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Military of ancient Rome (portal)
800 BC – AD 476

Structural history
Roman army (unit types and ranks,
legions, auxiliaries, generals)
Roman navy (fleets, admirals)
Campaign history
Lists of wars and battles
Decorations and punishments
Technological history
Military engineering (castra,
siege engines, arches, roads)
Personal equipment
Political history
Strategy and tactics
Infantry tactics
Frontiers and fortifications (limes,
Hadrian's Wall)
Map of Upper Germanic & Rhaetian Limes
Map of Upper Germanic & Rhaetian Limes

The Limes Germanicus (Latin for Germanic frontier) was a remarkable line of frontier (limes) forts that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Superior and Raetia, and divided the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes, from the years 83 to 260. Commonwealth English! -->The military of ancient Rome relates to the combined military forces of Ancient Rome from the founding of the city The structural history of the Roman military describes the major chronological transformations in the organization and constitution of Ancient Rome 's armed forces, The Roman army was a set of military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and later Roman Empire as part of the Roman military This is a list of both unit types and ranks of the Roman army from the Roman Republic to the fall of This is a list of Roman legions, including key facts about each legion primarily focusing on Principate (early Empire 30BC - 284AD legions for which there exists Auxiliaries (from Latin: auxilia = "supports" formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate (30 BC&ndash284 AD A Manius Acilius Glabrio -- Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC -- Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 91 -- Titus The Roman Navy ( Latin: Classis, lit "fleet" comprised the naval forces of the Roman state The Roman Navy ( Latin: Classis, lit "fleet" comprised the naval forces of the Roman state From its origin as a city-state in Italy in 9th century BC the rise as an empire covering much of Eurasia and North The following is a List of Roman wars fought by the ancient Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire, organized by date The following is a list of Roman Battles fought by the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire, and sometimes the Byzantine Empire As with most other military forces the Roman military adopted a "carrot and stick" approach to military with an extensive list of decorations for military gallantry The technology history of the Roman military covers the development of and application of technologies for use in the armies and navies of Rome from the Roman Republic to the fall The military engineering of Ancient Rome 's armed forces was of a scale and frequency far beyond that of any of its contemporaries The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military Roman Siege engines were for the most part adapted from Hellenistic Siege Technology. List of ancient Roman Triumphal arches (By modern country France Carpentras Triumphal Arch The Roman Roads were essential for the growth of the Roman Empire, by enabling the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate news Roman military personal equipment was produced in large numbers to established patterns and used in an established way Rome's military was always tightly keyed to its political system The strategy of the Roman Military encompasses its Grand strategy (the arrangements made by the state to implement its political goals through a selection of military goals Roman infantry tactics refers to the theoretical and historical deployment formation and maneuvers of the Roman infantry from the start of the Roman Republic to the fall Roman military borders and fortifications were part of a Grand strategy of territorial defense in the Roman Empire. A limes (or the Limes Romanus) was a Border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. Hadrian's Wall ( Latin: perhaps Vallum Aelium, "the Aelian wall" is a stone and turf Fortification built by the Roman A limes (or the Limes Romanus) was a Border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. Germania Superior ("Upper Germania " so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a province of the Raetia (so always in inscriptions classical manuscripts usually use the form Rhaetia) was a province of the Roman Empire, bounded on the west by the country The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic At its height, the limes stretched from the Northsea outlet of the Rhine to near Regensburg on the Danube. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge Regensburg ( also Ratisbon, Ratisbona Řezno originally Castra Regina) is a City (population 131000 in 2007 in Bavaria, Germany The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj

The Limes Germanicus was divided into:

Contents

History

Reconstructed Limes near Saalburg, Germany.
Reconstructed Limes near Saalburg, Germany.

Roman border defences have become much better known through systematic excavations financed by Germany and through other research connected to them. In 2005, the remnants of the Upper Germanic & Rhaetian Limes were inscribed on the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Europe. Asia Minor, Cyprus, all of the Aegean Islands, the Canaries United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex The Saalburg is a reconstructed fortification and museum of the Limes near Frankfurt. The Saalburg is a Roman fort located on the Taunus ridge northwest of Bad Homburg, Hesse, Germany.

