Roman fort Niederbieber - Porta Praetoria

The Niederbieber fort is topographically situated on a flat elevation east of a bend formed by the Wied river, immediately after it leaves the Westerwald region and enters the Neuwied Basin. To the east and south, this elevation is bordered by the Aubach stream. In Roman times, the fortification lay directly behind the Limes, which passed about 150 meters northeast of the camp, at a point where several roads from the northwest and north entered the Neuwied Basin. The fort's garrison was probably responsible for monitoring these trade routes and the Wied valley. Furthermore, troops for the watchtowers and small forts of the northernmost Limes section, up to the small fort of Rheinbrohl, were likely detached from here. In today's townscape, the fort's location is roughly described by the quadrangle formed by the streets Burgstraße, Am Limes, Melsbacher Straße, and Ringmauerstraße. However, Ringmauerstraße is still some distance within the camp, whose praetorial front (front side) runs parallel to it about 60 meters further south.

The first reports of ruins and finds of inscribed stones in the area around the then village of Niederbieber date back to the 17th century, whose old field names, such as "Auf der Altenburg" and "Auf der Ringmauer," pointed to the fort and are partly preserved in modern street names.

In the 18th century, the foundation of a first collection of antiquities with finds from the fort and vicus area of Niederbieber was established in Neuwied Castle. The impetus for this was given in 1759 by the then Count Johann Friedrich Alexander. In response to the count's inquiry about local antiquities, Pastor Breusing of Niederbieber reported on a palace that had stood "Auf der Altenburg." The clergyman began digging one story deep into the terrain in the same year. According to his own account, he found, among other things, a scale, the copper bust of an idol, as well as roof tiles, charcoal, and ash. Evidently, several finds were lost before they reached the count. From February 1791, at the instigation of the antiquity-enthusiastic Princess Luise Wilhelmine zu Wied – who personally wielded the spade in Niederbieber in the summer of the same year – systematic, though largely undocumented, excavations began. Initially with some interruptions under the direction of Engineer Captain Christian Friedrich Hoffmann, and after his death in 1820 until 1829 by Archival Councillor Hugo von Knopäus († 1838). During the period after 1820, the retired, antiquity-enthusiastic Court Councillor Wilhelm Dorow (1790–1845) also took an interest in the fort area. Hoffmann had already published about his excavations (1819, 1823), and Dorow published further research results and compilations from Hoffmann's estate in 1826. Further reports followed. Many of the most beautiful and valuable pieces from the excavations entered the princely collection, which was visited by many scholars, such as Goethe in 1815. After the mid-19th century, nothing remained of the fort, which was then still in open terrain, except for some depressions in the ground, testifying to stone quarrying, and brick and mortar remnants. The archaeology pioneer Karl August von Cohausen (1812–1894) reported in 1869 on a then visible partial excavation of the enclosing wall, from which stone material had been taken for road construction. As the mining expert Ernst Heinrich von Dechen (1800–1889) had already reported in 1864, the defensive wall had still been openly visible in 1861, before its remains were "broken out as a packing layer for the road from Niederbieber to Oberbieber." In the following decades, isolated investigations occurred repeatedly, until archaeological excavations resumed in 1894. Initially under the direction of the antiquity researcher Constantin Koenen (1854–1929), and from 1897 under that of the archaeologist and section commissioner of the Imperial Limes Commission (RLK), Emil Ritterling (1861–1928). Niederbieber subsequently became one of the most important projects of the RLK. Further research by the commission took place in 1898, 1900, 1905 to 1912. In the first year of the war, the groundbreaking publication of Niederbieber ceramics by Franz Oelmann (1883–1963) appeared. Oelmann's publication remains important in research to this day, as it represents a closed find complex of the 3rd century and the fall of the Limes during the imperial crisis. Numerous forms of both fine ceramic Terra Sigillata and utilitarian pottery are named after the Niederbieber site. In provincial Roman archaeology, finds from this period are referred to as the Niederbieber Horizon. A helmet type of the 3rd century is also named Type Niederbieber after the site. While the Imperial Limes Commission had been able to work largely undisturbed in open fields, the investigations carried out as emergency excavations after the Second World War from 1963 to 1968 and 1973/1974 became a race against time. At that time, the architectural building remains of the previously preserved fort area had been released for demolition to create building land for private homes. In addition – in the area of the camp village – there was the massive extraction of local pumice deposits. Those responsible showed no regard for the cultural-historical significance of this over 200-year-old excavation site. While 19th-century research had focused on the fort itself, the civilian camp village became, out of necessity, the focus of investigations carried out by the then State Office for Pre- and Early History in the administrative districts of Koblenz and Montabaur under the local direction of Hans Eiden. Overall, in the good six decades since the Second World War until the recent past, modern residential development has caused the greatest destruction to the ancient findings. Archaeologists vehemently criticized the ruthless approach of the developers and the lack of understanding of local authorities for scientific concerns. In 1986, only the fort bath and the north gate, which now seems lost amidst the housing estate, could be saved and made accessible. While authorities and German monument protection were apparently powerless against rampant building speculation, it was only with the World Heritage status, effective since 2005, that a part of the south gate could be secured from impending overbuilding. The remaining areas are designated as excavation protection zones. Above ground, only the foundations of the Porta Decumana and the fort bath have been conserved and partially reconstructed. They have been integrated into a modern residential area, provided with exhibition showcases and information boards, and can be visited.

