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97-520: In antiquity , the gate must have been visible from afar, as it was erected in an exposed position on a hilltop. Today, the field and hiking trail from Schwabsberg to Dalkingen, which takes the course of the Limes, passes to the north of this former border crossing. The actual façade of the gatehouse was located to the south. Travellers who wanted to leave the territory of the Roman Empire to reach

194-576: A pedestal for a statue of the emperor, which was placed inside the triumphal arch-like Limes Gate. In the spring of 1885, further excavations were carried out at the Limes Gate under the state curator Eduard Paulus the Younger  [ de ] (1837-1907), with the former general chief of staff of the Württemberg army, Eduard von Kallée (1818-1888), an antique enthusiast, taking over

291-434: A res publica as long as it continued to use Latin as its official language. Rome acquired imperial character de facto from the 130s BC with the acquisition of Cisalpine Gaul , Illyria , Greece and Hispania , and definitely with the addition of Iudaea , Asia Minor and Gaul during the 1st century BC. At the time of the empire's maximal extension during the reign of Trajan (AD 117), Rome controlled

388-595: A cast iron ladle. Iron knives, keys and the remains of a pair of scissors were also discovered. Animal bones showed clear signs of having been chopped when the meat was cut up. Together with the militaria , these finds and features indicate that the Limes passage was continuously occupied by the Roman military . Many pottery fragments were catalogued from the gate, although late terra sigillata from Rheinzabern ( Tabernae  [ de ; ca ] ) and pots with heart- and sickle-shaped profiles are completely absent. During

485-743: A fragmentarily preserved inscriptional source, the Acta Fratrum Arvalium , the emperor crossed the Rhaetian border on 11 August 213 in battle against the Germanic peoples . Research has repeatedly linked this border crossing with the Limes Gate in Dalkingen. Among the proponents of this theory in 1988 were the Swiss archaeologists Walter Drack  [ de ] (1917-2000) and Rudolf Fellmann  [ de ] (1925-2013), although

582-710: A result of the crisis of the third century . During Late antiquity Christianity became increasingly popular, finally ousting the Roman imperial cult with the Theodosian decrees of 393. Successive invasions of Germanic tribes finalized the weakening of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century, while the Eastern Roman Empire persisted throughout the Middle Ages , in a state called Romania by its citizens, and designated

679-400: A right angle to the south-west around three and a half metres from the south-eastern flank of the tower and also bypassed the tower at the same distance on its south-western side before leading back to the north-east in parallel alignment with the north-western flank of the tower and connecting to the western corner of the tower. This created an open courtyard around the tower on two sides, which

776-417: A ritual marking out of the building site. They were found rammed into the undisturbed ground, two in front of the south-west front to the left and right of the access road to the Limes gate and one each on the east and west sides of the Limes passageway. Other military artefacts found in the ground included a fragment of a dagger sheath and a bronze chape . The decoration of this chape with heart-shaped cut-outs

873-495: A sanctuary or, more likely, a small Roman fort. The small building is aligned almost exactly with the course of the Limes with its northeastern flank. As the findings at the gatehouse, which was most likely also inhabited by the guard, show, the complex burnt down and was not rebuilt afterwards. In the past, the end of Dalkingen was associated with the Alamanni invasions in 233/234 CE. A denarius minted between 231 and 235 CE from

970-750: A section of the Upper German-Rhaetian Limes, the Dalkingen Limes Gate and the ground monuments mentioned here have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005. The sites are also cultural monuments under the Baden-Württemberg Monument Protection Act (DSchG)  [ de ] . Investigations and the targeted collection of finds are subject to authorisation; accidental finds must be reported to

1067-643: A series of conflicts of the 4th and 3rd centuries, the Samnite Wars , Latin War , and Pyrrhic War . Roman victory in the Punic Wars and Macedonian Wars established Rome as a super-regional power by the 2nd century BC, followed by the acquisition of Greece and Asia Minor . This tremendous increase of power was accompanied by economic instability and social unrest, resulting in the Catiline conspiracy ,

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1164-488: The Barbaricum than the more recent Rhaetian Wall. Immediately to the west of the foundations of the Limes gate, a deep post trench was found in a square, which may be the remains of a wooden Limes watchtower measuring around 5.5 × 5.5 metres. The northern half of this tower, which had already been destroyed, could no longer be archaeologically recorded. In front of the north-western and south-eastern flank of this tower,

