Roman Germany

Bei Grabungen 1898 entdeckte römische Steindenkmäler innerhalb eines Gebäudes im Gräberfeld von Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt sind der Ausgangspunt der Untersuchung. Darunter befanden sich einige Weihungen an die Göttin Herecura. Daher wurde zum einen die Herkunft und Verbreitung dieser Gottheit untersucht als auch das Phänomen der Deponierung römischer Steindenkmäler.

The gem is now in Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum but originating in the Pitt Rivers Museum at Farnham, Wiltshire. It is a rare example of a Roman intaglio engraved with the image of a Roman military musician. It was purchased at Sinzig in Germany in the late nineteenth century.

Im römerzeitlichen Deutschland konzentrierte sich die Bevölkerung in coloniae, Legionslagern sowie in den Kastellen an der Grenze. Die mehrmalige Verlagerung der Grenze des Römischen Reiches führte zu umfassenden Verschiebungen großer Teile der Bevölkerung im Laufe der Zeit. Anhand eines Überblicks bekannter Gräberfelder der vici, civitas-Hauptorte und canabae wird das besondere Ausmaß dieser Bevölkerungsverschiebungen fassbar, die als Massenmigration gedeutet wird. An vielen Bestattungsplätzen ehemaliger Grenzorte sinkt mit der Verlagerung der Kastelle die Anzahl gut datierbarer Gräber auf 0–8 % der vormaligen Belegung. An den neuen Limites steigt sie hingegen von Null auf viele hundert Bestattungen, bis sich in der Spätantike die entgegengesetzte Entwicklung vollzieht. Die bisherigen Bevölkerungsschätzungen beruhten hingegen auf der Annahme stabil bevölkerter Siedlungsplätze. Aufgrund der Bedeutung der Migration zur Grenze wird für die Blütezeit des 2. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. eine niedrigere Bevölkerungsgröße in den vici, civitas-Hauptorten und canabae vorgeschlagen.

Abstract: Studies on population density and migration in Upper Germania and Raetia. An overview based upon selected cemeteries

In Roman period Germany population concentrated in coloniae, military camps and auxiliary forts near the roman frontier. The multiple shifts of the imperial boundary resulted in extensive movements of large parts of the population over time. The extent of these displacements can be made visible through an overview of known cemeteries of vici, civitates and canabae, and can be understood as a kind of mass migration. Due to the relocation of the forts the number of well-dated graves at cemeteries of former military camps near the Roman frontier declines to 0–8 % of the previous inhabitation, whereas the number rises at new military vici and camps near the Limes from zero to many hundred burials. This trend is then reverted in Late Antiquity. Previous estimations of the population rest upon the assumption of steadily inhabited settlements. Due to the significance of the migration to the border a lower number of people are suggested for the vici, civitates and canabae during the heyday of the 2nd century AD.

Résumé: Études sur la densité démographique et la migration en Germanie supérieure et Rhétie. Un aperçu basé sur une sélection de nécropoles

La population de l’Allemagne romaine se concentrait dans les coloniae, les camps légionnaires et les castra frontaliers. Le déplacement répété de la frontière de l’Empire romain a déclenché au cours du temps plusieurs mouvements d’une grande partie de la population. Un aperçu de nécropoles connues des vici, capitales de civitates et canabae révèle l’ampleur particulière de ces mouvements de population interprétés comme une migration de masse. En de nombreux anciens lieux frontaliers, le déplacement des castra s’accompagne d’une réduction des tombes datables à 0–8 % de l’occupation précédente. Aux nouvelles frontières, ces nombres explosent pour atteindre plusieurs centaines qui connaîtront une tendance inverse dans l’Antiquité tardive. Les estimations démographiques se basaient jusqu’ici sur l’idée que l’occupation des agglomérations restait stable. L’importance de la migration vers la frontière permet de proposer une population moins élevée dans les vici, chefs-lieux des civitates et canabae à l’apogée du 2e siècle ap. J.-C.

Culture Clash and Cross-Fertilization in the religions across the Roman world. The process of Interpretatio is an important mechanism to overcome the cultural differences in the Roman empire by providing a common language that is intelligible across this vast empire. The association between an indigenous/local and Greco-Roman divine concept are not superficial; instead, we recognise here the cross-fertilisation between different cultures; the original act of "interpretatio" only sets in motion long-term processes that will, in the long run, significantly change the nature of local cults. Interpretatio indigena refers to the local population making interpretations with Greco-Roman and Greco-Oriental deities.