Augustus

The first emperor who began to build fortifications along the border was Augustus, shortly after the devastating Roman defeat in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD. Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in the year 9 A Year 9 ( IX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. Originally there were numerous Limes walls, which were then connected to form the Upper Germanic Limes along the Rhine and the Rhaetian Limes along the Danube. Later these two walls were linked to form a common borderline.

14 to c. 73

From the death of Augustus (14 AD) until after 70 AD, Rome accepted as her Germanic frontier the water-boundary of the Rhine and upper Danube. Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj Beyond these rivers she held only the fertile plain of Frankfurt, opposite the Roman border fortress of Moguntiacum (Mainz), the southernmost slopes of the Black Forest and a few scattered bridge-heads. Mainz (ˈmaɪ̯nʦ (Mayence is a City in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. For the suburb of Adelaide, please see Black Forest South Australia; for the CDP in Colorado, please see Black Forest Colorado. The northern section of this frontier, where the Rhine is deep and broad, remained the Roman boundary until the empire fell. The southern part was different. The upper Rhine and upper Danube are easily crossed. The frontier which they form is inconveniently long, enclosing an acute-angled wedge of foreign territory between the modern Baden and Württemberg. Baden is a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine. Württemberg, formerly known as Wirtemberg, is an area and a former state in Swabia, a region in southwestern Germany. The Germanic populations of these lands seem in Roman times to have been scanty, and Roman subjects from the modern Alsace-Lorraine had drifted across the river eastwards. Alsace-Lorraine (Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen generally Elsass - Lothringen) was a territorial entity created by the German Empire in 1871 The motives alike of geographical convenience and of the advantages to be gained by recognising these movements of Roman subjects combined to urge a forward policy at Rome, and when the vigorous Vespasian had succeeded Nero, a series of advances began which gradually closed up the acute angle, or at least rendered it obtuse. Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian ( November 17 9 &ndash June 23 79) was a Roman Emperor who Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( December 15, 37 – June 9, 68) born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called

Remains of the Limes
Remains of the Limes

Flavian dynasty

The first advance came about 74 AD, when what is now Baden was invaded and in part annexed and a road carried from the Roman base on the upper Rhine, Strassburg, to the Danube just above Ulm. Strasbourg (Strasbourg stʁazbuʁ Alsatian: Strossburi,; Straßburg) is the capital and principal City of the Alsace région Ulm (ˈʊlm is a City in the German Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The point of the angle was broken off.

The second advance was made by Domitian about 83 AD. Titus Flavius Domitianus (24 October 51 &ndash 18 September 96 commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death He pushed out from Moguntiacum, extended the Roman territory east of it and enclosed the whole within a systematically delimited and defended frontier with numerous blockhouses along it and larger forts in the rear. Among the blockhouses was one which by various enlargements and refoundations grew into the well-known Saalburg fort on the Taunus near Bad Homburg. The Saalburg is a Roman fort located on the Taunus ridge northwest of Bad Homburg, Hesse, Germany. The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. Also see Homburg. Bad Homburg vor der Höhe (official Bad Homburg v This advance necessitated a third movement, the construction of a frontier connecting the annexations of AD 74 and AD 83 . We know the line of this frontier which ran from the Main across the upland Odenwald to the upper waters of the Neckar and was defended by a chain of forts. The Odenwald (ˈoːd(ənvalt is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The Neckar is a 367-km long River, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, but also a short section through Hesse We do not, however, know its date, save that, if not Domitian's work, it was carried out soon after his death, and the whole frontier thus constituted was reorganised, probably by Hadrian, with a continuous wooden palisade reaching from Rhine to Danube. Publius Aelius Hadrianus (January 24 76 &ndash July 10 138 as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after palisade is a steel or wooden Fence or wall of variable height usually used as a defensive structure