1261-465: The Barbaricum was the reason for the construction of the Limes Gate. Planck called this road a main connection to the Aalen military centre. While the course of this military and trade route can be narrowed down in the area of the former Roman Empire , its traces in the unoccupied part of Germania are no longer detectable. The wooden tower had obviously fallen into disrepair, possibly shortly before

1358-611: The Baden-Württemberg Monument Foundation  [ de ] and the School and Culture Committee of the Ostalbkreis district. The 16 metre-high steel and glass construction, which cuts through the oldest wooden predecessor of the Limes Gate, encases parts of the more recent antique structure over an area of 23 × 21 metres. The construction work carried out in the summer of 2010 not only protects

1455-561: The Byzantine Empire by later historians. Hellenistic philosophy was succeeded by continued development of Platonism and Epicureanism , with Neoplatonism in due course influencing the theology of the Christian Church Fathers . Many writers have attempted to name a specific date for the symbolic "end" of antiquity, with the most prominent dates being the deposing of the last Western Roman Emperor in 476,

1552-615: The Byzantine Papacy . The Eastern Roman empire's capital city Constantinople remained the only unconquered large urban site of the original Roman empire, as well as being the largest city in Europe. Yet many classical books, sculptures, and technologies survived there along with classical Roman cuisine and scholarly traditions, well into the Middle Ages, when much of it was "rediscovered" by visiting Western crusaders. Indeed,

1649-524: The Catholic Church in particular maintained Latin language, culture, and literacy for centuries; to this day the popes are termed Pontifex Maximus which during the classical period was a title belonging to the emperor, and the ideal of Christendom continued the legacy of a united European civilization even after its political unity had ended. The political idea of an Emperor in the West to match

1746-741: The Mediterranean Basin . It is the period during which ancient Greece and ancient Rome flourished and had major influence throughout much of Europe , North Africa , and West Asia . Conventionally, it is often considered to begin with the earliest recorded Epic Greek poetry of Homer (8th–7th-century BC) and ends with the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. Such a wide span of history and territory covers many disparate cultures and periods. Classical antiquity may also refer to an idealized vision among later people of what was, in Edgar Allan Poe 's words, "the glory that

1843-578: The Muslim conquests of the 7th century finalized the irreversible loss of all the largest Eastern Roman imperial cities besides the capital itself. The emperor Heraclius in Constantinople , who reigned during this period, conducted his court in Greek, not Latin, though Greek had always been an administrative language of the eastern Roman regions. Eastern-Western associations weakened with the ending of

1940-607: The Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, resulting the integration of Latins and Sabines. Archaeological evidence indeed shows first traces of settlement at the Roman Forum in the mid-8th century BC, though settlements on the Palatine Hill may date back to the 10th century BC. According to legend, the seventh and final king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus . As the son of Tarquinius Priscus and

2037-780: The Social War and the First Triumvirate , and finally the transformation to the Roman Empire during the latter half of the 1st century BC. The precise end of the Republic is disputed by modern historians; Roman citizens of the time did not recognize that the Republic had ceased to exist. The early Julio-Claudian Emperors maintained that the res publica still existed, albeit protected by their extraordinary powers, and would eventually return to its earlier Republican form. The Roman state continued to term itself

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2134-588: The classical orders of architecture. The philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas was derived largely from that of Aristotle , despite the intervening change in religion from Hellenic Polytheism to Christianity . Greek and Roman authorities such as Hippocrates and Galen formed the basis of the practice of medicine even longer than Greek thought prevailed in philosophy. In the French theater , playwrights such as Molière and Racine wrote plays on mythological or classical historical subjects and subjected them to

2231-620: The red-figure style , developed by the Andokides Painter in about 530 BC. Greek colonisation refers to the expansion of Archaic Greeks , particularly during the 8th–6th centuries BC , across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea . The Etruscans had established political control in the region by the late 7th-century BC, forming the aristocratic and monarchial elite. The Etruscans apparently lost power in

2328-591: The watchtowers on the same site were most certainly provided by the nearby Buch fort. It is possible that the Roman military first became active at this site around 160 CE. The dendrochronologically analysable material from the camp village ( vicus ) of Rainau-Buch, around 2.1 kilometres away, could support this idea. In addition to Planck, the Bavarian state conservator C. Sebastian Sommer  [ de ] (1956-2021) also supported this dating approach concerning