The aim of this paper is twofold: it provides an overview of the cults and the cult geography of the civitasVangionum; secondly, it experiments with inserting the evidence into a reconstructed 'Celtic' myth in order to explore its 'Celticity'. We are largely limited to epigraphy and sculptural representations with insufficient archaeological evidence regarding cult continuity or changes  in cult practices. Moreover, in many of the East Gaulish civitates, aspects of religious continuity between the Late pre-Roman Iron Age and the Roman period are difficult to identify since most of our evidence dates to the 2nd and 3rd C. A.D. Does this mean that the religious activities which we recognise in the Princinate were largely a creation of Roman times? The cultural and political contexts of the civitas Vangionum may not have been as dominated by the Roman army as other areas in the Rhine
provinces, but it remains inappropriate to talk about 'indigenous' religion or an autochthonous population because of the rõle of immigrants. Further, the organisation of the landscape appears 'Roman', focussing on the civitas capital, Borbetomagos (Worms), and a series of small towns
(vici), most of which were created during the Roman period. All this makes the survival of pre-Roman religion unlikely. And yet the available evidence (epigraphy, sculpture and iconographys) has rather non Roman characteristics. For example, the frequent combination of Vulcan and Venus, Jupiter and Juno or Hercules and Juno on bas-reliefs is difficult to understand on the basis of Roman mythology. As discussed below, it seems possible to make sense of them within a narrative of Celtic mythology, but this approach cannot be used uncritically since our knowledge of Celtic
mythology if such a mythology ever existed-is speculative. G. Olmsted and C. Sterckx provide a strong case for the study of Irish and Welsh texts in order to make sense of continental Celtic mythology, and perhaps continental and insular mythology go back to a common protomyth, but religion and myth evolved having been embedded in contemporary society and local geography. We should be careful not to make superficial parallels between different Indo-European religions, as we shall see.

This paper surveys nineteen lead curse tablets from the sanctuary of Magna Mater and Isis in Mainz, Germany. Written in Latin, these tablets seek the divine help of Magna Mater and other deities in rectifying perceived injustices. When theorizing about cursing practices at the site, I argue that we need to look to the in situ context of the curse tablets and consider the other ritual deposits made at the sanctuary. Accounting for the co-presence of votary items alongside curse tablets can significantly aid our understanding of how the curse authors at Mainz viewed their practice. I argue that votive cult provides a compelling framework for understanding cursing at Mainz and the role of place in these materials. The curses at Mainz suggest that those who utilized cursing at the site made a strong connection between the figures petitioned in the curses and the physical site of the temple. The connection between the temple locus and cursing is illustrated by the uniformity of cursing rituals, the thematic content of the petitioners’ requests, and the sites of tablet deposition. Because of the close connection between votive cult and cursing at the site, I argue from the evidence supplied by the curse tablets examined here that we need to reconsider our formulation of cursing as a deviant or marginal religious practice and instead recognize all the ways that it fell within normative religious habits in Roman antiquity.

Im Vorfeld des Tagebaus Hambach wurde ein alter Heerweg in einer Sondage erfasst. Anhand einiger Überlegungen zu alten Karten und
literarischen Quellen wird eine Ansprache als älteste Straße vom Mittelmeer an den Rhein vorgeschlagen - der Agrippa-Straße. Wahrscheinlich führte diese von Lyon über Trier und die Kerpen-Manheimer Gemarkung nach Neuss.

In this article the different function and the different economic importance of early Roman installations are discussed comparatively. Starting point is the late Augustan settlement of Waldgirmes, where probably only about 150-300 people lived, but which is often compared to military camps that were occupied by several thousand soldiers.