Hadrian and the Antonines

The angle between the rivers was now almost full. But there remained further advance and further fortification. Either Hadrian or, more probably, his successor Antoninus Pius pushed out from the Odenwald and the Danube, and marked out a new frontier roughly parallel to, but in advance of these two lines, though sometimes, as on the Taunus, coinciding with the older line. Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus ( September 19, 86 &ndash March 7 161) generally known in English as Antoninus Pius This is the frontier which is now visible and visited by the curious. It consists, as we see it today, of two distinct frontier works, one, known as the Pfahlgraben, is an earthen mound with stakes on top and ditch in front of the mound, best seen in the neighbourhood of the Saalburg but once extending from the Rhine southwards into southern Germany. The other, which begins where the earthwork stops, is a wall, though not a very formidable wall, of stone, the Teufelsmauer; it runs roughly east and west parallel to the Danube, which it finally joins at Heinheim near Regensburg. Regensburg ( also Ratisbon, Ratisbona Řezno originally Castra Regina) is a City (population 131000 in 2007 in Bavaria, Germany The southern part of the Pfahlgraben is remarkably straight; for over 50 km it points almost absolutely true for Polaris. Polaris (α UMi / α Ursae Minoris / Alpha Ursae Minoris commonly North(ern Star or Pole Star, and sometimes Lodestar

Tower of the Limes
Tower of the Limes

This frontier remained for about 100 years, and no doubt in that long period much was done to it to which precise dates are difficult to fix. It cannot even be absolutely certain when the frontier laid out by Pius was equipped with the manpitts and other special fortifications. But we know that the pressure of the barbarians began to be felt seriously in the later part of the 2nd century, and after long struggles the whole or almost the whole district east of the Rhine and north of the Danube was lost, seemingly all within one short period, about 250. The 2nd century is the period from 101 to 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era.

Late Roman empire

Germanic invasions in the late 3rd century led to the abandonment of the so-called "Upper Raetian Limes" in favour of a Roman defence line along the rivers Rhine, Iller and Danube (Donau-Iller-Rhine-Limes) with watch towers in sight contact and heavily fortified castra at important passes (e. The 3rd century is the period from 201 to 300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge İller means provinces in Turkish see Provinces of Turkey The Iller (ancient name Ilargus) is a river in Bavaria, The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj g. Castrum Rauracense instead of the previously unwalled Augusta Raurica near to Basel) and in the hinterland of the frontier (e. Augusta Raurica is a large Roman Archaeological site and an Open-air museum in Switzerland. "Basilia" redirects here For the Fly Genus, see Basilia (fly. g. Vindonissa in today's Switzerland). Vindonissa was a Roman legion camp at modern Windisch, Switzerland.

Description and functionality of the limes

The limes itself is a very simple construction. It is similar to the fortification that a travelling troop of Roman soldiers would construct every evening, to protect the camp from attacks. On the outside, the soldiers dug a ditch. The earth from the ditch was used to build a mound. On top of the mound stakes were attached. The Limes had a deeper ditch and a higher mound. The stakes were higher too and on several parts of the limes, instead of stakes there was a simple wall. Behind the wall/mound a system of control towers, built of wood or stone, was installed, each within sight of the next one, and usually able also to signal to the forts several kilometers to the rear.

The Saalburg, a reconstruction of a Roman fort.
The Saalburg, a reconstruction of a Roman fort. The Saalburg is a Roman fort located on the Taunus ridge northwest of Bad Homburg, Hesse, Germany.

The limes was never able to prevent whole Germanic tribes from entering the territory of the Roman empire. This was not the intention of the builders. Near the watch towers, the limes was open to passage, especially by traders or persons coming to live or work within the empire. The purpose of the limes was control of the traffic. To cross the limes it was necessary to pass the towers, and so come to the notice of the garrison, or to climb or destroy the wall or the stakes. Only individuals or small groups could climb the obstacles without being noticed, and they could not drive stolen livestock with them. Large groups would be noticed. They could destroy one or several towers, but this also would come to the attention of the Romans. This knowledge of all groups crossing the border was important for the Roman empire. For a territory as large as the Roman empire, there were amazingly few soldiers. Almost all of the legions were based close to the frontiers. Any hostile group, who managed to pass this area of defense, could travel within the empire without significant resistance. The purpose of the limes was early warning of attack, deterrence of casual small-scale raiding, and the ability to react while the enemy was near the legions.

Towns and cities along the limes

Germany:

Lower Germanic Limes: Germany

The Netherlands

Notes

References

Primary sources

(none yet)

Secondary sources

External links

See also

The Dannevirke (in Old Norse Danavirki; in German Danewerk &ndash all meaning "Danish creation" or "Danes' work" is a Silesia Walls ( Wały Śląskie, Dreigräben) are a line of three (or sometimes fewer parallel earthen ramparts and ditches that run through Lower Silesia
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