2425-484: The 18th and 19th centuries. The earliest period of classical antiquity occurs during a time of gradual resurgence of historical sources after the Late Bronze Age collapse . The 8th and 7th centuries BC are still largely protohistorical , with the earliest Greek alphabetic inscriptions appearing during the first half of the 8th century. The legendary poet Homer is usually assumed to have lived during

2522-566: The 19th century. John Milton and even Arthur Rimbaud received their first poetic educations in Latin. Genres like epic poetry, pastoral verse, and the frequent use of characters and themes from Greek mythology affected Western literature greatly. In architecture, there have been several Greek Revivals , which seem more inspired in retrospect by Roman architecture than Greek. Washington, DC has many large marble buildings with façades made to look like Greek temples , with columns constructed in

2619-932: The 8th or 7th century BC, and his lifetime is often considered as the beginning of classical antiquity. During the same period is the traditional date for the establishment of the Ancient Olympic Games , in 776 BC. The Phoenicians originally expanded from ports in Canaan , by the 8th century dominating trade in the Mediterranean . Carthage was founded in 814 BC, and the Carthaginians by 700 BC had established strongholds in Sicily , Italy and Sardinia , which created conflicts of interest with Etruria . A stele found in Kition , Cyprus commemorates

2716-630: The Dalkingen area remained intact until the final fall of the Limes in 259/260 is still unknown today. In addition to the fragments of the bronze statue, eight bronze fibulae in bow, swastika, ribbon and S shapes from the late 2nd and early 3rd century were recovered. Also, worth mentioning, is the fragment of a masked helmet  [ de ] , a typical item of equipment for cavalry troops. The fragments of horse harness made of bronze, partially tinned fibulae and decorative buttons that were also found match this. The surviving offensive weapons include seven spearheads . Four of them could be connected to

2813-653: The Dark Ages). In pottery, the Archaic period sees the development of the Orientalizing style , which signals a shift from the geometric style of the later Dark Ages and the accumulation of influences derived from Egypt, Phoenicia and Syria . Pottery styles associated with the later part of the Archaic age are the black-figure pottery , which originated in Corinth during the 7th-century BC and its successor,

2910-610: The Eastern Roman capital ( first in 674–78 and then in 717–18 ) severed the economic, cultural, and political links that had traditionally united the classical cultures around the Mediterranean, ending antiquity (see Pirenne Thesis ). The original Roman Senate continued to express decrees into the late 6th century, and the last Eastern Roman emperor to use Latin as the language of his court in Constantinople

3007-583: The Emperor in the East continued after the Western Roman Empire's collapse; it was revived by the coronation of Charlemagne in 800; the self-described Holy Roman Empire ruled central Europe until 1806. The Renaissance idea that the classical Roman virtues had been lost as a result of medievalism was especially powerful in European politics of the 18th and 19th centuries. Reverence for Roman republicanism

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3104-571: The European Year of Monuments and Sites. As the Dalkingen Limes Gate is the only structure on the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes to have been developed into a monument with a triumphal arch-like façade and its final design can presumably be seen in the context of a datable visit by Emperor Caracalla , it acquired a special status among the ancient legacies in the immediate Roman border region early on. According to

3201-578: The Great in 323 BC. In 510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow the tyrant Hippias , son of Peisistratos . Cleomenes I , king of Sparta, established a pro-Spartan oligarchy conducted by Isagoras . The Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC), concluded by the Peace of Callias ended with not only the liberation of Greece, Macedon , Thrace , and Ionia from Persian rule , but also with

3298-523: The Greeks. Fathers had great power over their children, and husbands over their wives. In fact, the word family, familia in Latin, actually referred to those who were subject to the authority of a male head of household. This included non-related members such as slaves and servants. By marriage, both men and women shared property. Divorce was allowed first during the first century BC and could be done by either man or woman. The Roman Empire began to weaken as

3395-466: The Limes Gate and that there was a direct road connection from this garrison to the Limes Gate. Possible opponents of Rome in this context could have been the Alamanni . The archaeologist Dietwulf Baatz  [ de ] (1928-2021) first raised objections to Planck's interpretation of construction phase 6 as a pompous Limes gate in 1993. He interpreted the reconstruction as a sanctuary built against

