Roman military frontiers and fortifications
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Roman military borders and fortifications were part of a
Nature of the fortifications
The
Individual fortifications had been constructed by the
The frontiers often consisted of forts for auxiliaries, vexillations (e.g. Segedunum) or legions as well as a system of roads for the rapid transit of troops and, in some places, extensive walls. Perhaps the most famous example of the latter is Hadrian's Wall in Great Britain, which was built across the entire width of the island to protect from attack from tribes located in modern-day Scotland. The so-called Limes Britannicus is perhaps the best example, like the Great Wall of China, of an attempt to construct a continuous man-made fortification along the length of an entire border, a massive undertaking. However, it is not correct to interpret other frontiers in the same way or to view them as an impenetrable barrier.[citation needed] Other frontiers would not have had a continuous man-made fortification for the entirety of their length. In places, a river, desert or natural outcropping of rock could provide the same effect for zero outlay. Also, fortifications as impressive as Hadrian's Wall were not unbreachable: with milecastles some distance apart and patrols infrequent, small enemy forces would have been able to penetrate the defenses easily for small-scale raiding. However, a raiding party would be forced to fight its way through one of the well-defended gates, abandon its loot, such as cattle, thus negating the whole purpose of the raid or be trapped against the wall by the responding legions. Additionally, a large army would have been able to force a crossing of the frontier using siege equipment. The value of the frontier lay not in its absolute impenetrability but, as S. Thomas Parker argues, in its hindrance to the enemy: granting a delay or warning that could be used to summon concentrated Roman forces to the site. The frontiers are therefore perhaps better seen as an instrument allowing a greater economy of force in defense of a border than otherwise would be necessary to provide the same level of defense.
After 270, the maintenance of an impenetrable solid frontier was abandoned by
In the very late Empire the frontiers became even more elastic, with little effort expended in maintaining frontier defense. Instead, armies were concentrated near the heart of the empire, and enemies allowed to penetrate in cases as far inwards as the Italian peninsula before being met in battle.[citation needed]
Northern borders
Britannia
After conquering much of the modern landmass of Great Britain, the Romans halted their northern expansion at the southern fringe of Caledonia, what is now central Scotland. This left them with a border shared with a people who made repeated raids and insurrections against them. Unlike other borders throughout the empire, there was no natural border to fall back on such as desert or wide river that crossed the whole peninsula, so instead a series of defenses were built in southern to mid-Scotland in order to protect the province of Britannia from the Caledonians and later the Picts.
Although the border was not a continuous wall, a series of fortifications known as Gask Ridge in mid-Scotland may well be Rome's earliest fortified land frontier. Constructed in 70 or 80, it was superseded by the later Hadrian's Wall forty years later and then the final Antonine Wall twenty years after that. Rather than representing a series of consecutive advancements, the border should be seen as fluctuating - the Antonine Wall for example was built between 142 and 144, abandoned by 164 and briefly re-occupied in 208.
Although records are scarce, there are indications that the border fluctuated between the various fortifications depending on the local strength of the military. There is archaeological evidence for widespread burning of fortifications, but it is disputed whether this represents fortifications falling to attack or part of the normal process of the Roman military to destroy their own fortified camps on abandonment so as not to furnish the enemy with a fortified base at their expense.
These northern fortifications are sometimes styled the Limes Britannicus. The average garrison of the wall fortifications is thought to have been around 10,000 men. Along with a continuous wall (except in the case of Gask Ridge), there existed a metaled road immediately behind the wall for transport of troops. Along the wall there existed a few large forts for
In the later Empire, Roman Britannia found itself increasingly vulnerable to external aggression, in parallel to attacks felt across the length of the Empire's borders. However, since Britannia shared no land bridge with continental Europe, the method of attack and thus methods of defense varied from the imperial standard. A series of naval forts was built along the south east coast, initially to combat piracy but later to protect from raiding and the threat of invasion from Saxons that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600 and is reflected in the name of the fortification system: the Saxon Shore, which extended to the northern coasts of France. Each shore fort both protected against direct attack and also sheltered a small naval sub-fleet of vessels that could patrol the coast against pirates and raiders.
Continental Europe
In continental Europe, the borders were generally well defined, usually following the courses of major rivers such as the
- The Lower (Northern) Germanic Limes, which extended from the North Sea at Katwijk in the Netherlands along the Rhine;
- The Upper Germanic Limes (just to be confusing, also called the Rhaetian Limes or simply "the Limes") started from the Rhine at Rheinbrohl (Neuwied (district)) across the Taunus mountains to the river Main (East of Hanau), then along the Main to Miltenberg, and from Osterburken (Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis) south to Lorch (Ostalbkreis) in a nearly perfect straight line of more than 70 km;
- The proper Rhaetian Limes extended east from Lorch to Eining (close to Kelheim) on the Danube. The total length was 568 km (353 mi). It included at least 60 castles and 900 watchtowers.
In Dacia, the limes between the Black Sea and the Danube were a mix of the camps and the wall defenses: the
Eastern borders
The eastern borders changed many times, of which the most enduring was the
Southern borders
At the empire's greatest extent, the southern borders were the deserts of Arabia and the Sahara, that represented a natural barrier to prevent expansion. The Empire controlled the Mediterranean shores and the mountains opposite. However the Romans attempted twice to occupy effectively the Siwa Oasis (and failed) and controlled the Nile many miles into Africa until the 1st Cataract near the modern border between Egypt and Sudan.
For Mauretania there was a single wall with forts on both sides of it, the
- Limes Arabicus, (called the Limes Uranus) was the frontier of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea facing the desert.
- Limes Tripolitanus was the frontier in modern Libya facing the Sahara.
- Fossatum Africae
- Limes Mauretaniae
- Fossa regia
Western borders
The western borders were mainly protected by the Atlantic coast and unfortified.
See also
- Border barrier
- Defensive wall
- Natural frontiers
- Limes (Roman Empire)
- Limitanei, troops along the borders in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods.
- Sassanian defense lines
References
- Nuovo Atlante Storico De Agostini, by "Instituto Geografico De Agostini", ISBN 88-415-4230-6Novara 1995.
- Corso di storia antica e medievale 1 (seconda edizione) by Augusto Camer and Renato Fabietti ISBN 88-08-24230-7
- ^ Curry, Andrew. "Roman Frontiers." National Geographic Sept 2012: 106-127. Print