The military camp of Niederbieber was built in the last two decades of the second century AD to reinforce the Upper Germanic Limes, which was under Germanic offensive pressure, roughly at the same time as the Holzhausen fort, located southwest of it in the area of today's Rhein-Lahn district. In the current research discussion, the founding dates of 185 AD or 193/194 AD are considered. The latter date is supported by a fragment of an honorary inscription for Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211), found in 1958 but only published in 1997. The fort replaced the Heddesdorf fort, located only a few kilometers down the Rhine, and was in the following decades the largest, most strongly fortified, and most important auxiliary fort of the northern Limes section. The rectangular ground plan with its rounded corners (playing card shape) covered an area of 5.25 hectares with dimensions of 265.20 × 198.50 meters.

The camp was protected by a defensive wall, 1.50 to 1.60 meters thick in its rising section, in front of which, after a 5.50 to 6.50 meter wide berm, ran a 1.50 meter deep and between six and 6.50 meter wide V-shaped ditch. In front of the ditch, traces of further approach obstacles, such as smaller ditches for sharpened timbers (cippi) and abatis, could be detected. These were located on an unbuilt strip about 100 to 150 meters wide, which separated the fortification from the civilian settlement, the vicus. The wall itself, whose foundation stitching reached a thickness of up to 2.40 meters, was plastered on the outside with mortar, whose lime wash with red lines on a white background simulated ashlar masonry. At its corners, the enclosing wall was provided with massive, projecting towers. In addition, there were at least ten solidly built intermediate towers, which, with a width of 3.25 meters, also clearly projected outwards. The projection allowed for comprehensive control of the entire camp forefield and flanking fire on the entire curtain wall. The size and massiveness of the towers could suggest that their platforms may also have been used as artillery positions (ballistaria) for light arrow catapults, as evidenced epigraphically for the first time in the early 3rd century in Britain. Behind the defensive wall was an earth rampart, three meters high, sloping towards the interior of the camp. To prevent these earth masses from sliding, the embankment was reinforced at its base with palisades and dry stone walls. On the rampart itself, behind the crenellated enclosing wall, was the wall-walk. Fortification details, such as the towers projecting far out of the bond of the enclosing wall and the defensive ditch, unusually far removed for forts of the Principate period, already clearly show the path from the mid-imperial fortified barracks to the late antique fortress. Niederbieber was in this respect even the oldest fort where these innovations – before the destructions of the 20th century – could be observed so completely. The wall and the course of the ditch were interrupted by four gates to all main cardinal directions, which were flanked by similarly projecting towers. To the south, at the narrow praetorial front, opened the representative, 20.70 meter wide main gate, the Porta praetoria. On the two long sides were very similarly constructed entrances: the Porta principalis sinistra (left side gate) in the west and the Porta principalis dextra (right side gate) in the east. All three gates were designed as double gates over 20 meters wide, each with two gate passages, which had a clear width of three meters. Only the rear camp gate, the Porta Decumana opposite the Porta praetoria, deviated from this scheme. It had a total width of 14.80 meters but only a single gate passage of three meters width. With its praetorial front facing away from the Limes, the fort clearly deviates from the usual scheme of Limes forts. Usually, the main gate opened towards the Limes. During the initial excavation of the Porta decumana in 1801, which was still preserved to a height of about 0.60 meters at that time, a large, carved tufa stone was found in the base area, which had the incised number XXV (25) on its back. All other corresponding stones had already been broken out at that time. Possibly, ancient stonemasons had carved the number to count their daily output, analogous to similar markings that are repeatedly discovered on Roman roof tiles. In the old reports, the rear gate discovered in 1801 was supposedly referred to as Porta praetoria.