3492-413: The Limes Gate, archaeologist Dieter Planck  [ de ] succeeded in recovering this limestone slab in 1974. After the paving of Kirchstraße was completed in 1962, the 1.23 × 1.21 metre piece had been replaced by an exposed aggregate concrete slab and deposited behind the cemetery . The piece, which was not examined in detail until 2010, has a dovetailed hole on one side. It may have served as

3589-439: The Limes passage was probably completely demolished in 213 CE in connection with Caracalla's Germanic campaign . It was replaced by a richly structured, completely symmetrical façade up to 3.4 metres wide, which had a much deeper foundation than the other parts of the building. Therefore, it must have reached a significantly greater height above ground and thus towered over all the other buildings. The eastern and western surfaces of

3686-532: The Limes wall with a roofed cella . However, as Baatz was unable to provide any evidence-based reasons for his speculation, he remained alone with this view. In order to connect the sewage pipe from Dalkingen to the Schwabsberg sewage treatment plant, a canal trench was dug around 100 metres south of the Limestor in 1978. During this work, the excavator cut into a kiln and several pits. The investigation of

3783-502: The Rhaetian Wall with its northern front. In the centre of this front, the researchers were able to make out the imprint of a massive swelling stone on the ground in the direction of the Limes wall, which illustrates its function as a passageway. A new tower could have been erected in the vicinity of the passageway to replace the demolished tower with the stone foundation, although its location is still unknown. The southern wall of

3880-521: The Senate and had Superbus and the monarchy expelled from Rome in 510 BC. After Superbus' expulsion, the Senate in 509 BC voted to never again allow the rule of a king and reformed Rome into a republican government . The classical period of Ancient Greece corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, in particular, from the end of the Athenian tyranny in 510 BC to the death of Alexander

3977-498: The archaeologist Harald von Petrikovits  [ de ] (1911-2010) also opposed this idea in the 1980s. When an extensive general refurbishment was completed in 2000, the gate was once again opened to the public in the presence of Planck. In January 2003, the school and culture committee of the Ostalbkreis district voted in favour of the future preservation of the site under a protective structure. In 2005, together with

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4074-569: The area by the late 6th-century BC, and at this time, the Italic tribes reinvented their government by creating republics , with greater restraints on the ability of individual rulers to exercise power. According to legend, Rome was founded on 21 April 753 BC by twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas , Romulus and Remus . As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited

4171-399: The area of the Limes gate also belong to this period. They mark a new construction phase, only a few years after the erection of the wattle and daub fence. The fence was removed; around three metres to the north, a tightly packed wooden palisade of oak poles was built, for which a narrow trench had to be dug. At regular intervals, the excavators found semicircular indentations on the inside of

4268-529: The artwork depicted a different emperor than originally, which was by no means unusual in antiquity. Planck saw the Limes Gate as a possible crossing point for the Roman army during the Germanic campaign of 213 AD. This could be supported by the fact that the most important fort on the Rhaetian Limes, the cavalry fort of Aalen with its 1000-strong garrison, was located just a few kilometres southwest of

4365-408: The central passageway, three rooms could be made out in the north-west and four in the south-east. It is possible to imagine a guardroom, parlours and an administrative area for border traffic there. As the findings in the post-trenches suggest, the wooden Limes tower was probably embedded in the new complex and continued to be used. Research has identified certain similarities between the Limes gate and

4462-516: The closing of the last Platonic Academy in Athens by the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I in 529, and the conquest of much of the Mediterranean by the new Muslim faith from 634 to 718. These Muslim conquests, of Syria (637), Egypt (639), Cyprus (654), North Africa (665), Hispania (718), Southern Gaul (720), Crete (820), and Sicily (827), Malta (870), as well as the sieges of

4559-457: The complex is also emphasised by many striking small finds. Particularly noteworthy are over 140 bronze fragments of a larger-than-life armoured statue of outstanding quality, most of which were picked up on the display side in front of the south-west front of the former archway. The largest preserved parts are several pteryges (textile or leather strips) of a breastplate and a sword pommel decorated with an eagle's head. The size and costliness of

4656-506: The construction of the entire Rhaetian and "Anterior Limes". The earliest absolute dating known from the Buch camp village is a finding dating from May/June 161 CE at the latest. As the isolated post holes found suggest, a Roman construction team initially erected a simple wattle fence along the intended boundary line as an obstacle to approach. This fence was located in the area of the subsequently erected gate, around two to five metres deeper in

