Main Limes
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The Main Limes (
River Main
(Moenus), which forms a natural boundary for about 50 kilometres here, so "Main" refers to the river.
Development
In order to secure the riverbank, it was sufficient to erect free-standing towers backed up by the forts of the units stationed nearby; there was never a continuous barrier of
Obernburg am Main has been identified.[2] On the other bank of the Main was the largely uninhabited Spessart, a wooded hill range which, like the Odenwald which borders it to the south-west, was particularly interesting for the Romans, especially because of its timber. In inscriptions, there are reports of the logging vexillationes of the 22nd Legion, which were stationed in Obernburg, Stockstadt and Trennfurt.[3]
In the majority of forts, settlement activity continued after the
Alamannic artefacts were also discovered.[4]
Route
North of the Main the limes initially runs through the marshy terrain of the
Bauland, the Main Limes was also extended, because the forts in Trennfurt and Miltenberg were added (newer Main Limes).[7]
Forts
| Fort | ORL | Location | Visible remains/Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Hainstadt Roman Fort) | -- | Hainburg-Hainstadt | modern buildings on the site, no traces, few records |
| Großkrotzenburg Roman Fort | 23 | Großkrotzenburg | mediaeval buildings on the site, visible wall remains, road layout reflected in the village street plan |
| Seligenstadt Roman Fort | 32 | Seligenstadt | mediaeval buildings on the site, no traces |
| Stockstadt Roman Fort | 33 | Stockstadt am Main | modern buildings on the site, no traces |
| Niedernberg Roman Fort | 34 | Niedernberg | mediaeval buildings on the site, no traces of buildings, road layout reflected in the village street plan |
| Obernburg Roman Fort | 35 | Obernburg am Main |
mediaeval buildings on the site, no traces of buildings, road layout reflected in the village street plan |
| Wörth Roman Fort | 36 | Wörth am Main | barely visible terrain marks |
| Trennfurt Roman Fort | 37 | Klingenberg am Main-Trennfurt | no longer any visible terrain marks, not built on, Roman votive stone in the tower of Trennfurt Church
|
| Miltenberg-Altstadt Roman Fort | 38 | Miltenberg | Location partly marked |
| Miltenberg-Ost Roman Fort | 38a | Miltenberg/Bürgstadt | modern buildings on the site in places, no traces |
Records
Because little remains of the forts, Roman artefacts are displayed especially in local museums such as Obernburg Romand Museum, Miltenberg Municipal Museum, Aschaffenburg Diocesan Museum and Großkrotzenburg Museum.[8] Several fort sites such as Obernburg and Stockstadt have a rich collection of stone monuments.[9]
Gallery
-
![Dedicatory inscription from the cross hall of the Principia at Obernburg Roman Camp, today in the Obernburg Roman Museum[10]](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/Kastell_Obernburg_Bauinschrift.jpg/120px-Kastell_Obernburg_Bauinschrift.jpg)
Dedicatory inscription from the cross hall of the Principia at Obernburg Roman Camp, today in the Obernburg Roman Museum[10] -
Inscription, in which a logging troop of the Legio XXII Primigenia is mentioned (Obernburg Museum) -
Post sockets of the Main bridge in Großkrotzenburg (Saalburg Museum) -
Obernburg Roman Museum
![Dedicatory inscription from the cross hall of the Principia at Obernburg Roman Camp, today in the Obernburg Roman Museum[10]](/File:Kastell_Obernburg_Bauinschrift.jpg)
References
- ^ Map of the Main Limes
- ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5, pp. 71ff.
- ^ For the inscriptions, see D. Baatz: Die Römer in Hessen. 1989, p. 103; Stockstadt: CIL XIII, 11781; Obernburg: CIL XIII, 6623 and Helmut Castritius, Manfred Clauss, Leo Hefner: Die Römischen Steininschriften des Odenwaldes (RSO). Beiträge zur Erforschung des Odenwaldes 2, 1977, pp. 237–308. No. 28; Trennfurt: AE 1899, 194.
- ^ Großkrotzenburg: Claus Bergmann: Von der Staatsgrenze zum Müllhaufen. In: hessenARCHÄOLOGIE. 2001, pp. 101ff.; Hainstadt: Bernhard und Christamaria Beckmann: Die einheimische Keramik aus dem Bereich des römischen Limeskastells Hainstadt am Main (Ldkr. Offenbach). In: Bonner Jahrbücher 178, 1978, pp. 235–258; Stockstadt: Hans Schönberger: Die Körpergräber des vierten Jahrhunderts aus Stockstadt a. Main. In: Bayerische Vorgeschichtsblätter 20, 1954, S. 128–134; Obernburg: Egon Schallmayer: Der Odenwaldlimes. Entlang der römischen Grenze zwischen Main und Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart, 2010, p. 57.
- ISBN 3805300964, p. 64.
- ^ Egon Schallmayer: Der Odenwaldlimes. Entlang der römischen Grenze zwischen Main und Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, pp. 67ff.
- ^ Egon Schallmayer: Der Odenwaldlimes. Entlang der römischen Grenze zwischen Main und Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart, 2010, pp. 25–28.
- ^ Home page of the museums on the Main Limes
- ISBN 3-88467-091-3.
- ISBN 3-88467-091-3, No. 201.
Literature
- Dietwulf Baatz, Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann (eds.): Die Römer in Hessen. Lizenzausgabe der 3rd edition, 1989, Nikol, Hamburg, 2002, ISBN 3-933203-58-9.
- Bernhard Beckmann: Neuere Untersuchungen zum römischen Limeskastell Miltenberg-Altstadt. Verlag Michael Lassleben. Kallmünz, 2004, ISBN 3-7847-5085-0.
- Bernd Steidl: Welterbe Limes – Roms Grenze am Main. Begleitband zur Ausstellung in der Archäologischen Staatssammlung Munich, 2008. Logo, Obernburg, 2008, ISBN 3-939462-06-3.
- Kurt Stade: Die Mainlinie von Seligenstadt bis Miltenberg mit einem Nachtrage zur Abt. B Nr. 33 Kastell Stockstadt. In: Ernst Fabricius, Felix Hettner, Oscar von Sarwey (eds.): Der obergermanisch-raetische Limes des Roemerreiches. (ORL) Abt. A, Strecke 6 (1933), pp. 3–70.
- Britta Rabold, Egon Schallmayer, Andreas Thiel: Der Limes. Die Deutsche Limes-Straße vom Rhein bis zur Donau. Verein Deutsche Limes-Straße, K. Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart, 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1461-1.