After deducting all the fortifications and gate systems, a usable area of approximately 40,000 square meters remained inside the camp. The division of this area was predetermined by the largely standardized building scheme of the Principate period. Along the fortifications and towers, the camp ring road (Via sagularis) led around the built-up area. This area was divided into four parts by two main roads meeting at right angles in the camp center. The main camp road leading from the intersection of the roads south to the praetorial front with the Porta praetoria was called Via Praetoria; opposite it was the Via Decumana, which ended at the Porta decumana. To the west, the Via principalis sinistra led to the Porta principalis sinistra; to the east was the Via principalis dextra with the Porta principalis dextra. Above the intersection stood a large portico in front of the central staff and administration building (Principia). The east-west oriented central camp strip, on which the Principia were built, was the location of other important infrastructural buildings, such as the granary (Horreum) and a workshop (Fabrica). Also located here was the representative residence of the commander (Praetorium).

Principia

The principia, almost square excluding the large, rectangular portico, which the two units (Numeri) stationed in the fort shared, occupied a floor area of almost 2,800 square meters with its side lengths of 53.30 × 52.00 meters. So many clearly identifiable objects were found here that the purpose of the rooms in the preserved ground floor could still be recognized. Such a clear finding situation is extremely rare and only comparable to the North African legionary camp Lambaesis or the Dura Europos fort in Syria. The service and administrative rooms were grouped in a square around an open porticoed courtyard, where the skeleton of a man apparently fallen in battle with a spear was found. Dorow's excavation plan recorded several installations in the large portico that could not have originated from the construction period. In the armamentariae annexed to the right of the inner courtyard, numerous box fittings, locks, and weapons were still found. The rear, northern, west-east running suite of rooms consisted of a total of nine rooms, the central one of which was the flag sanctuary with a semicircular apse. The other eight rooms served as offices. For some of these rooms, Ritterling was still able to prove the sparse remains of hypocaust systems during his excavations. The easternmost of these rooms was used as a writing room (Tabularium) by the Brittones. The excavators recovered hinges, fittings, and locks from filing cabinets here. In addition, the stone fragment of a Genius of this office with a matching inscription was found. Vibius Mercurialis, the donor, was a clerk (Librarius) of the Numerus Brittonum Antoninianorum. The unit will have received the honorary name Antoninianorum during the reign of Emperor Caracalla. The room immediately east of the flag sanctuary belonged to the Schola (community) of the standard-bearers (Vexillarii and Imaginifer). The stone Genius recovered there in October 1815 stands on a pedestal with a detailed consular-dated inscription:

