Nijmegen: military settlements
Noviomagus was the capital of the Batavians, a Germanic tribe from the Middle Rhine area that had been settled on the banks of the river Waal by the Romans. The original civil settlement, sometimes called Batavodurum ("marketplace of the Batavians") or Oppidum Batavorum ("city of the Batavians"), was on the hill known as Valkhof (satellite photo).
To the east of the civil settlement was the Hunerberg (satellite photo), the site of a large military base, built by the Roman general Drusus, a stepson of the emperor Augustus, in 15-12 BCE (although the first datable find is from 19). With a size of 650x650 meters, it offered accommodation to two legions. The fortress was situated on a hill overlooking the river Waal (as site, it was not unlike Markbreit am Main). One badly legible sherd suggests that the Hunerberg fortress offered accomodation to legionaries of I Germanica.
The Hunerberg base was used for only a couple of years, because after two campaigns on the east bank of the Rhine, Drusus had reached his war aims and could transfer his legions to Oberaden on the Lippe.
Pictures of Nijmegen
Civil settlements
Horsemen (Valkhof Museum,
Nijmegen)
When the Hunerberg had been abandoned, a new fort was built on the Kops Plateau, which is a bit farther to the east (satellite photo). Many houses were very luxurious, which suggests that many officers inhabited the place. The settlement has been interpreted as the headquarters of a Roman army, or as some sort of "house of Batavo-Roman friendship". From graffiti, we can deduce the presence of soldiers of two legions, I Germanica and XIII Gemina.
After the Roman defeat in the battle in the Teutoburg Forest (September 9 CE), there several minor camps were built along the Rhine, one of them again at the Kops Plateau, which was probably occupied by a squadron of Batavian cavalry. This is at least suggested by the presence of native coins.
After the Batavian revolt (69-70), in which the Kops Plataeau settlement was destroyed, the civil settlement of Nijmegen was rebuilt to the west, near the river Waal. The years 70-71 also witnessed the return of the Roman legions to the Hunerberg. For some thirty years, the Tenth legion Gemina stayed at Nijmegen to watch the Batavians. A large commercial center, an amphitheater and an inn have been discovered in the vicinity of the Hunerberg base. It was rebuilt from stone in c.100, but was abandoned almost immediately. In the 120's, VIIII Hispana briefly used the camp at the Hunerberg.
Reconstruction of an
inn (Archeon)
Probably, Noviomagus suffered heavily from the Frankish invasion of 275, which put an end to the Roman presence in the lower Rhine area for almost a generation.
In the fourth century, however, the Valkhof was fortified by the emperor Constantine I the Great and became an important castle. The remains of one of the impressive walls have been discovered near the Waal. Two ditches surrounded the castle, which was later rebuilt by Valentinian I.
They were a natural target for the Franks, who took over the fort in the early fifth century. It can not have been a great change, as there was already a Frankish settlement in the neighborhood, and most soldiers were already Franks. The castle remained occupied for a long time. Charlemagne used it as one of his residences.
At the moment, Museum Valkhof has the most beautiful archaeological collection in Holland.
Pictures of Nijmegen || Civil settlements
Literature
- H. van Enckevort en K.Zee, Het Kops Plateau. Prehistorische grafheuvels en een Romeinse legerplaats in Nijmegen (1996 Abcoude/Nijmegen)
- H. van Enckevort, J.K. Haalebos en J. Thijssen, Nijmegen. Legerplaats in het achterland van de Romeinse limes (2000 Abcoude/Nijmegen)
- Louis Swinkels en Annelies Koster, Nijmegen. Oudste stad van Nederland (2005 Nijmegen)
- W. Willems, Romeins Nijmegen. Vier eeuwen stad en centrum aan de Waal (1990)