The research that has been done on royalty in general is massive. And, the connections between royal lines once revealed can be amazing, as they will sometimes reveal connections that a) were not supposed to have existed, and even b) that actually contradict the information that was given to the general public by those very royals. This paper gives two different lines of descent of Kaiser Wilhelm II, from Arrius Calpurnius Piso. One is through Arrius Piso's son Justus Piso. And the second line of descent is via Arrius Piso's son Julius Piso. Now, even though these two lines are given here, it should be understood that in reality, these are but two of many extant genealogies extending from Arrius Piso and his family to Kaiser Wilhelm. I plan to write yet another paper giving some of the other lines as well. There are several things that I have noticed as I have researched and studied ancient history and genealogies; things that should provide any good (or with time, potentially great) researcher with valuable information. And, as in my case, perhaps answers to many very important questions, as well as a few epic discoveries. When I began to investigate fully, and with the time and attention required, ancient history and information given within those histories, with regards to particular individuals, I found that certain things appeared to be 'standard' with all of those ancient authors-and those things stood out to me, and appeared to have been missed by other researchers, as I had never seen those certain things ever being noted or mentioned in the work of other researchers. For one thing, I had noted that in the work of one ancient author after another, there were so many instances where those authors could have very easily gave answers and information in a direct and forthright manner; but deliberately chose not to. And, more often than not, avoided very skillfully, giving key information about certain individuals; mainly and particularly, the authors themselves. Also, those authors would make statements which either promised to give answers and/or further information about a particular subject, and then failed to do so. At least, in any known or public work. Now, some researchers have tried to answer this by giving excuses for some of those instances. But, in essence, those explanations or excuses are really simply guesses. And poor ones at that. My work has given some genuine answers. And the true context of the material that was being written and left to future generations by those ancient authors is key to getting at the truth and in finding valid answers to these and other questions. One of the main things to realize is that ancient history (and other material being produced by those authors), was being written within a tightly controlled environment. And that changes the context in which we must now examine that material in order to understand it correctly. It also means that because of this set of circumstances, other things were in play as well. And, one of those is the fact that the authors who were leaving us their works were in fact, all royalty. Which, in turn, means that these authors were related to each other and had the same common ancestry. It also, therefore, means that they had the same or similar vested interests. Because only royals or those of royal blood, were able to write for publication, it meant that what they

Plusieurs documents, de natures archéologique et épigraphique, indiquent qu'à partir de la fin du Ier siècle p.C., en Italie et au moins en Germanie, Isis et la Mère des dieux sont associées au sein de sanctuaires doubles où chacune possède son propre temple. Derrière cette situation originale, il faut retrouver la volonté de Vespasien de placer son pouvoir sous le double patronage de la Mère des dieux et d'Isis et, ainsi, de le légitimer doublement. Expression d'une Realpolitik mûrement réfléchie, ce choix participa à la consolidation du pouvoir flavien et à l'affirmation de la dynastie.

The Vangiones were first mentioned by Caesar. But what do we really know about them? There are lots of theories and speculations that are often presented as facts: Celts or Germans? Size of their territory? Their cults and material culture, etc.? ... These will be critically discussed in this little paper, published - for the general public - in the 'Almanac' of the City of Worms, 2007:
--- Die Vangionen wurden zum ersten Mal von Caesar erwähnt. Doch was wissen wir wirklich über die Vangionen? Viele der immer wieder gerne als Fakten zitierten Mutmaßungen sollen hier kritisch hinterfragt werden. Kelten oder Germanen? Größe ihres Territoriums? Ihre Religion, Kulte und materielle Kulture, in vorrömischer und römischer Zeit? Dies ist ein Artikel für ein allgemeines Publikum aus dem "Heimatjahrbuch" der Stadt Worms, 2007.

New scientific work on the ancient landscapes of Germany and Britain makes it very likely that the Roman decision to abandon attempts to conquer Germany as far as the Elbe, most clearly expressed by Tiberius in 16 AD, was strongly influenced by perceptions of the heavily wooded landscape of that region. There were other reasons too: the concern of emperors to hinder potential rivals; the sheer difficulty of advancing to the Elbe; and the increasing concern of the emperor and his advisers for the fiscal effects of this and other potential conquests. But what is new is that the evidence of arboreal and non-arboreal pollen shows that Germany was a less attractive target than agrarian England.

The paper deals with written sources on Gaius' operations in Northern Germany in AD 40 and the debated theory of a planned invasion of Britain, perhaps to lead the following year. It also focuses on Gaius' pietas as a possible key to understand the facts recorded by Cassius Dio and Suetonius but also echoed in Persius and Tacitus.