In h(onorem) d(omus) d(ivinae) Genio vexillar(iorum) et imaginif(erorum) Attianus Coresi vex(illarius) Fortionius Constitutus imag(inifer) signum cum (a)edic(u)la et tab(u)l(am) marmoream d(onum) d(ederunt) d(edicaverunt) Imp(eratore) d(omino) n(ostro) Gordi(a)no Aug(usto) et Aviola co(n)s(ulibus) Translation: "In honor of the divine imperial house, to the Genius of the standard-bearers and the bearers of the imperial image. Attianus Coresi, standard-bearer, Fortionius Constitutus, bearer of the imperial image, have given and dedicated this symbol with a shrine and a marble tablet as a gift. When the Emperor, our lord Gordianus Augustus and Manius Acilius Aviola were consuls (239 AD)." Dorow recovered, among other things, cultic objects such as a sandstone statuette and two votive feet made of iron and silver from the rear rooms of the staff building. A bronze statuette of a Genius is said to have come to light from a nearby drainage channel in 1791. Apart from this find location already given by Dorow (1826) and later by Cohausen (1869), in Der obergermanisch-raetische Limes des Roemerreiches (ORL) it was also mentioned that the figurine was found in the main channel of the bath, but a placement in the Principia seems much more likely. The Genius, which was still complete when found, lost a cornucopia it had carried in its hand at an unknown time. The two-phase inscription on the rectangular statuette base testifies to the living imperial cult in the forts: Left side:

In h(onorem) d(omus) d(ivinae) baioli et vexillari(i) col- legio Victorien- sium signifer- orum Genium d- e suo fecerunt VIIII Kal(endas) Octobr(es) Pr(a)esente et Albino co(n)s(ulibus) h(i) XIIII d(e) s(uo) r(estituerunt) Front side:

Satullus, Sattara, Macrinus, Laetus, Apollinaris, Secundanus, Ursus Right side:

Paternus, Prudens, Marianus, Dagovassus, Cerialis, Aturo, Victor Translation: "In honor of the divine imperial house, the Baioli (messengers?) and standard-bearers had this Genius made at their own expense for the college of Victoriensium of the standard-bearers. On September 23, when Gaius Bruttius Praesens and Gaius Allius Albinus were consuls (September 23, 246)." The following lines of the text and the 14 names listed above, placed on the sides of the pedestal, date from a later time after 246 AD. Evidently, the Genius had been damaged in the meantime: "These 14 had this restored at their own expense." The specified September 23 was the birthday of the first Roman emperor Augustus, which was certainly no coincidence. The Roman military celebrated a variety of traditional imperial festivals. Besides the correct translation for Baioli, the word Victoriensium still causes difficulties in this regard. The ancient historian Oliver Stoll followed the old research after Dorow and considered whether the ancient place name of Niederbieber could possibly be recognized here, which, for example, the archaeologist Marcus Reuter rejected. The equipment of the Principia also included frescoes, the remains of which were discovered on plaster fragments. Dorow described that colored lines and leaves had been preserved on a white lime background.

Horreum and Fabrica

The Principia was flanked by a granary (Horreum) on the western side and a workshop (Fabrica) on the eastern side. Both buildings had an internal area of a good 650 square meters each. The Horreum had a wooden floor suspended on posts, which, together with ventilation slots in the outer walls, ensured the air circulation necessary for storing grain and legumes. In addition, the raised position of the floor made it difficult for small rodents to access food supplies. The other building was identified as a Fabrica; its floor was at ground level, and the findings showed a large amount of charcoal and iron slag. It was probably initially built as a Horreum but later converted into a Fabrica.

Praetorium

West of the Horreum was the representative and comfortable residence of the commander, the so-called Praetorium. Its rooms had screed floors, and the plastered walls were partly brightly painted. Some of the rooms were equipped with underfloor and wall heating, including the spacious, multi-part bath. Adjacent refuse pits with finds of high-quality drinking vessels and large quantities of oyster shells indicate the lifestyle of the camp commanders.