4753-410: The covered ancient substance but also reduces the renovation and maintenance costs previously required. The height of the protective structure, which can be accessed during set opening hours and dominates the previously isolated site with its unconventional architectural design, is based on the presumed height of the former Limes gate. Its possible ancient appearance and dimensions are indicated inside

4850-690: The creation of a new Greek state in 1832. After the capture of Constantinople in 1453, the Russian Czars (a title derived from Caesar) claimed the Byzantine legacy as the champion of Orthodoxy ; Moscow was described as the " Third Rome ", and the Czars ruled as divinely appointed Emperors into the 20th century. Despite the fact that the Western Roman secular authority disappeared entirely in Europe, it still left traces. The Papacy and

4947-611: The cultures of Persia , the Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah , Central Asia and Egypt . Significant advances were made in the sciences ( geography , astronomy , mathematics , etc.), notably with the followers of Aristotle ( Aristotelianism ). The Hellenistic period ended with the increase of the Roman Republic to a super-regional power during the 2nd century BC and the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC. The Republican period of Ancient Rome began with

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5044-522: The dendrochronologist Bernd Becker  [ de ] for examination. In 1976, he dated the timbers to the year 165 CE. Wood from the Rotenbach Valley near Schwäbisch Gmünd provided suitable chronological information. There, on the border to the province of Germania superior , this wood was used to build a fortification that was probably erected in 164 CE (see Kleindeinbach small fort  [ de ] ). The uncovered post pits in

5141-409: The direction of Planck. At the time, there was a risk that the structure, which was still visible as a two metre high mound of rubble, would be bulldozed in the course of road works. With the help of modern working methods, the building could then be interpreted as a repeatedly remodelled Limes gate with adjoining rooms for a border guard . In 1975, the restored site was opened to the public as part of

5238-421: The disappearance of imperial authority in the west. This tendency reached its maximum when Charlemagne was crowned "Roman Emperor" in the year 800, an act which resulted in the formation of the Holy Roman Empire . The notion that an emperor is a monarch who outranks a king dates from this period. In this political ideal, there would always be a Roman Empire, a state the jurisdiction of which extended through

5335-412: The dominance of Athens in the Delian League , which resulted in conflict with Sparta and the Peloponnesian League , resulting in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), ending with a Spartan victory. Greece began the 4th century with Spartan hegemony , but by 395 BC the Spartan rulers dismissed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost its naval supremacy. Athens , Argos , Thebes and Corinth ,

5432-411: The entire Mediterranean as well as Gaul, parts of Germania and Britannia , the Balkans , Dacia , Asia Minor, the Caucasus , and Mesopotamia . Culturally, the Roman Empire was significantly Hellenized , but also incorporated syncretic "eastern" traditions, such as Mithraism , Gnosticism , and most notably Christianity . Classical Rome had vast differences within their family life compared to

5529-406: The entire Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, it was declared a World Heritage Site and in 2006 the Stuttgart Regional Council declared the Limes Gate a specially protected cultural monument. The costs for the protective structure, totalling 1,870,000 euros, were funded by the European Union , the then Baden-Württemberg State Foundation  [ de ] , the State Office for Monument Preservation,

5626-465: The entire civilized western world. That model continued to exist in Constantinople for the entirety of the Middle Ages, where the Byzantine Emperor was considered the sovereign of the entire Christian world. The Patriarch of Constantinople was the Empire's highest-ranked cleric, but even he was subordinate to the emperor, who was "God's Vicegerent on Earth". The Greek-speaking Byzantines and their descendants continued to call themselves " Romioi " until

5723-474: The excavations from 1973 to 1974 and the subsequent excavations on the occasion of the construction of the protective structure in 2009, 15 coins were recovered, which are now kept in the Württemberg State Museum and the Limes Museum in Aalen  [ de ; fr ] . The series begins with two coins of Hadrian, followed by two coins of Antoninus Pius. coin for Faustina I –161 coin for Faustina I Dupondius –161 (probably an antique forgery) As

5820-454: The façade were faced with lime tuff . The south side of the carefully crafted façade has two projecting rectangular pilasters on each side of the single-lane, approximately 2.1 metres wide passageway, between which elaborate mesh masonry ( opus reticulatum ) made of lime sintered stone was inserted in a recessed frame. The triumphal arch-like character of the layered masonry in front is clearly emphasised by these details. The special nature of

