The province 'Germania inferior' is an interesting candidate for investigating town-country relations. While its southern part borders on the distribution area of oppida, its northern parts had no Iron Age tradition of large settlement agglomerations. Nonetheless, in the Roman period towns were founded here: the 'Colonia Ulpia Traiana' (Xanten), 'Ulpia Noviomagus' (Nijmegen) and 'Forum Hadriani/Municipium Aelium Cananefatium' (Voorburg). An important economic agent of the time was the Roman army with its numerous forts along the Lower German Limes. These massive and new agglomerations of persons that were not primarily involved in food production must have posed a challenge to the supply of provisions – in food as well as other commodities.
This panel summarises and compares the town-country relationshipsin two 'civitates': the 'civitas Cugernorum' with its capital 'Colonia Ulpia Traiana' and the civitas Batavorum with its capital 'Municipium Ulpia Noviomagus'. What supply strategies for the towns can be discerned? In what way did the primary centres influence the countryside? Are there differences between the 'civitates'? Do they differ from those in the southern parts of 'Germania inferior'? And if so, what are the reasons for it? Another focus are methodological questions, such as: with the data that we have, can we answer these questions? And if that is not the case, what other methods may be applied to gain a deeper insight into this aspect of Roman economy?
Author(s): Marion Brüggler, Julia Obladen-Kauder, Harry van Enckevort (eds.)
Series: Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Classical Archaeology. Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World, 46
Publisher: Propylaeum
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: VIII+54
City: Heidelberg
Julia Obladen-Kauder / Vergleichende Ergebnisse der Beziehungen zwischen Stadt und Land der 'civitas Batavorum' (mit Oppidum, 'Ulpia Noviomagus' und Militärstandort) sowie der 'civitas Cugernorum' (mit vorcoloniazeitlicher Siedlung und 'Colonia Ulpia Traiana'): Siedlungsstrukturen, Landwirtschaft und Ernährung 1
Harry van Enckevort / Stones, Tiles, Temples and Villas. A Social-Economic Transformation of the 'civitas Batavorum' (85–120 AD) 7
Laura I. Kooistra – Maaike Groot / Supplying Food to 'Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum' 19
Christoph Eger / 'Colonia Ulpia Traiana': The Economy of a Garrison and Border Town at the Lower German Limes 35
Marion Brüggler – Renate Gerlach – Jutta Meurers-Balke – Tanja Zerl – Michael Herchenbach / The Hinterland of the 'Colonia Ulpia Traiana' (Xanten): Supply Basis for the Town? 41