Barracks and Stables

The troops – like the horses of the partly mounted units – were housed in the Praetentura and in the rearmost third of the Retentura. They lived in groups of eight men in a two-room Contubernium (mess unit). Eight to ten such Contubernia were located in the elongated Centuria, the barracks built in simple half-timbered construction. The captains (centurions or decurions) were housed in somewhat more spacious accommodations at the head of the barracks. In the immediate vicinity of the barracks were also the Stabulum equile (stables for the horses). Two of the buildings uncovered in Niederbieber were identified as stables, a larger one for about 80 horses and a smaller one for about 30 to 40 animals. They had no internal partition walls. Their excavators believe that the horses probably stood in two rows along the longitudinal axis of the building, facing each other, and were (if at all) only tied to a simple beam.

The large fort bath (Balineum) of Niederbieber is special in two respects. It was not – as was actually customary for Roman military camps – outside the camp, but was integrated into the Retentura (rear camp), within which it was located immediately east of the Via Decumana and north of the Principia. And it was particularly large and elaborately designed. The bricks recovered in the bath with stamps of the Legio VIII Augusta, located in Argentoratum (Strasbourg), were either delivered here or built by a construction team of the legion. The Balineum, built immediately with the fort under Commodus, testifies to the great commitment of the Strasbourg legion on the Limes. The direct deployment of this troop could, for example, be epigraphically proven at the same time for the extension of the Osterburken fort. The Niederbieber bath is a symmetrically designed double complex, which, in addition to the west-eastern division along the axis of symmetry, was further divided into an unheated southern and a heated northern part. Through the entrance area located in the south, visitors first entered the unheated part, which most closely corresponded to a palaestra and served for gymnastic and other sporting activities. Only then did the actual bathing area adjoin to the north. Visitors entered this through an Apodyterium (changing room) that seemingly tapered the entire complex, followed by the usual rooms of a Roman thermal bath, Frigidarium (cold bath room), Tepidarium (warm bath room), and Caldarium (hot bath room), each mirrored along the axis of symmetry, present twice. The complex was heated by means of hypocausts, which were heated via a total of seven Praefurnia (furnaces) on three sides of the actual bathing complex. The water supply presumably came from springs located about 1.7 kilometers northeast, near the unpreserved Limes watchtower Wp 1/33. From this point, which was about 50 meters above the fort level, the drinking water was led into the camp through a small breakthrough in the northern fort wall. Traces of the former water pipes could still be detected during the excavations of 1897. The wastewater was disposed of via three channels, which were finally combined into a main channel that discharged the collected wastewater from the fort in the area of the Porta Decumana.

The camp was probably conceived from the outset as a separate fort type for two Numeri ("units," singular: Numerus), whose troop strength significantly exceeded that of ordinary Numeri. In total, 1000 men are estimated to have been stationed in Niederbieber. Two of these units stationed here are confirmed by inscription finds. These are the Numerus Exploratorum Germanicianorum Divitiensium ("Germanic reconnaissance unit from Deutz") and a Numerus Brittonum ("British unit"). Numeri of the Brittones are relatively common on the Upper Germanic Limes. They were raised in their British homeland and later detached to the province of Germania superior, where they were particularly deployed in the area of the Odenwald Limes. The Numerus Exploratorum Germanicorum Divitiensium was a partially mounted special unit used for reconnaissance purposes even beyond the border. It may have been stationed first in the Cologne-Deutz area or split off from a troop stationed there and made into an independent unit. According to the Niederbieber findings, both units were commanded by a common commander – presumably the Praefectus of the Exploratores – but otherwise remained independent troop units. The entire garrison probably took on diverse tasks in securing the northern Limes section, ranging from providing troops for the Limes watchtowers to operational reconnaissance of the Limes foreland. Near the country road, on the left bank of the Aubach, a fragmented dedication was discovered, which had been dedicated to the Genius of the medical personnel (Capsarii) of the Numerus Divitiensium Gordianorum by the Medicus (h)ordinarius, the highest-ranking physician, Titus Flavius Processus. The inscription, datable to the reign of Gordian III (238–244) by the imperial honorary name, on which traces of the once standing figure of the Genius were still visible, also names the then commander of the unit (Praefectus numeri), Caius Vibius Vitale.