5917-417: The field name " Mäuerlesbüsche " shows, knowledge of an ancient building near Dalkingen has survived for a remarkably long time. The remains of the gate were visible for many years. The first known excavation of this site took place in the early 19th century. In 1873, the archaeologist Ernst von Herzog (1834-1911) visited the site as part of his surveying work on the Roman border . The artefacts recovered at

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6014-418: The free, unoccupied part of Germania ( Germania magna ) came from there. For many of them, Buch fort  [ de ; ceb ] , located around two kilometres to the south-west, with its civilian settlement ( vicus ), was certainly the last stop before the border. As the rich and often valuable artefacts found there show, the inhabitants of Buch must have achieved some prosperity through border trade. As

6111-425: The fringes of India . The classical Greek period conventionally ends at the death of Alexander in 323 BC and the fragmentation of his empire, which was at this time divided among the Diadochi . Greece began the Hellenistic period with the increasing power of Macedon and the conquests of Alexander the Great . Greek became the lingua franca far beyond Greece itself, and Hellenistic culture interacted with

6208-439: The inhabitants of Constantinople continued to refer to themselves as Romans, as did their eventual conquerors in 1453, the Ottomans (see Romaioi and Rûm .) The classical scholarship and culture that was still preserved in Constantinople were brought by refugees fleeing its conquest in 1453 and helped to begin the Renaissance (see Greek scholars in the Renaissance ). Ultimately, it was a slow, complex, and graduated change of

6305-412: The language, politics, law, educational systems, philosophy , science, warfare, literature, historiography, ethics, rhetoric, art and architecture of both the Western , and through it, the modern world. Surviving fragments of classical culture helped produce a revival beginning during the 14th century which later came to be known as the Renaissance , and various neo-classical revivals occurred during

6402-417: The latter two of which were formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the Corinthian War , which ended inconclusively in 387 BC. Later, in 371 BC, the Theban generals Epaminondas and Pelopidas won a victory at the Battle of Leuctra . The result of this battle was the end of Spartan supremacy and the establishment of Theban hegemony . Thebes sought to maintain its dominance until it

6499-413: The lime kiln had been built for the construction of the Raetian Wall or the Limes Gate and was therefore probably Roman. Geophysical investigations carried out in 2012 and 2014 revealed another feature around 50 metres southeast of the Limestor. This was a previously unearthed square stone building measuring 20 × 20 metres, which archaeologist Stephan Bender  [ de ] (1965-2019) classified as

6596-409: The monument authorities. Classical antiquity Classical antiquity , also known as the classical era , classical period , classical age , or simply antiquity , is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome known together as the Greco-Roman world , centered on

6693-424: The overthrow of the Monarchy c. 509 BC and lasted more than 450 years until its subversion through a series of civil wars , into the Principate form of government and the Imperial period. During the half millennium of the Republic, Rome increased from a regional power of the Latium to the dominant force in Italy and beyond. The unification of Italy by the Romans was a gradual process, brought about by

6790-419: The publication of the Limeswerk  [ de ] , did not rely on Paulus' findings and Cohausen's publication for reasons that are inexplicable today, but instead drew up a different plan of the site without carrying out his own excavations. As a result, he imagined the Limes gate to be a field post , a small fort that corresponded structurally to the neighbouring fortifications. Planck assumed that Paret

6887-404: The reign of Emperor Severus Alexander (222 to 235 CE) is considered to be the last coin at the Limes Gate. However, as there is no evidence of an Alamanni attack between 233 and 234 in the nearby vicus of Buch fort, the Germanic raid could have taken place in the early summer of 254 CE. At that time, the village of Buch perished in a catastrophic fire. The extent to which the Rhaetian border in

6984-619: The site was carried out by the Department for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments of the Baden-Württemberg State Monuments Office under the direction of Dieter Planck from 16 June 1978 to 26 June 1978. The excavators discovered a round limestone kiln with a diameter of around 4.20 metres. The hemispherical kiln pit had been sunk around 1.30 metres deep into the lime marl . At its bottom

7081-454: The small milestone forts  [ de ] on Hadrian's Wall in northern England. There were also controlled passages into the unoccupied part. During the excavation, the deep post trenches gave the impression that the logs had been excavated before the stone structure was erected in Phase 5. It is assumed that a road leading from Fort Aalen  [ de ; ceb ] via Fort Buch to