This article concerns iconoclasm in the German provinces of the Roman Empire. Scholars have generally blamed ‘barbarians’ from outside the empire for violence towards images in this border region.  Drawing on visual, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence, I argue instead that Late Antique Christians were responsible for the most extensive and destructive attacks.  This has important implications for our understanding of the reception of religious images in Roman provincial society.  In addition, it offers an illuminating case study of the workings of iconoclasm in a well-documented but neglected period.

The paper deals with a sort of crossing between late antique sources reporting the starting moment of Langobardish people with its name, which  are written in the VII century, and classical sources of early imperial times where we find a people named as Langobardi among the others with which the Roman armies had to deal with and fight.
Proceeding from this point, we observe a possible involvement of Langobardi in the Germanic wars fought by the Romans in the age of Augustus and the early years of Tiberius, basing on the certainty that the Romans knew the Langobardi and that the name of this gens already existed.

The Rhine River was the backbone of Roman provincial life along the German frontier for over four centuries. Over this time period, the Rhine went through significant hydrological changes as a result of both climatic and anthropogenic forcing throughout its basin, and these changes had important influences on the historical trajectory of life in the region. As many Roman settlements were built on or near the Rhine and its tributaries, these changes had a direct impact on the occupation of both urban and rural landscapes. A combination of flooding, channel movement, and sedimentation alongside increased political and military conflict from the third century AD onwards led to the movement and abandonment of many settlements throughout the region.

In 1976, amateur-archaeologists working under the supervision of the then Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek (State Service for Archaeology) carried out a rescue excavation on a parcel west of the modern village of Buchten, province of Limburg. During the fieldwork the remains of a sanctuary of the Roman period devoted to the cult of the otherwise unknown local goddess Arcanua, and an early medieval cemetery were uncovered. This volume is the final publication on this rescue excavation. Since the documentation preserved in the archives of what had been found in the field approved to be rather poor and deficient, chapter 3 tries to reconstruct the progress of the fieldwork on the basis of archival documents as well as photographs and slides made by the amateur archaeologists and others. Chapter 4 deals with the landscape as well as with the settlement history in the Roman and early medieval periods in the area around the site. The next three chapters constitute the core of this publication and describe the features (chapter 5) and finds (chapters 6 and 7) with the last of these chapters being entirely devoted to a discussion of the single special find of a bronze enamelled cockerel with inscribed pedestal and its parallels (chapter 7).

The Roman army enjoys an enviable reputation as an instrument of waging war, but as the modern world reminds us, an enduring victory requires far more than simply winning battles. When it came to suppressing insurgencies, or deterring the depredations of bandits, the army frequently deployed small groups of infantry and cavalry based in fortlets. This remarkable installation type has never previously been studied in detail, and shows a new side to the Roman army. Rather than displaying the aggressive uniformity for which the Roman military is famous, individual fortlets were usually bespoke installations tailored to local needs. Examining fortlet use in north-west Europe helps explain the differing designs of the Empire’s most famous artificial frontier systems: Hadrian’s Wall, the Antonine Wall, and the Upper German and Raetian limites. The archaeological evidence is fully integrated with documentary sources, which disclose the gritty reality of life in a Roman fortlet.

Published in: Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 3 (2011) 301-317.
The Roman general Germanicus (15 BCE-19 CE) gained unprecedented popularity during his lifetime. However, in dealing with the mutiny of the Rhine armies in 14 CE he did not show the determination which his popularity might lead us to expect. His campaigns against a German alliance lead by Arminius, can hardly be described as successful, and never resulted in the permanent subjection of Germany. Germanicus took several unnecessary risks which caused losses to the Roman treasury and military. This interpretation of Germanicus’ German command matches the current view that Tacitus does not present Germanicus as a glorious figure, but depicts his so-called hero often in a negative light. Nonetheless, according to Tacitus, the recall of Germanicus in 16 CE was the consequence of Tiberius’ fear of his nephew’s popularity and his own wish not to pursue a policy of expansion. Although the ending of Germanicus’ command, memorialized after his death in 19 CE in several monuments in honour of the deceased (as summoned in the Tabula Siarensis), meant the abrupt end of Roman campaigning in Germany, it is argued here that the recall of Germanicus should  be considered a sensible measure, dictated by a pragmatic outlook on foreign affairs.