate, with their chains of forts and watchtowers, marked the northern boundary of Britannia . Later Hadrian's Wall was built as the frontier and for a short time the Antonine Wall further north. The defence of Hadrian's Wall was achieved through the incorporation of forts and castella . Security and monitoring on

3605-558: The German locations falls within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (The Auxiliary fort at Remagen is in Rhineland Palatinate ). Almost all of the sites are on the left (western) bank of the Rhine. Many of the military structures follow a similar chronology comprising a temporary camp with an earthen defensive boundary, replaced in the mid first century by timber defenses and later still by stone defences – particularly after

3708-509: The Germanic border defence or delimiting system of Ancient Rome marking the borders of the Roman Empire . The term has been extended in modern times to refer to the frontier defences in other parts of the empire , such as in the east and in Africa. The Roman frontier stretched for more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) from the Atlantic coast of northern Britain , through Europe to

3811-585: The Rhaetian Limes, a solid stone wall was erected. In its final stages, the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes was about 550 kilometres long and ran from Rheinbrohl , in the county of Neuwied in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, as far as Hienheim on the Danube. Between the villages of Osterburken and Welzheim , the limes ran for 81 kilometres almost in a straight line southwards. In the scholarly literature, this unusual section

3914-473: The Rhine and on Lake Neuchatel testify to the use of barge boats in Roman times. These were box-shaped ships with mast, shallow draft and ramped ends on both sides of the fuselage, which had a payload up to 30t. From the 3rd century, the much smaller navis lusoria formed the backbone of the late Roman fleet. The main role of the fleet was to ensure freedom of navigation along the Rhine , Scheldt and Meuse rivers and their tributaries, and continuing on up

4017-413: The Rhine fleet, that likely was still in existence (in altered form) until the 4th century. The Rhine fleet was formed in 13 BC, when Roman supreme command started gathering legions and ancillary troops along the banks of the river Rhine. From the beginning, the fleet, too, was involved in Roman campaigns. Its objective changed in 17 AD when Emperor Tiberius relinquished plans to invade the tribes east of

4120-488: The Rhine from the year 15 AD The decision not to conquer the regions east of the Rhine in 16 AD made the Rhine into a fixed frontier of the Roman Empire. For its protection, many estates ( villae rusticae ) and settlements ( vici ) were established. The names and locations of several sites have been handed down, mainly through the Tabula Peutingeriana and Itinerarium Antonini . Together with

4223-545: The Rhine frontier testify. After the invasion of the Vandals , Suebi and Alans on New Year's Eve in 407, the fleet disbanded permanently. Little is known about the chain of command of the Rhine fleet. The commander was a praefectus classis from the equestrian order, a procuratores centenarii , which meant he earned 100,000 sesterces a year. Below the prefect rank was the praepositus classis , each fleet usually having two of them. The future Emperor Pertinax served in

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4326-559: The Rhine or in amphibious operations, together with land forces. The daily range of river battleships was up to 15 kilometres (9.3 mi). The distance between forts or border burgi averaged 15 to 30 kilometres (19 mi). Downriver a navis lusoria could reach the nearest base in about 75–150 minutes. Upriver would require 2–4 hours. With effective communication, it was possible for the High Command to bring at least four patrol boats to vulnerable locations in this time and so at

4429-501: The Rhine. In Augustan times larger offensives were set in motion by the Romans. There were several large-scale landing operations of Roman troops from the North Sea, which were closely coordinated with land forces. In 12 BC, Drusus led the Rhine fleet through the canals of the Zuiderzee in the North Sea (fossa Drusiana). As the Frisii and Chauci had only primitive canoes, he sailed unhindered with his vastly superior forces into

4532-604: The Rhine. The limes was served by a well-developed military road. Each camp had its own river port or landing stage and a storage area, because the Rhine not only formed the border but was also the most important transport and trade route in the region. In the first section, between the camps of Rigomagus (Remagen) and Bonna (Bonn), there were only a few camps. In the second, middle, section between Bonna and Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum (Nijmegen), there were considerably more. Here there were also larger legion camps; with one exception, all were cavalry barracks. The landscape of

