The Roman camp at Marktbreit () is a ''

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

'' (Roman legionary fortification) with a nearby ''

canabae A (plural ) was the Latin term for a hut or hovel and was later (from the time of Hadrian) used typically to mean a town that emerged as a civilian settlement () in the vicinity of a Roman legionary fortress (). A settlement that grew up outs ...

'' from the period of Emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

. It is located in the municipal territory of the

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (, ) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. It consists of nine districts and 308 municipalities (including three cities). History After ...

n town of

Marktbreit Marktbreit am Main () is a town in the district of Kitzingen in the Regierungsbezirk Unterfranken in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated at the most southern point of the Main river. Marktbreit is the birthplace of Alois Alzheimer who first ident ...

on the left bank of the

River Main The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine, one of the major European rivers. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, ...

, in the district of

Kitzingen Kitzingen () is a town in the Germany, German state of Bavaria, capital of the Kitzingen (district), district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County i ...

inside the German state of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. It is remarkable because until 1985 it was never suspected that a legionary fortress was built by the Romans so far east in Germanic enemy territory.

Location and history

The historic monument is located at a strategic site northeast of the actual town on the hill of Kapellenberg, a terrain spur in the acute angle between the Main (''Moenus'') and the Breitbach stream. Due to the course it follows in this area, the Main forms the so-called

Main Triangle The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine, one of the major European rivers. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, ...

. In antiquity there was almost certainly a ford here. From this early period, the Marktbreit camp is the only one so far discovered that is located on the Main. It is also the farthest east for its period as well as one of the largest in

Magna Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superi ...

overall. Archaeological finds show that there had once been a settlement of the

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallst ...

on the site. In addition, a grave has been found that is associated with the

Corded Ware culture The Corded Ware culture comprises a broad archaeological horizon of Europe between – 2350 BC, thus from the Late Neolithic, through the Copper Age, and ending in the early Bronze Age. Corded Ware culture encompassed a vast area, from t ...

. The ''castrum'' was probably used again by

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was a Roman people, Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns against Arminius in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicu ...

in 15 AD, according to interpretations of Cornelius Tacitus:Tacitus. Annales, I, 59

Discovery and historical significance

The camp was discovered in 1985 by aerial archaeologist Otto Braasch.

Sondage A sondage is an archaeological process to clarify stratigraphic sequences during preliminary investigations of the terrain prior to an archaeological dig. In a narrower sense it is a "deep trial trench for inspecting stratigraphy".

s and especially

magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, ...

research during the investigations in the period 1986 to 1993 by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection in Würzburg revealed an older, smaller camp, roughly nine hectares in area, and a larger, more recent camp, roughly 37 hectares in size. Of the smaller camp, only the

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ...

has survived. Of the larger one, there are a 2.8-metre-wide earth and wood wall and remains of the interior buildings. Germania romana

An important architectonic feature is a ''

praetorium The Latin term ''praetorium'' (also and ) originally identified the tent of a general within a Roman '' castrum'' (encampment), and derived from the title praetor, which identified a Roman magistrate.Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roma ...

'' (commandant's residence) oriented axially and joined to the huge ''principia'' (staff building). Such a central staff building is also found in the Roman camp at Aliso/Haltern. Along with the irregular ground plan and the design of the gate areas, this detail enables it to be dated to the time of

. Six

Roman coins Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum#Numismatics, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction during the Roman Republic, Republic, in the third century BC, through Roman Empire, Imperial ...

and a ''

terra sigillata Terra sigillata is a term with at least three distinct meanings: as a description of medieval medicinal earth; in archaeology, as a general term for some of the fine red ancient Roman pottery with glossy surface Slip (ceramics), slips made ...

'' stamp give a more precise date of 4 to 9 AD. In addition, soldiers' accommodation blocks ('' contubernia''), defences and gate systems have been investigated. The time horizon should enable its historical situation to be well classified to the short-lived creation of the

Germania Superior Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesont ...

