View source for Netherlands in the Roman era

{{History of the Netherlands}}
[[File:Romeinse wachttoren fort vechten netherlands.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Reconstruction of a Roman [[watch tower]] near [[Fectio]] in the Netherlands]]

For around 450 [[year]]s, from around 55 BC to around 410 AD, the southern part of the [[Netherlands]] was integrated into the [[Roman Empire]]. During this time the '''Romans in the Netherlands''' had an enormous influence on the lives and [[culture]] of the [[people]] who lived in the Netherlands at the time and (indirectly) on the generations that followed.<ref>Much of this article is derived from the Dutch Wikipedia article called ''Romeinen in Nederland''</ref>

==Early history==
{{Main|Frisii|Gallic wars}}
[[Image:Limes1.png|thumb|left|[[Limes (Roman Empire)|Limes]] romanus in the Netherlands]]
During the [[Gallic Wars]], the area south and west of the [[Rhine]] was conquered by Roman forces under [[Julius Caesar]] in a series of campaigns from 57 BC to 53 BC.<ref name="livius.org">Jona Lendering, "Conquest and Defeat", "Germania Inferior", https://www.livius.org/ga-gh/germania/inferior.htm#Conquest</ref> The approximately 450 years of [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] rule that followed would profoundly change the Netherlands.

Starting about 15 BC, the Rhine in the Netherlands came to be defended by the Lower [[Limes Germanicus]]. After a series of military actions, the Rhine became fixed around 12 AD as Rome's northern frontier on the European mainland.{{cn|date=April 2023}} A number of towns and developments would arise along this line. Perhaps the most evocative Roman ruin is the mysterious [[Brittenburg]], which emerged from the sand at the beach in Katwijk several centuries ago, only to be buried again. These ruins were part of [[:nl:Lugdunum Batavorum|Lugdunum Batavorum]].

The area to the south would be integrated into the [[Roman Empire]]. At first part of [[Gallia Belgica]], this area became part of the [[Roman province|province]] of [[Germania Inferior]]. The tribes already within, or relocated to, this area became part of the Roman Empire. 

The area to the north of the Rhine, inhabited by the [[Frisii]] and the [[Chauci]], remained outside Roman rule but not its presence and control. The Frisii were initially "won over" by [[Nero Claudius Drusus|Drusus]], suggesting a Roman [[suzerainty]] was imposed by [[Augustus]] on the coastal areas north of the Rhine river.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cocceianus |first=Cassius Dio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wa5fAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA365 |title=Dio's Roman History |date=1917 |publisher=W. Heinemann |isbn=978-0-434-99083-2 |language=en}}</ref> Over the course of time the Frisii would provide Roman auxiliaries through treaty obligations, but the tribe would also fight the Romans in concert with other Germanic tribes (finally, in 296 the Frisii were relocated in Flanders and disappeared from recorded history).<ref>{{Citation |last=Grane |first=Thomas |year=2007 |contribution=From Gallienus to Probus - Three decades of turmoil and recovery |title=The Roman Empire and Southern Scandinavia–a Northern Connection! (PhD thesis) |publisher=University of Copenhagen |publication-date=2007 |publication-place=Copenhagen |page=109 }}</ref>

===Native tribes===
During the [[Gallic Wars]], the [[Belgae|Belgic]] area south of the [[Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland)|Oude Rijn]] and west of the [[Rhine]] was conquered by Roman forces under [[Julius Caesar]] in a series of campaigns from 57 BC to 53 BC.<ref name="Lendering">Lendering, Jona, [https://www.livius.org/ga-gh/germania/inferior.htm "Germania Inferior"], Livius.org. Retrieved 6 October 2011.</ref> He established the principle that the Rhine, which runs through the Netherlands, defined a natural boundary between the [[Gauls]] and [[Germanic peoples]]. But the Rhine was not a strong border, and he made it clear that there was a part of Belgic Gaul where many of the local tribes were "[[Germani cisrhenani]]", or in other cases, of mixed origin. The approximately 450 years of [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] rule that followed would profoundly change the area that would become the Netherlands. Very often this involved large-scale conflict with the "free Germans" over the Rhine.