4635-518: The Roman Empire and called himself "Emperor of the Romans". Official edicts were issued in Latin, which affected the naming of the Empire's frontier as well. 54°59′33″N 2°36′04″W  /  54.9926°N 2.6010°W  / 54.9926; -2.6010 Classis Germanica The Classis Germanica was a Roman fleet in Germania Superior and Germania Inferior . Besides

4738-402: The Roman province of Rhaetia that lay north of the Danube and guarded the eastern border of that part of Germania Superior that lay east of the Rhine. In Upper Germania the border defences initially consisted only of a post road. From about 162/63 AD, the Romans constructed a defensive barrier with watchtowers and signal towers, palisades , ditches and earthworks. On one short section of

4841-821: The Vinxtbach and the area around Bonn still belongs to the Rhenish Massif , through which the river passes in a relatively narrow valley between the heights of the Westerwald and the Eifel Mountains . From roughly the area of Bonn, the Rhine valley opens into the Cologne Bay , which is bounded by the Bergisches Land , which hugs the river on the right-hand side, and the Eifel and High Fens to

4944-433: The ancestor of an entire group of words in many languages related to Latin; for example, English limit or French limite . The Latin noun līmes ( English: / ˈ l aɪ m iː z / ; Latin pl.   līmitēs ) had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields ; a boundary line or marker; any road or path; any channel, such as a stream channel; or any distinction or difference. The term

5047-668: The battles at the Weser River and Angrivarian Wall (located between the Weser and Steinhuder Meer ) in which the Angrivarii , Bructeri and Cherusci tribes were defeated, a part of the army should have been returned to their garrisons. However, almost the entire fleet as well as everyone on board fell victim to a storm. Germanicus himself was stranded in the settlement area of the Chauci tribe, but remained unharmed. In 28 AD

5150-412: The beginning of the battle up to 100 naval detachments ( milites liburnarii ) could be deployed. It was therefore possible that the aggressor could be under engaged shortly after their appearance on the Rhine from the Roman border protection. Due to the superiority of their lusoriae , under the right conditions the Limitanei were able to confront even vastly numerically superior Barbarian forces. Due to

5253-415: The border between Rome and Germania ran mostly along the line of the late antique Danube-Iller-Rhine Limes (DIRL) before the Romans advanced further north into the Agri decumates . Because of troop withdrawals and massive barbarian invasions, the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes were abandoned in the late 3rd century and the Roman forces pulled the border back to the banks of the three rivers. Especially around

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5356-414: The camps of Favianis and Melk , watchtowers were built only sporadically. Here the narrow valley of the Wachau , with its densely forested escarpments, made access to the riverbank more difficult, providing some defensive function. Every camp had its own river port or landing stage and a storage area because the Danube was not only a border zone, but also the most important transport and trade route in

5459-415: The coastline to Zuiderzee and the North Sea . With the end of plans to conquer the right bank of Germania Magna under Tiberius , the Romans altered the role of the Classis Germanica to deal chiefly with daily patrols on the Rhine, and operations along the North Sea Coast dwindled in importance. Even more important than its use in military campaigns was the logistical role of the Rhine fleet ever since

5562-420: The coasts in the west and southeast were achieved by forts and by chains of watchtowers or signal towers, both along the coastline. The garrisons, Exercitus Britannicus , consisted mostly of cohorts of auxilia . The strategic reserve comprised three legions based in Eburacum (York), Isca Silurum and Deva . The observation and surveillance of the waters around the British Isles was the responsibility of

5665-405: The command of the governor. From the 3rd century the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian border troops ( comitatenses, repenses , and liburnaria ), were commanded by three generals: This limes existed from the 3rd to the 5th centuries AD and guarded the provinces of: It lies on the territory of present-day Germany, Austria , Switzerland and Liechtenstein . As early as the period 15 BC to about 70 AD,

5768-502: The east on this section of the limes intensified. The tributaries emptying into the Danube offered cheap transport routes, but also made good approach routes for invaders and raiders. The military camps were therefore built by the most important fords or confluences and road termini. The legion- and auxilia camps were mainly located in the immediate vicinity of the riverbank. The initial wood and earth structures, were systematically converted under Emperor Hadrian into stone barracks and, in

