Limes (Roman Empire)


Limes is a term used primarily for the Germanic border defence or delimiting system of ancient Rome marking the borders of the Roman Empire. The term has been extended in modern times to refer to the frontier defences in other parts of the empire, such as in the east and in Africa.

Overview

The Roman frontier stretched for more than from the Atlantic coast of northern Britain, through Europe to the Black Sea, and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast. The positions of the borders changed especially during the main periods of Roman expansion and contraction, and first became more stable during the early Empire period under Augustus, but the borders continued to change with time in different provinces. The borders had different constituents depending on local needs; often they consisted of natural boundaries with roads behind for easier movement of troops between linked forts, or else roads with linked forts.
The remains of the frontiers today consist of vestiges of roads, forts, fortresses, walls and ditches, and associated civilian settlements. The soldiers at a border were referred to as limitanei. They were not expected to win large-scale wars, but rather to deter small-to-medium-sized raiding parties.
Notable examples of Roman frontiers include:
  • Hadrian's Wall in northern England
  • Antonine Wall – in Scotland
  • Saxon Shore, late Roman coastal forts in South-East England
  • Limes Arabicus, the frontier of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea facing the desert
  • Limes Tripolitanus, the frontier in modern Libya facing the Sahara
  • Fossatum Africae, the southern frontier of the Roman Empire, extending south of the Roman province of Africa in North-Africa.
  • Germanic Limes including the:
  • *Lower Germanic Limes
  • *Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes
  • Danubian Limes including the:
  • *Rhaetian Limes
  • *Noric Limes, the frontier of the Roman province Noricum, from the River Inn along the Danube to Cannabiaca in Austria.
  • *Pannonian Limes, the frontier of the Roman province Pannonia, along the Danube from Klosterneuburg Austria to Taurunum in Serbia.
  • *Moesian Limes, the frontier of the Roman province Moesia, from Singidunum Serbia along the Danube to Moldavia.
  • Dacian Limes including:
  • *Limes Alutanus, the eastern border of the Roman province of Dacia
  • *Limes Transalutanus, the later advanced eastern frontier of Dacia
  • *Limes Porolissensis, the northernmost line of defence of the province.

    Etymology

The stem of limes, limit-, which can be seen in the genitive case, limitis, marks it as the ancestor of an entire group of words in many languages related to Latin; for example, English limit or French limite. The Latin noun līmes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields; a boundary line or marker; any road or path; any channel, such as a stream channel; or any distinction or difference. The term was also commonly used after the 3rd century AD to denote a military district under the command of a dux limitis.
An etymology by Julius Pokorny in Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch says that limes comes from Indo-European , "to bow", "to bend", "elbow". According to Pokorny, Latin limen, "threshold", is related to limes, being the stone over which one enters or leaves the house. Some scholars have viewed the frontier as a . The Merriam–Webster dictionaries take this view, as does J. B. Hofmann in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen under leimon. The White Latin Dictionary denies any connection, deriving limen from *ligmen, as in lien from , "tie". In this sense, the threshold ties together the doorway. W. Gebert also wrote an article discussing the term.
The first use of the term limes as meaning "land border" appears for the first time in 98 AD by Tacitus:
...nec iam de limite imperii et ripa, sed de hibernis legionum et de possessione dubitatum .

Its definitive use for the Danubian border seems to date from about 122 in the time of Hadrian:
Per ea tempora et alia frequenter in plurimis locis, in quibus barbari non fluminibus sed limitibus dividuntur, stipitibus magnis in modum muralis saepis funditus iactis atque conexis barbaros separavit.

Some experts suggested that the Germanic limes may have been called Munimentum Traiani by contemporaries, referring to a passage by Ammianus Marcellinus, according to which emperor Julian had reoccupied this fortification in 360 AD.

In Europe

Britain

The frontier in Britain existed from the 1st to the 5th century AD. Initially the Fosse Way road was a frontier. From the 1st to the 2nd century first the Gask Ridge and then the Stanegate, with their chains of forts and watchtowers, marked the northern boundary of Britannia. Later Hadrian's Wall was built as the frontier and for a short time the Antonine Wall further north. The defence of Hadrian's Wall was achieved through the incorporation of forts and castella. Security and monitoring on the coasts in the west and southeast were achieved by forts and by chains of watchtowers or signal towers, both along the coastline.
The garrisons, Exercitus Britannicus, consisted mostly of cohorts of auxilia. The strategic reserve comprised three legions based in Eburacum, Isca Silurum and Deva. The observation and surveillance of the waters around the British Isles was the responsibility of the Classis Britannica, whose headquarters were in Rutupiae. Legions, auxilia and the fleet were commanded by the provincial governors. From the 3rd century, units of comitatenses, limitanei and liburnaria came under the command of two generals:
  • Comes Britanniarum
  • ''Dux Britanniarum''