7178-541: The socio-economic structure in European history that resulted in the changeover between classical antiquity and medieval society and no specific date can truly exemplify that. In politics, the late Roman conception of the Empire as a universal state, commanded by one supreme divinely appointed ruler, united with Christianity as a universal religion likewise headed by a supreme patriarch , proved very influential, even after

7275-640: The son-in-law of Servius Tullius , Superbus was of Etruscan birth. It was during his reign that the Etruscans reached their apex of power. Superbus removed and destroyed all the Sabine shrines and altars from the Tarpeian Rock , enraging the people of Rome. The people came to object to his rule when he failed to recognize the rape of Lucretia , a patrician Roman, by his own son. Lucretia's kinsman, Lucius Junius Brutus (ancestor to Marcus Brutus ), summoned

7372-778: The state, as can be seen in the architecture of the Panthéon , the Arc de Triomphe , and the paintings of Jacques-Louis David . During the revolution, France transitioned from kingdom to republic to dictatorship to Empire (complete with Imperial Eagles) that the Romans had experienced centuries earlier. Classical antiquity is a general term for a long period of cultural history . Such a wide sampling of history and territory covers many rather disparate cultures and periods. "Classical antiquity" often refers to an idealized vision of later people, of what was, in Edgar Allan Poe 's words, "the glory that

7469-434: The statue as well as the iconographic details indicate that it was an imperial statue. A stylistic analysis of all the fragments led to the conclusion that the statue was older than the Limestor itself and was created in the late reign of Emperor Hadrian (117-138) or the first years of his successor Antoninus Pius (138-161). It was therefore reused for the new installation in Dalkingen. The head may have been replaced so that

7566-399: The structure with printed fabric panels, which hang in their original size over the preserved stone stumps of the gate. In total, the archaeologists were able to identify six consecutive construction phases on the unusually well-preserved remains of the building, which also revealed the different construction periods of the Rhaetian Wall. The guards for the gatehouse and the troops who manned

7663-424: The time are considered lost. In addition to pottery, he found a bronze fragment of a female statuette. His report, published in 1880, also documents that the ‘remains of a tower’ had been excavated and that "masses" of rubble were still lying around. He also reported on a slab stolen from the mound of rubble in 1873, which was used secondarily as an entrance step to the Dalkingen churchyard. In the course of his work on

7760-431: The trench from a rear reinforcement created with the palisade. In more recent considerations, Planck assumed that the wicket gate had also been converted into a regular border crossing . The palisade ditch coming from the southeast aligned roughly with the eastern corner of the wooden tower. However, like the older wattle fence, it left a passage open between its end and the corner of the tower. The palisade ditch bent at

7857-436: The turn of the 3rd century. As a replacement, a 5 × 4.8 metres stone foundation was built around seven metres behind the Limes palisade on the south-eastern flank of the Limes gate, which Planck found well-preserved. The rising construction of this tower can either be interpreted as a complete stone tower or as a wooden tower with a stone foundation. The wooden gate structure remained unchanged during this phase. The Limes wall

7954-577: The victory of King Sargon II in 709 BC over the seven kings of the island, marking an important part of the transfer of Cyprus from Tyrian rule to the Neo-Assyrian Empire . The Archaic period followed the Greek Dark Ages , and saw significant advancements in political theory , and the beginnings of democracy , philosophy , theatre , poetry , as well as the revitalization of the written language (which had been lost during

8051-406: The visual documentation. This was followed in 1886 by a report by the archaeological pioneer Karl August von Cohausen  [ de ] (1812-1894), who also presented the first reconstruction of the Limes Gate. No further scientific investigations were carried out afterwards. The archaeologist Oscar Paret  [ de ] (1889-1972), who in 1934 reviewed the current state of research for

8148-418: The wall. The Limes wall coming from the south-east now ran directly across its northern flank before it cut the dismantled wooden gateway in the middle and bent to the west just within a few metres of it. At the same time, a 12.6 × 9.3 metre stone building was erected above the wooden structure, shifted slightly to the south-east, which took over the gate function of the previous building and connected directly to

8245-457: The wattle fence possibly ended, whereby Planck assumed in his more recent considerations that there could have been a narrow wicket gate between the south-eastern flank and the end of the fence there. The post settings found along the south-west side of the tower would thus have obscured the view of the gateway from the south and could be addressed as an additional safety measure. In 1969, semi-circular split oak trunks were recovered as parts of