5871-437: The estuaries on the right bank of the Rhine were also included in its charter in order to maintain a smooth flow of transportation and commerce on the river. The allegiance of the Classis Germanica to the Army of Germania Inferior ( Exercitus Germaniae Inferioris ) was confirmed by a Roman military diploma (located in the Netherlands ) during Trajan 's reign. Besides specifying the local auxiliary troops involved, it also lists

5974-431: The expedition are unknown. It is thought that they came up to the Skaw . The Cimbri were settled at that time in the north of Jutland . After circling the cape they found a large sea front, one the Romans, according to the chronicler Velleius Paterculus , "partly saw and partly knew from hearsay". In 15 AD, a Roman army under the leadership of Germanicus advanced into Germania . The fleet transported four legions on

6077-428: The first mention is made in Pannonia of stone watchtowers ( burgi , panelled towers and fortlets ( praesidia ). In late antiquity, the Pannonian military district was divided into two parts ( pars inferior and pars superior ). Advance defences were provided by bridgehead camps (e.g. Castra Contra Aquincum or Celemantia ) and military stations on main transport routes in the Barbaricum (e.g. near Musov). At

6180-421: The flat bottom construction of the Roman lusoria it was also possible, during an armed reconnaissance mission for example, to venture into Barbaricum waters. These inflows were often used by the Germanic tribes as an approach route for their surprise attacks on Roman territory. The findings from this kind of "maritime warning system" were certainly highly valued by the Roman commanders. Another protection were

6283-402: The fleet and their distribution to smaller castles and burgi , numerous units were concentrated at focal points of the border in case of need within a few hours. These were quick to alert in case of emergency by the neighboring castles or watchtowers. This was best achieved with the smaller and more mobile navis lusoria , with which one could also deal with potential intruders either right on

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6386-435: The frontiers today consist of vestiges of roads, forts, fortresses, walls and ditches, and associated civilian settlements. The soldiers at a border were referred to as limitanei . They were not expected to win large-scale wars, but rather to deter small-to-medium-sized raiding parties. Notable examples of Roman frontiers include: The stem of limes , limit -, which can be seen in the genitive case, limitis , marks it as

6489-406: The greatest extent of the Roman Empire, the southern border lay along the deserts of Arabia in the Middle East (see History of the Romans in Arabia ) and the Sahara in North Africa , which represented a natural barrier against expansion. The Empire controlled the Mediterranean shores and the mountain ranges further inland. The Romans attempted twice to occupy the Siwa Oasis and finally used Siwa as

6592-404: The ground and fastened together in the manner of a palisade). Some experts suggested that the Germanic limes may have been called Munimentum Traiani (Trajan's Bulwark) by contemporaries, referring to a passage by Ammianus Marcellinus , according to which emperor Julian had reoccupied this fortification in 360 AD. The frontier in Britain existed from the 1st to the 5th century AD. Initially

6695-416: The hands of the Batavians and was subsequently used against the Romans. The supreme commander of the army of the Rhine, Quintus Petillius Cerialis , was transported by the fleet of Classis Britannica with the Legio XIV Gemina and invaded the rebels on land. They fell into an ambush set by the Batavians Caninefaten's and were almost completely wiped out. Although Cerialis hurried from Novaesium with

6798-413: The high and middle Rhine, the tortuous course of the Upper Rhine and its dense floodplain made effective monitoring by castles impossible. These new challenges were overcome only through constant military presence on the river and on its banks. This promising new approach to border protection along the Rhine was therefore a decentralized forward defense . By giving up the doctrine of central massing of

6901-475: The honorary title classis pia fidelis Domitiana . After the end of the so-called Gallic Empire under Postumus and after numerous heavy incursions by the Franks , the Classis Germanica collapsed in the last third of the 3rd century. During this time, the Rhine legions employed their own naval detachments ( milites liburnarii ). Roman river warships were mentioned on the Rhine for the first time in 280 again, when Germanic invaders succeeded in setting several of

7004-423: The house. Some scholars have viewed the frontier as a threshold . The Merriam–Webster dictionaries take this view, as does J. B. Hofmann in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen under leimon . The White Latin Dictionary denies any connection, deriving limen from * ligmen , as in lien from *leig- , "tie". In this sense, the threshold ties together the doorway. W. Gebert also wrote an article discussing