When Caesar arrived, various tribes were located in the area of the Netherlands, residing in the inhabitable higher parts, especially in the east and south. These illiterate tribes did not leave behind written records, so all the information known about them during this pre-Roman period is based on what the Romans and Greeks wrote about them. [[Julius Caesar]] himself, in his commentary ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' wrote in detail only about the southern area which he conquered. Two or three tribes who he described as living in what is now the Netherlands were: 
*The [[Menapii]], a Belgic tribe who stretched from the Flemish coast, through the south of the river deltas, and as far as the modern German border. In terms of modern Dutch provinces this means at least the south of Zeeland, at least the north of North Brabant, at least the southeast of Gelderland, and possible the south of South Holland. In later Roman times this territory seems to have been divided or reduced, so that it became mainly contained in what is now western Belgium.
*The [[Eburones]], the largest of the ''Germani Cisrhenani'' group, whose territory covered a large area between the rivers [[river Maas|Maas]] and Rhine, and also apparently stretched close to the delta, giving them a border with the Menapii. Their territory may have stretched into Gelderland. Caesar claimed to have destroyed the name of the Eburones, but in Roman times Tacitus reports that the Germani Cisrhenani had taken up a new name, the [[Tungri]]. While exact borders are not known the territory of the Eburones, and later the Tungri, (the "[[Civitas Tungrorum]]") included all or most of the modern provinces of Dutch Limburg, and North Brabant. The part in North Brabant was apparently within what became known as [[Toxandria]], the home of the Texuandri.
*The [[Ambivariti]] were apparently a smaller tribe, perhaps part of the Eburones, or Menapii, who Caesar mentions in passing as living west of the Maas, and therefore somewhere in or near North Brabant. (It is possible they lived in what is now Belgium.)

In the delta itself, Caesar makes a passing comment about the ''Insula Batavorum'' ("Island of the Batavi") in the Rhine river, without discussing who lived there. Later, in imperial times, a tribe called the Batavi became very important in this region. The island's easternmost point is at a split in the Rhine, one arm being the [[Waal (river)|Waal]] the other the [[Nederrijn|Lower Rhine]]/[[Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland)|Old Rhine]] (hence the Latin name <ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0001:book=4:chapter=10&highlight=batavi Caes. Gal. 4.10]</ref> Much later [[Tacitus]] wrote that they had originally been a tribe of the [[Chatti]], a tribe in Germany never mentioned by Caesar.<ref>Cornelius Tacitus, ''Germany and its Tribes'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0083%3Achapter%3D29 1.29]</ref> However, archaeologists find evidence of continuity, and suggest that the Chattic group may have been a small group, moving into a pre-existing (and possibly non-Germanic) people, who could even have been part of a known group such as the Eburones.<ref>Nico Roymans, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=qfpKN-oMaWoC Ethnic Identity and Imperial Power. The Batavians in the Early Roman Empire]''. Amsterdam Archaeological Studies 10. Amsterdam, 2004. Chapter 4. Also see page 249.</ref>
{| border=1
!Tribes named by Julius Caesar
!Tribes during Roman empire
|-
|[[File:Netherlands in time of Caesar.png|thumb|400px]]
|[[File:Netherlands in the time of the Roman empire.png|thumb|400px]]
|-
|}

===Later tribes===
Other tribes who eventually inhabited the "Gaulish" islands in the delta during Roman times are mentioned by [[Pliny the Elder]]:<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=4:chapter=29 Plin. Nat. 4.29]</ref>
*The [[Cananefates]], whom Tacitus says were similar to the Batavians in their ancestry (and so presumably came from Germany). These lived to the west of the Batavi, sharing the same island, in what is today the province of South Holland.
*The [[Frisii]], who also inhabited the Netherlands north of the delta, and thus covered a major part of the modern Netherlands, not only in modern Friesland, but also in North Holland and at least in parts of all the other northern Dutch provinces today.
*The [[Chauci]], whose main territory was the north sea coast of Germany, bordering the Frisii on their east. They are thought to be ancestors of the later [[Saxons]], and apparently only held a small part of the modern Netherlands in Roman times.
*The [[Frisiabones]], who Pliny also counted as a people living in [[Gallia Belgica]], to the south of the delta. They probably therefore lived in the north of North Brabant, perhaps stretching into Gelderland and South Holland.
*The [[Marsacii]], who Tacitus refers to as neighbours of the Batavi. Pliny also apparently mentioned these as stretching on to the Flemish coast, and they probably inhabited what is today the province of Zeeland.
*The [[Sturii]], who are not known from any other sources, but are thought to have lived near the Marsacii, therefore in modern Zeeland or South Holland.

As mentioned above, the northern Netherlands, above the Old Rhine, was dominated by the Frisii, with perhaps a small penetration of Chauci. While this area was not officially part of the empire for any long periods, military conscription and other impositions were made for long periods upon the Frisii. Several smaller tribes are known from the eastern Netherlands, north of the Rhine:
*The [[Tuihanti]] (or Tubantes) from [[Twenthe]] in Overijssel, had units serving in the Roman army in Britain.
*The [[Chamavi]], from [[Hamaland]] in northern Gelderland, a [[Franks|Frankish]] tribe that often fought against Rome.
*The [[Salians]], also Franks, probably originated in [[Salland]] in Overijssel, before they moved into the empire, forced by Saxons in the 4th century, first into Batavia, and then into Toxandria.
*South of the Chamavi and on the Rhine the Usipetes lived for some time. Caesar reported that them already in his time as newcomers from the east. Eventually they appear to have been forced southeast under pressure from the Frankish Chamavi and [[Chatuarii]].

