Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior
Lower Germania
Germania Inferior Lower Germania
Provinceof theRoman Empire
83–475
	; The province of Germania Inferior within the Roman Empire,c. 117
Capital	Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium(CCAA)
Historical era	Antiquity
• Established after theGallic wars	83
•Gallic Empire	260–274
•Francia	475
	Succeeded by
Frankish Empire
Today part of	Netherlands; Belgium; Germany; Luxembourg

Germania Inferior( "Lower Germania" ) was aRoman provincefrom AD 85 until the province was renamedGermania Secundain the 4th century AD, on the west bank of theRhinebordering theNorth Sea.The capital of the province wasColonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium(modern-dayCologne).

Geography

Borders of the Germania Inferior, with main roads and cities/forts

According toPtolemy(2.9), Germania Inferior included the Rhine from its mouth up to the mouth of theObringa,a river identified with either theAaror theMoselle.^[1]The territory included modern-dayLuxembourg,the southernNetherlands,part ofBelgium,and part ofNorth Rhine-WestphaliainGermany,west of the Rhine.

The principal settlements of the province were Castra Vetera and Colonia Ulpia Traiana (both nearXanten), Coriovallum (Heerlen),Albaniana(Alphen aan den Rijn),Lugdunum Batavorum(Katwijk),Forum Hadriani(Voorburg), Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum (Nijmegen),Traiectum (Utrecht),Atuatuca Tungrorum (Tongeren), Bona (Bonn), andColonia Agrippinensis(Cologne), the capital of Germania Inferior.

History

Several different regions called Germania in the Roman era

The Roman empire in the time ofHadrian(ruled 117–138), showing, on the lowerRhineriver, theimperial provinceof Germania Inferior (NW Germany/S. Netherlands, E. Belgium), and the threelegionsdeployed there in 125. Note that the coast lines shown in the map are those of today, known to be different from those in Roman times in the North Sea area.

The first confrontations between aRoman armyand the peoples of Germania Inferior occurred duringJulius Caesar'sGallic Wars.Caesar invaded the region in 57 BC and in the next three years annihilated several tribes, including theEburonesand theMenapii,whom Caesar called "Germanic" but who probably were Celtic or at least mixed Celtic-Germanic. Germanic influence (mainly through theTungri) increased during Roman times, leading to the assimilation of all Celtic peoples in the area. In fact, Germania Inferior had Roman settlements since around 50 BC and was at first part ofGallia Belgica.

It was only underDomitian(r. AD 81–96) that new territories were acquired, between the high valleys of the Rhine and the Danube, following the campaigns conducted by his generals in AD 83–85, which led to the creation of two new imperial provinces, lower and upper Germany.^[2]Although this region had been occupied since the reign ofAugustus,it wasn't formally established as aRoman provinceuntil around AD 85, with its capital atColonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium(modern-dayCologne).^[3]It later became animperial province.It lay north ofGermania Superior;these two together made upLesser Germania.The adjectiveInferiorrefers to its downstream position.

The army of Germania Inferior, typically shown on inscriptions as EX.GER.INF. (Exercitus Germaniae Inferioris), included severallegionsat various times: of these, LegionsIMinerviaandXXXUlpia Victrixwere the most permanent. The Roman Navy'sClassis Germanica(Germanic fleet), charged with patrolling theRhineand theNorth Seacoast, were based atCastra Veteraand later at Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensis.

As attested in the early 5th century documentNotitia Dignitatum,the province was renamedGermania Secunda(Germania II) in the 4th century. It was administered by aconsularisand formed part of theDiocese of Gaul.Up to the end of Roman control, it was an intensely garrisoned province that was inhabited by Romans andRipuarian Franksin the 5th century. Its capital remained at Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, which also became the seat of aChristian bishopric,which was in charge of an ecclesiastical province that survived thefall of the Western Roman Empire.

After the final abandonment of the province it became the core of theFrankish Kingdom.

References

^"Obringa"in Bruzen la Martiniere,Le Grand Dictionnaire GeographiqueVolume 6, 1737; Albert Forbiger,Handbuch Der Alten GeographieVolume 3, Mayer und Wigand, 1848,fn (***) p. 126f.
^Carroll, Maureen (2002).Romans, Celts & Germans: the German provinces of Rome(Reprinted ed.). Stroud: Tempus Publ. p. 15.ISBN 978-0-7524-1912-1.
^ Rüger, C. (2004) [1996]."Germany".In Alan K. Bowman;Edward Champlin;Andrew Lintott (eds.).The Cambridge Ancient History: X, The Augustan Empire, 43 B.C. – A.D. 69.Vol. 10 (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 527–528.ISBN 0-521-26430-8.

Bibliography

Lendering, Jona (2000).De randen van de aarde: de Romeinen tussen Schelde en Eems.Amsterdam.ISBN 90-263-1630-5.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links

Livius.org: Germania inferior Archived2020-06-07 at theWayback Machine
https://web.archive.org/web/20021027093553/http://www.library.ucla.edu/yrl/reference/maps/blaeu/germania-inferior-nt.htm#qvarta_branbantiaeBlaeu Atlas Germania Inferior
Hilary of Poitiers, "On the Councils".An open letter sent to the bishop of the province of Germania Secunda, among others.
Documents: Province ecclésiastique de Cologne (Germania secunda)

[1] "Obringa"in Bruzen la Martiniere,Le Grand Dictionnaire GeographiqueVolume 6, 1737; Albert Forbiger,Handbuch Der Alten GeographieVolume 3, Mayer und Wigand, 1848,fn (***) p. 126f.

[2] Carroll, Maureen (2002).Romans, Celts & Germans: the German provinces of Rome(Reprinted ed.). Stroud: Tempus Publ. p. 15.ISBN 978-0-7524-1912-1.

[3] Rüger, C. (2004) [1996]."Germany".In Alan K. Bowman;Edward Champlin;Andrew Lintott (eds.).The Cambridge Ancient History: X, The Augustan Empire, 43 B.C. – A.D. 69.Vol. 10 (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 527–528.ISBN 0-521-26430-8.

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