7107-509: The initial campaigning success was achieved by Quintus Anicius Faustus , the legate of Legio III Augusta . Following his African conquests, the Roman Empire may have reached its greatest extent during the reign of Septimius Severus , under whom the empire encompassed an area of 2 million square miles (5.18 million square kilometers ). Fossatum Africae ("African ditch") is a linear defensive structure ( limes ) that extended over 750 km or more in northern Africa constructed during

7210-447: The island in the Meuse ( Dutch : Maas ). Constantly patrolling, Lusorien prevented the permanent formation of a solid sheet of ice, so that the Franks were unable to escape across the river and had to finally surrender to the Romans after two months of siege. In 359 AD a squadron of 40 ships was used against the Alemanni . In the time of Valentinian I , effort was put into making the fleet operational again. Around that time there

7313-590: The late 4th and early 5th centuries, the Rhaetian Limes was reorganized and divided into three sections. The northern border of Rhaetia formed the pars superior (upper part), the western border was the pars media (central part) with the fortified town of Cambodunum and bases from Vemania ( Isny im Allgäu ) to Cassilacum ( Memmingen ); the pars inferior (lower part) was the section between Castra Regina ( Regensburg ) and Batavis ( Passau ). The defending troops, Exercitus Germaniae superioris and Exercitus Raeticus , consisted mostly of auxilia cohorts. From

7416-446: The local topography. This meant that they could not be built in the classical 'pack of cards' shape. Between them a dense chain of watchtowers and signal towers were constructed to provide an additional security measure ( burgi ). Flotillas of patrol boats were stationed on the large lakes in this region. Comitatenses , ripenses , and liburnaria in this section of the limes were under the command of four generals: This section of

7519-476: The map known as the Tabula Peutingeriana . The list below shows the 25 German sites (some individual places, some clusters of several component parts) that are now inscribed as part of the World Heritage Site. Shared locally with other region/s and with Germany and Denmark Limes (Roman Empire) Limes ( Latin ; sg. , pl. : limites ) is a term used primarily for

7622-461: The mouth of the River Somme . The units of comitatenses , limitanei and liburnaria in this area came under the command of three generals: This section of limes existed from the 1st to the 5th century AD and ran through the province of Lower Germania ( Germania Inferior ). It lies on the territory of today's Netherlands and Germany . This limes was a river border ( limes ripa ) on

7725-501: The mouth of the Weser (Visurgis) and forced both tribes into submission. The advance of Tiberius at the Elbe (Albis) in 5 AD was accomplished by means of a combined land and sea operation. His fleet sailed the river to the area of Lauenburg and met up with the land army. During the same year, the Romans pushed even further north, reaching the Cimbri . The exact route and end point of

7828-512: The new navis lusoriae on fire. Constantius I led the Rhine fleet against the Alemanni in 298 AD, who had settled on a river island. His son and successor Constantine the Great modernized the Rhine fleet and replaced the liburnarii entirely with lusoriae . This made the Upper Rhine fleet operational. In 306 Constantine brought troops across the Rhine and ravaged the settlement areas of

7931-467: The period of Drusus 's Germania offensives. From Vetera (Modern day Xanten ) the forts were supplied. The docks were often fortified. The fleet was also used for civil transport, for example moving stones were obtained from the quarries of Brohl Valley in Siebengebirge . Even foods like corn and wine, which could be moved only with difficulty by land, were transported. With the beginning of

8034-466: The presence of the Rhine. This was at once both an identifiable defensible boundary, but also a highly porous one, which allowed the movement of peoples, trade and ideas. The river itself was a crucial means of transport through the region, and became a major supply route to the North Sea and Britain, controlled by the Roman Navy on the Rhine, the Classis Germanica . As a transnational nomination,

8137-564: The proclamation of the Codex Theodosianus because at that time the province was not in Africa, administratively speaking. In the south of Mauritania Tingitana the frontier in the third century lay just north of Casablanca near Sala and stretched to Volubilis . Septimius Severus expanded the "Limes Tripolitanus" dramatically, even briefly holding a military presence in the Garamantian capital Garama in 203 AD. Much of

8240-472: The region. Over time civilian settlements or vici were established immediately next to the camps. In the immediate hinterland of the limes , walled towns or municipia were founded – for example, Aelium Cetium or Ovilava (Wels). They were the administrative or commercial centres of the region. In late antiquity, the Norican area was divided into two parts ( pars inferior and pars superior ). It

