Forum Hadriani, in the modern town of

Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 peo ...

, was the northernmost

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

city on the European continent and the second oldest city of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was located in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Germania Inferior Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agripp ...

and is mentioned on the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-ce ...

, a Roman road map. Established probably between 69-70, soon after or during the

Batavian Revolt The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi, a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhabited Batavia, on ...

, and initially called Municipium Cananefatium (Town of the Cananefates), the site Forum Hadriani formed the nucleus of the civitas of the

Cananefates The Cananefates, or Canninefates, Caninefates, or Canenefatae, meaning "leek masters", were a Germanic tribe, who lived in the Rhine delta, in western Batavia (later Betuwe), in the Roman province of '' Germania Inferior'' (now in the Dutch pr ...

, who lived west of the

Batavians The Batavi were an ancient Germanic tribe that lived around the modern Dutch Rhine delta in the area that the Romans called Batavia, from the second half of the first century BC to the third century AD. The name is also applied to several milit ...

. It was situated along the ''

Fossa Corbulonis The Fossa Corbulonis (Dutch: ''Kanaal van Corbulo'') was a Roman canal that was dug around 50 AD under the direction of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. The project was mentioned by the historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio,Tacitus ''Annales'' XI 20; Cassiu ...

'' or ''Corbulo-canal'' (largely following the route of today's Vliet). This waterway was established about 47 AD by the Roman general

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo ( Peltuinum c. AD 7 – 67) was a popular Roman general, brother-in-law of the emperor Caligula and father-in-law of Domitian. The emperor Nero, highly fearful of Corbulo's reputation, ordered him to commit suicide, which ...

, forming an important shortcut between the rivers

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

. After the

Batavian Rebellion The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi, a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhabited Batavia, on ...

, in which they participated, the Cananefates became loyal allies of the Romans. In 121, emperor Hadrian made a long voyage along the northwestern border of the empire, during which he probably visited the Cananefate town. It is theorized that during this period, the town adopted the name Forum Hadriani to honor the ruler, a common practice at the time. As a regional capital, the town would have already had the right to organize markets before Hadrian's reign. An alternate name, maybe the only official name, was Municipium Aelium Cananefatium (Aelius being the family name of Hadrian). The shortened version of this name, MAC, has been found engraved in a couple of Roman milestones found in the neighbourhood. Yet, the old name of the town was still in use during the reign of

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procl ...

(249-251). About 270 AD, after several plagues and attacks by Saxon pirates and the reconquering of the region from the Gallic Empire, the Romans abandoned Forum Hadriani. In 1771 a bronze right hand was excavated during garden work on the Arentsburg estate. This hand was used by

Étienne Maurice Falconet Étienne Maurice Falconet (1 December 1716 – 24 January 1791) was a French baroque, rococo and neoclassical sculptor, best-known for his equestrian statue of Peter the Great, the ''Bronze Horseman'' (1782), in St. Petersburg, Russia, and for ...

as model for the equestrian statue of Peter the Great, ''The

Bronze Horseman The ''Bronze Horseman'' (russian: link=no, Медный всадник, literally "copper horseman") is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in the Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was opened to the public on 7 (18) August ...

''. The first scientific excavations at the site of Forum Hadriani were carried out by

Caspar Reuvens Caspar Jacob Christiaan Reuvens (22 January 1793 – 26 July 1835) was a Dutch historian and archaeologist. He was the founding director of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (Dutch National Museum of Antiquities) in Leiden, the world's first ever prof ...

, between 1827 and 1833. Reuvens held the world's first professorship of archaeology. Reuvens died before he could publish his findings. More excavations were done between 1908 and 1915 by

Jan Hendrik Holwerda Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

, who published the results of Reuvens together with his own discoveries in a comprehensive monograph in 1923. The park Arentsburgh in modern Voorburg roughly corresponds with the site of the ancient town, but further excavations cannot currently be undertaken due to it being part of a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. File:Bronze Roman hand excavated in Voorburg, The Netherlands in 1771.gif, Drawing (1800) of a bronze hand found in 1771 File:Fragments of a monumental statue found in Forum Hadriani, bronze, 2nd-3rd century AD, Voorburg, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden (9549210648).jpg, Same hand on display in the Museum van Oudheden in Leiden

References

External links

Photos

Livius.org: Forum Hadriani
{{Coord, 52.0601, 4.3494, type:landmark_region:NL, display=title 40s establishments in the Roman Empire 1st-century establishments Archaeology of the Netherlands Former populated places in the Netherlands Roman archaeology Roman towns and cities in the Netherlands 19th-century archaeological discoveries Roman towns in Germania Leidschendam-Voorburg

See also

References

External links