8342-476: The wooden Limes palisade on the southern edge of Schwabsberg in the area of the Jagst lowlands, which had been marshy since ancient times. Four samples were analysed by the dendrochronologist Ernst Hollstein  [ de ] (1918-1988) in 1975. All samples dated from "late 165, possibly spring 166 CE". In 1974, the palisade in this area was archaeologically excavated again. Seven samples were then sent to

8439-596: Was Greece , the grandeur that was Rome !" During the 18th and 19th centuries AD, reverence for classical antiquity was much greater in Europe and the United States than it is now. Respect for the ancient people of Greece and Rome affected politics , philosophy , sculpture , literature , theatre , education , architecture , and sexuality . Epic poetry in Latin continued to be written and circulated well into

8536-467: Was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome". The culture of the ancient Greeks , together with some influences from the ancient Near East , was the basis of art, philosophy, society, and education in the Mediterranean and Near East until the Roman imperial period . The Romans preserved, imitated, and spread this culture throughout Europe, until they were able to compete with it. This Greco-Roman cultural foundation has been immensely influential on

8633-413: Was an almost rectangular shaft, another 0.70 metres deep. The excavators were able to observe air supply channels at the bottom of which charcoal had been retained and which led to the pit. The southern part of the pit was bordered by a mortarless wall made of quarry stones, in which there were slits for the air supply channels. Although no finds were made in the entire kiln area, the excavators surmised that

8730-402: Was built in stone during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211). This is indicated, among other things, by dendrochronologically examined timbers from the substructure of the wall at Fort Dambach  [ de ; ceb ] , which were felled in the winter of 206/207 CE. Both the wooden passage and the tower from phase 4 were demolished down to the foundations for the construction of

8827-718: Was emperor Maurice , who reigned until 602. The overthrow of Maurice by his mutinying Danube army commanded by Phocas resulted in the Slavic invasion of the Balkans and the weakening of Balkan and Greek urban culture (resulting in the flight of Balkan Latin speakers to the mountains, see Origin of the Romanians ), and also provoked the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 in which all the great eastern cities except Constantinople were lost. The resulting turmoil did not end until

8924-669: Was finally ended by the increasing power of Macedon in 346 BC. During the reign of Philip II , (359–336 BC), Macedon expanded into the territory of the Paeonians , the Thracians and the Illyrians . Philip's son, Alexander the Great , (356–323 BC) managed to briefly extend Macedonian power not only over the central Greek city-states but also to the Persian Empire , including Egypt and lands as far east as

9021-458: Was not particularly worn and had been minted in Rome between 140 and 144 CE. In the past, the datable terra sigillata was also attributed to the first half of the 2nd century. The 13.3 × 14.5 metres symmetrical wooden building with a largely rectangular floor plan was founded in post pits up to 1.1 metre deep. The wooden structure already had a passage leading from south to north. On both sides of

9118-437: Was probably already suited for regular border controls. In a further expansion phase - at a later date than the construction of the palisade - a first wooden gateway was erected to the south-east of the tower. In the lowest filling of its post trenches, which were unusually deep at up to 1.1 metre, a well-preserved sestertius from the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) was found alongside some pottery shards. The coin

9215-749: Was strong among the Founding Fathers of the United States and the Latin American revolutionaries; the Americans described their new government as a republic (from res publica ) and gave it a Senate and a President (another Latin term), rather than use available English terms like commonwealth or parliament . Similarly in Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, republicanism and Roman martial virtues were promoted by

9312-450: Was typical of Roman military equipment from the end of the 2nd century, when the spatha had become the main weapon in close combat. The presence of long-range weapons at the limestone gate is illustrated by projectile bolts fired from rapid-firing torsion launchers . Other artefacts include various tools. These include a hammer, an iron awl , a spoon drill, a scraper for woodworking, an axe, fragments of at least two cast iron spoons and

9409-705: Was unable to reproduce the older research results. The consequence of this entry in the Limeswerk was that it was published for decades that the function and significance of the structure had not been correctly recognised in 1885/1886. It was only in the course of land consolidation that the Baden-Württemberg State Office for the Protection of Monuments  [ de ] carried out another comprehensive assessment from 25 September to 23 November 1973 and from 1 June to 30 July 1974 under

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