8343-460: The reign of the Flavian dynasty in the last third of the 1st century, the situation had largely stabilized at the Rhine frontier again. The fleet was mostly concerned now with the extraction and transportation of building materials, since the freight cost by water were much lower than by land (approximately 1/6 of road tariffs), although they continued to provide a river patrol service. In 270 AD,

8446-457: The respective governors. In late antiquity – according to Notitia Dignitatum – four newly established flotillas undertook this task. From the 3rd century, the Norian comitatenses , ripenses and liburnari were under the command of two generals: This stretch of limes was in use from the 1st to the 5th centuries AD and helped to guard the provinces of: The Pannonian Limes is situated on

8549-493: The respective provincial governor. From the 3rd century the ripenses (river guards), comitatenses , and liburnaria were under the command of the Dux Belgicae secundae . This limes existed from the 1st to 5th centuries AD and guarded the provinces of: It lay on the territory of the present German states of Rhineland-Palatinate , Hesse , Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria . To the north, it bordered those parts of

8652-643: The river Ems , who then marched to the site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest to bury the desecrated Roman soldiers that had died in the battle. After sustaining heavy losses fighting the Germanic tribes, they moved back to the Ems, where they were taken back on board the Classis Germanica. One year later under the command of legate Silius , Anteius and Caecina a fleet of a thousand ships were sent to dock at Kiel . The fleet included special innovations such as landing craft with flat bottoms and rudders at

8755-647: The sites are located in Netherlands and Germany . Care of the individual properties falls respectively on the Netherlands government and the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (plus one site in Rhineland-Palatinate ). This includes forts and marching camps dating back to the earliest arrivals of the Roman army in the area (around 16 BC) as well as development and rebuilding as more permanent fortifications were required at what became

8858-611: The southeast and east. The Cologne Bay has fertile loess soils and is characterized by a very mild climate. It is therefore little wonder that most of the rural vici and villae rusticae (farm estates) in Lower Germania were established in this area in Roman times. In the vicinity of the military camp of Novaesium , the Cologne Bay expands further into the Lower Rhine Plain , a river terrace landscape. Only

8961-471: The specific features they are designed to protect. 106 individual sites are thus identified, although many of these are grouped as clusters of related features (multiple training camps, sections of canal, etc), giving a list of 44 places. Around each of the sites, and often joining the clusters into a coherent unit, the list identifies 'buffer zones'. These reach out beyond the specific protected site itself, and may protect views, settings or an overall context for

9064-563: The stern and bow, ballista transporters, wide arks for cavalry horses, bridge material and food and gear. This transport fleet struck in spring 16 AD with Germanicus and an 8,000-strong army. From the island of the Batavi (present-day Beveland and Walcheren in the Netherlands) the fleet pushed forward to the mouth of the Ems, where the Army was heading towards present-day Jemgum . After

9167-467: The technical staff and the Marines. The service was 26 years (as opposed to the 20 to 25 years for a legionary). From the 3rd century it was 28 years, although occasionally it was even longer. After their honorable discharge ( honesta missio ) they were provided with either money or land and were also usually granted citizenship if they were free subjects of the Empire ( peregrini ). The ability to marry

9270-556: The term. The first use of the term limes as meaning "land border" appears for the first time in 98 AD by Tacitus : ...nec iam de limite imperii et ripa, sed de hibernis legionum et de possessione dubitatum (...not only were the frontier of the empire and the banks [of the Danube] in danger but also the winter-quarters of the legions and the provinces). Its definitive use for the Danubian border seems to date from about 122 in

9373-543: The territory of present-day Austria, Slovakia and Hungary . Although this section of the frontier was relatively well protected by the Danube river border or Ripa , the Roman military presence here was always exceptionally strong (three military camps in Pannonia, but only one in Lower Pannonia) because especially after the abandonment of Roman Dacia in the late 3rd century, the pressure of migrant peoples from

9476-455: The then widely ramified, sometimes almost impenetrable and marshy floodplain of the Upper Rhine and the presence of numerous meandering tributaries, which also considerably more difficult to approach the border zone. Furthermore, in a fight the Germanic tribes on the Rhine couldn't muster anything remotely equivalent to the Romans' highly developed river-going battleships. Had the invaders somehow managed to overcome all these difficulties, there