    Saxon Shore

This section of the limes existed from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD and covered the provinces of:
  • Britannia Inferior
  • Belgica
  • Lugdunensis
  • Aquitania
This limes of the Late Antiquity ran through the territory of the present-day United Kingdom and France. In the 3rd century, a separate military district, the Litus Saxonicum, was established on the British side of the English Channel between the estuaries of the Wash and the Solent, to repel Saxon pirates and plunderers. The Gallic side of the English Channel and Atlantic coast were included therein. Monitoring and coastal surveillance were carried out by a chain of watchtowers or signal towers, forts and fortified ports. Most of the Saxon Shore camps probably served as naval bases.
The garrisons of the forts were composed of infantry and several cavalry regiments. Monitoring and surveillance of the Channel were the responsibility of the Classis Britannica and Classis Sambrica, whose headquarters were in Locus Quartensis, guarding the mouth of the River Somme. The units of comitatenses, limitanei and liburnaria in this area came under the command of three generals:
This section of limes existed from the 1st to the 5th century AD and ran through the province of Lower Germania.
It lies on the territory of today's Netherlands and Germany. This limes was a river border on the Rhine, defended by a chain of camps, that ran from the North Sea to Vinxtbach, forming the border between the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superior. By contrast with the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, it was not marked by a solid palisade or wall. Neither can any defensive ditch or rampart be identified. The guards were stationed in nearby castra and watchtowers usually built immediately on the Rhine. The limes was served by a well-developed military road. Each camp had its own river port or landing stage and a storage area, because the Rhine not only formed the border but was also the most important transport and trade route in the region. In the first section, between the camps of Rigomagus and Bonna, there were only a few camps. In the second, middle, section between Bonna and Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum, there were considerably more. Here there were also larger legion camps; with one exception, all were cavalry barracks. The landscape of the third section between Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum and Mare Germanicum was characterised by numerous small streams and boggy marshland. Consequently, in this area there was only one cavalry camp. Border security here consisted mainly of tightly packed, relatively small cohort forts.
The occupying troops, Exercitus Germaniae Inferioris, consisted mostly of auxilia cohorts. From the 2nd century, the strategic reserve comprised three legions stationed in Bonna/Bonn, Novaesium/Neuss, Vetera/Xanten and Noviomagus/Nijmegen. The control and surveillance of the waters of the North Sea, the Rhine estuary and the Lower Rhine was the responsibility of the Classis Germanica whose headquarters was in Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium/Cologne. Legions, auxilia and fleet units were commanded by the respective provincial governor. From the 3rd century the ripenses, comitatenses, and liburnaria were under the command of the Dux Belgicae secundae.

Upper Germania and Rhaetia

This limes existed from the 1st to 5th centuries AD and guarded the provinces of:
  • Germania Superior
  • Rhaetia
It lay on the territory of the present German states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. To the north, it bordered those parts of the Roman province of Rhaetia that lay north of the Danube and guarded the eastern border of that part of Germania Superior that lay east of the Rhine. In Upper Germania the border defences initially consisted only of a post road. From about 162/63 AD, the Romans constructed a defensive barrier with watchtowers and signal towers, palisades, ditches and earthworks. On one short section of the Rhaetian Limes, a solid stone wall was erected. In its final stages, the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes was about 550 kilometres long and ran from Rheinbrohl, in the county of Neuwied in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, as far as Hienheim on the Danube. Between the villages of Osterburken and Welzheim, the limes ran for 81 kilometres almost in a straight line southwards. In the scholarly literature, this unusual section is considered as evidence that this type of boundary wall had never been used for defensive purposes.
The land of Agri Decumates that was guarded by this limes had to be vacated by the Romans in 260–285 AD. They moved their bases back to the banks of the Rhine and Danube, which were much easier to defend militarily. The exact route of the limes along the border between Upper Germania and Raetia has not been fully explored. In the late 4th and early 5th centuries, the Rhaetian Limes was reorganized and divided into three sections. The northern border of Rhaetia formed the pars superior, the western border was the pars media with the fortified town of Cambodunum and bases from Vemania to Cassilacum ; the pars inferior was the section between Castra Regina and Batavis.
The defending troops, Exercitus Germaniae superioris and Exercitus Raeticus, consisted mostly of auxilia cohorts. From the 2nd century, the strategic reserve was formed from three legions stationed in Mogontiacum/Mainz, Argentorate/Strasbourg and Castra Regina/Regensburg. The monitoring of the Upper Rhine was the responsibility of the Classis Germanica; that of the Rhaetic Danube came under the Classis Pannonia, whose headquarters was in Aquincum/Budapest. Legions and auxilia cohorts were under the command of the governor. From the 3rd century the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian border troops, were commanded by three generals:
  • Dux Raetiae
  • Dux Mogontiacensis
  • ''Comes tractus Argentoratensis''