The fort garrison fulfilled its duties for a good seven decades before it met a violent end – according to older theories – during a Frankish offensive or an Alamannic attack. More recent research, however, tends to assume that Niederbieber fell in connection with the events surrounding the establishment of the Gallic Empire (Imperium Galliarum) in the summer or autumn of 260. This theory was first put forward by the American historian Lawrence Okamura after studying the findings. The treasure finds from Niederbieber were helpful in dating. In 1900, two coin hoards were initially discovered on the fort grounds, and six years later, another coin hoard. The latest coins from all three hoards date from the joint reign of Emperor Valerian and his co-ruler Gallienus (253–260). They thus support a deposition and the end of the fort during the final collapse of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes in 259/260 or shortly before. Hoffmann had already discovered large quantities of animal bones around the staff building. According to Okamura, this finding could indicate that the animals were brought into the fort in the face of an impending siege, after the garrison had sided with the sub-emperor Saloninus, who was in office in Cologne. Saloninus was a son of the reigning Gallienus and had to defend himself in 260 against the ultimately successful usurper Postumus. Commander Postumus, who was in Saloninus' staff, turned against the regent, had him executed, and founded the Gallic Empire, which existed until 274. Before that, Postumus' troops may have attacked those army units that openly opposed the usurper. Traces on the southern tower of the west gate, which indicate undermining of the wall, cannot, according to Okamura, originate from Germans. He sees here signs of a Roman siege, in which pioneers would have used professional tunneling techniques. After Postumus' soldiers had entered the fort, they would have slaughtered the defenders. Particularly striking in connection with the demise was the human skeleton found almost completely by Hoffmann in the rear area of the Principia, as it shed a clear light on the last hours of the fort. As in the forts of Osterburken and Pfünz, the garrison of Niederbieber also perished in battle. The skeleton leaned in a sitting position against a wall of the Schola immediately adjacent to the east of the flag sanctuary. Associated finds included the remains of a silver military standard (Signum), which included a "completely crumpled" gilded relief disc and the remainder of the troop name Cohors VII Raetorum equitata ("7th partially mounted cohort of the Raetians"). In addition, an iron helmet with bronze sheet edging was found. The fallen man was a Signifer or Imaginifer who died on the spot defending his standard. Apparently, he had rushed here with his troop from the nearby Niederberg fort to help and perished together with the actual garrison of Niederbieber. The restored relief disc showed the image of a general or emperor. In the aforementioned gilded relief disc, found violently crushed according to Dorow, which bore an effigy, Okamura saw an image of Saloninus, which had been destroyed by the attackers in their rage.

Around the fort was the Vicus, the civilian settlement, where discharged military personnel, soldiers' relatives, as well as craftsmen, traders, and service providers settled. The Vicus of Niederbieber began after an approximately 100 to 150 meter wide, undeveloped strip that surrounded the entire fort, extended north directly to the Limes, and was otherwise staggered to a depth of about 500 meters. On its northeast and southeast sides, it was bordered by an enclosing ditch. Within this area, no systematic arrangement of individual houses could be identified. The buildings were not aligned with streets but stood in loose building groups. The loose construction style possibly suggests that horticulture played a certain role for the inhabitants of the Vicus. The strip houses, typical for a fort village, with their long rectangular shape, predominated. The buildings, presumably constructed in wattle and daub, were partly cellared, and only a few were equipped with heating. Representative sacred buildings were completely absent. In the course of large-scale pumice mining in the area of the Vicus, numerous building remains were only inadequately documented, especially between the 1950s and 1970s. Wooden structures of the buildings are almost unknown. As the only evidence, usually only cellars have been excavated, some of which were built in stone. From the southeastern camp village comes a bronze portrait of Emperor Gordian III (240–244 AD). The head was part of a small metal or mixed hoard that Koenen found in 1894 in the heating channels of a kiln. Further large bronze fragments from Niederbieber belong to an armored statue. Their exact find locations are unknown. However, they can be dated to the period between 185 and 260 AD.