9579-462: The third section between Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum and Mare Germanicum (the North Sea) was characterised by numerous small streams and boggy marshland. Consequently, in this area there was only one cavalry camp. Border security here consisted mainly of tightly packed, relatively small cohort forts. The occupying troops, Exercitus Germaniae Inferioris , consisted mostly of auxilia cohorts. From

9682-429: The time of Hadrian: Per ea tempora et alia frequenter in plurimis locis, in quibus barbari non fluminibus sed limitibus dividuntur, stipitibus magnis in modum muralis saepis funditus iactis atque conexis barbaros separavit (During this period and on many other occasions also, in many regions where the barbarians are held back not by rivers but artificial barriers, [Hadrian] shut them out by tall stakes planted deep in

9785-747: The year 300, the Emperor Diocletian had new fortifications built directly on the river banks or on major roads in the hinterland here. Around 370 AD, the line of fortifications was considerably strengthened under the Emperor Valentinian I to counter the Alemanni , who were steadily advancing southwards. By contrast with the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, the DIRL primarily fulfilled defensive purposes; its camps had much stronger and higher walls than their High Imperial predecessors. Furthermore, they had in most cases been built to conform to

9888-571: Was a new frontier defense concept that was based on the Rhine fleet and a string of left-bank bases and a large number of heavily fortified border forts. Warships patrolled from here almost constantly on the Rhine. Ports and forts in Speyer , Worms and Altrip built and the right bank borders Burgi in Zullestein , Mannheim-Neckarau and Ladenburg were built. There were repeated clashes with Germanic invaders, as some dedicatory inscriptions of

9991-522: Was also commonly used after the 3rd century AD to denote a military district under the command of a dux limitis . An etymology by Julius Pokorny in Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch says that limes comes from Indo-European el- , elei- , lei- , "to bow", "to bend", "elbow". According to Pokorny, Latin limen , "threshold", is related to limes , being the stone over which one enters or leaves

10094-447: Was also given to them after this. The types of vessels that made up the Rhine fleet consisted of freighters ( navis actuaria ), rafts, transports as well as some heavy warships. They could be rowed and sailed. The most common type of ship in the 1st and 2nd centuries was the bireme or liburna (double-breasted), originally used by Illyrian pirates. It was quick and extremely manoeuvrable and equipped like all ancient battleships with

10197-402: Was not a fortified limes with ramparts , ditches , palisades or walls and watchtowers , but a river border (Lat.: ripa ), similarly to the limites on the Danube and Euphrates . The Rhine Line was guarded by a chain of castra for auxiliary troops . It was laid out partly by Augustus and his stepson and military commander Drusus , who began to strengthen the natural boundary of

10300-481: Was severely limited by the low water level of the Rhine. Many of the Batavian and Roman auxiliaries proved unreliable and began deserting in large numbers to join the insurgents. The fleet contributed little to the hard-pressed Rhine legions. Among the legions sent to Lower Germany to crush the revolt were Adiutrix I and II , recruited from sailors. A whole squadron of Classis Germanica fell in 70 by treachery at

10403-546: Was still the possibility that they could be intercepted at the very last moment back on the Rhine again on the return trip from one of their marauding attacks, and have all their booty confiscated, just to see it redistributed among the border soldiers who had taken part in the battle (see also Hortfund von Neupotz ). The headquarters of the Classis Germanica was originally located in Castra Vetera (in Xanten ), later in

10506-489: Was the via iuxta amnem Danuvium . The initially simple wood and earth structures were systematically converted under Emperor Hadrian into stone encampments. During the 4th century, they were brought once more up to date and massively reinforced. Between the camps, in strategic places or good points of observation, were watchtowers or signal towers and, in the Late Antiquity, burgi . In the middle section, between

10609-653: Was the frontier of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea , facing the desert. It runs from the Gulf of Aqaba to northern Syria, for about 1,500 kilometers (930 mi) at its greatest extent The Limes Saxoniae in Holstein was established in 810 AD, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . Charlemagne considered his empire (later called the Carolingian Empire ) as the true successor to

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