, which existed between 4 AD and 9 AD. Roemerlager Marktbreit 01

The camp at Marktbreit fits into this scenario, perhaps not so much as a transit fortification with a small core staff to protect the deployment and supplies during the campaign but, in view of its size and the representative buildings, as a planned centre for large-scale conquest. That does not explain the extreme paucity of archaeological finds, however. Whether its expansion was ever completely finished is not yet clear, but the large building would certainly have made an impression on the local population. In any case, after the campaign had been called off, the fortification was no longer needed and was destroyed by fire.

Civilian settlement

Not far from the camp and in the top of a small hill, a civilian settlement was established (''

legionis'') to support the camp. This place of 9 hectares had a population of nearly 3000, mostly civilians (many were craftsmen with their families). It seems to have been a ''

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

'', which under

survived until 16 AD and probably later. Indeed, the influence of

Roman culture The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the almost 1,200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from present-day L ...

on agriculture and crafts in the surrounding area during that century has been demonstrated by archaeology. Some academics pinpoint that Marktbreit could have been the possible capital of the

Germania Antiqua ''Germania'' (also sometimes called Germania Antiqua) was a short-lived Roman province for the duration of 16 years under Augustus, from 7 BC to AD 9. The possible capital of this province was Roman camp, Marktbreit, Marktbreit (), a castrum (R ...

(a province of the Roman empire that

wanted to create, before the defeat at the Teutoburg forest battle).

Conservation

The area of the camp is a protected monument under the Bavarian Monument Conservation Act of Bavaria. Research and the deliberate acquisition of finds must be approved. Accidental finds must be reported to the monument authorities. Artefacts are displayed ''inter alia'' in the Roman Cabinet at the ''Malerwinkelhaus'' at ''Bachgasse 2'' in Marktbreit. Furthermore, there is an archaeological hiking trail with eight information boards from the car park on the Main to the Kapellenberg, which gives an idea of the vast scale of Marktbreit's military camp.

Notes

Literature

* Martin Pietsch, Dieter Timpe, Ludwig Wamser: ''Das augusteische Truppenlager Marktbreit. Bisherige archäologische Befunde und historische Erwägungen''. In: ''Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission'' 72, 1991, pp. 263–324. * Martin Pietsch: ''Die Zentralgebäude des augusteischen Legionslagers von Marktbreit und die Principia von Haltern''. In: ''Germania'' 71, 1993, pp. 355–368. * Axel Posluschny, Die hallstattzeitliche Siedlung auf dem Kapellenberg bei Marktbreit, Unterfranken. Bayerische Vorgeschichtsblätter. 62, 1997, pp. 29–113. * Siegmar von Schnurbein: ''Die augusteischen Stützpunkte in Mainfranken und Hessen.'' In: Ludwig Wamser (ed.): ''Die Römer zwischen Alpen und Nordmeer. Zivilisatorisches Erbe einer europäischen Militärmacht. Katalog-Handbuch zur Landesausstellung des Freistaates Bayern, Rosenheim 2000''. von Zabern, Mainz, 2000. (= ''Schriftenreihe der Archäologischen Staatssammlung 1''), und , pp. 34–37 with ground plan. * Volkmann, Armin. ''Perspectives for Network Analysis: Roman roads, Barbarian paths and settlement patterns in the borderlands at the Limes Germanicus in the Main River region'' De Gruyter Editor. "European Association of Archaeologists Conference". Glasgow, 2015 * Ludwig Wamser: ''Legionslager Marktbreit. Marktbreit, Lkr. Kitzingen.'' In: Ders. (publ.): ''Die Römer zwischen Alpen und Nordmeer. Zivilisatorisches Erbe einer europäischen Militärmacht. Katalog-Handbuch zur Landesausstellung des Freistaates Bayern, Rosenheim 2000''. von Zabern, Mainz, 2000. (= ''Schriftenreihe der Archäologischen Staatssammlung 1''), und , Cat. No. 250 pp. 436–438 with illustrations of real and virtual models.

External links

Limes Germanicus, the German frontier of the Roman empire, by Ray Bishop

von Livius.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Marktbreit Populated places established in the 1st century Populated places disestablished in the 1st century 1985 archaeological discoveries Heritage sites in Bavaria Buildings and structures in Kitzingen (district) Roman fortifications in Germania Superior Roman fortified camps in Germany