In the south of the Netherlands the [[Toxandri|Texuandri]] inhabited most of North Brabant. The modern province of Limburg, with the Maas running through it, appears to have been inhabited by (from north to south) the [[Baetasii]], the [[Catualinum|Catualini]], the [[Sunuci]] and the [[Tungri]].

==Batavian revolt==
{{Main|Revolt of the Batavi}}
About 38 BC, a pro-Roman faction of the [[Chatti]] (a Germanic tribe located east of the [[Rhine]]) was settled by [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa|Agrippa]] in an area south of the Rhine, now thought to be the [[Betuwe]] area. They took on the name of the people already living there—the [[Batavians]].<ref name="livius.org"/>
[[Image:The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis by Rembrandt van Rijn.jpg|thumb|260px|''The Conspiracy of Julius Civilis'', completed in 1661 by [[Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn|Rembrandt]], the best-known painter of the [[Dutch Golden Age]]. It depicts a [[Batavii|Batavian]] oath to [[Gaius Julius Civilis]], the head of the [[Batavian rebellion]] against the [[ancient Rome|Romans]] in 69]]

The relationship with the original inhabitants was on the whole quite good; many [[Batavians]] and [[Cananefates]] even served in the [[Ala (Roman military)|Roman cavalry]]. Batavian culture was influenced by the Roman one, resulting among other things in Roman-style temples such as the one in [[Elst (Overbetuwe)|Elst]], dedicated to local gods. Trade also flourished: the salt used in the Roman empire was won from the North Sea and remains are found across the whole Roman empire.

However, this did not prevent the [[Batavian rebellion]] of 69 AD, a very successful [[Revolt of the Batavi|revolt]] under the leadership of Batavian [[Gaius Julius Civilis]]. Forty ''castella'' were burnt down because the Romans violated the rights of the Batavian leaders by taking young Batavians as their [[slaves]].<ref>[https://www.livius.org/ba-bd/batavians/revolt01.html Jona Lendering, "The Batavian Revolt"]</ref>

Other Roman soldiers (like those in [[Xanten]] and the auxiliary troops of Batavians and Cananefates from the legions of [[Vitellius]]) joined the revolt, which split the northern part of the [[Roman army]]. In April 70, [[Vespasianus]] sent a few legions to stop the revolt. Their commander, [[Quintus Petillius Cerialis|Petilius Cerialis]], eventually defeated the Batavians and started negotiations with [[Julius Civilis]] on his home ground, somewhere between the [[Waal (river)|Waal]] and the [[Meuse River|Maas]] near Noviomagus ([[Nijmegen]]) or&mdash;as the Batavians probably called it&mdash;Batavodurum.<ref>''Historiae'' by Tacitus, 1st century AD. [http://www.ru.nl/ahc/vg/html/vg000232.htm Translation into Dutch by the Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051103053952/http://www.ru.nl/ahc/vg/html/vg000232.htm |date=2005-11-03 }}</ref>

The Batavi may have merged into the Salian Frankish community, who first appear in the written record in the third century as a group who had been living in Batavia before being pushed southwards out of the delta.<ref name="Previté-Orton">Previté-Orton, Charles, ''The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History'', vol. I, pp. 51–52, 151</ref>

==Roman settlements in the Netherlands==
During their stay in Germania Inferior, the Romans established a number of towns and smaller settlements in the Netherlands and reinforced the [[Limes Germanicus]] with military forts. More notable towns include [[:nl:Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum|Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum]] (modern [[Nijmegen]]) and [[Forum Hadriani]] ([[Voorburg]]).

[[Image:romeinen kaart.png|thumb|400px|Map showing Roman settlements in the Netherlands.{{refn|group=note|The exact location of the shifting coastline in Roman times is unknown.}}]]

===Roman forts in the Netherlands (squares on the map)===
#[[Flevum]] (at modern [[Velsen]]) A harbour has been found here as well. (Disputed)
#[[Lugdunum Batavorum]] ([[Brittenburg]] at modern [[Katwijk aan Zee]])
#[[Praetorium Agrippinae]] (at modern [[Valkenburg (South Holland)|Valkenburg]])
#[[Matilo]] (in the modern Roomburg area of [[Leiden]])
#[[Albaniana (Roman fort)|Albaniana]] (at modern [[Alphen aan den Rijn]])
#Fort of an unknown name (near [[Bodegraven]])
#Laurium (at modern [[Woerden]])
#A fort perhaps called [[Fletio]] (at modern [[Vleuten]])
#[[Traiectum (Utrecht)|Traiectum]] (in modern [[Utrecht]])
#[[Fectio]] (Vechten)
#[[Levefanum]] (at modern [[Wijk bij Duurstede]])
#[[Carvo]] (at modern Kesteren in [[Neder-Betuwe]])
#Fort of an unknown name at ([[Meinerswijk]])
#Noviomagus (in modern ([[Nijmegen]])

===Towns in the Netherlands (triangles on the map)===
A) [[Forum Hadriani]], a.k.a. Aellium Cananefatum (modern [[Voorburg]]) <br />
B) [[Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum]], a.k.a. Colonia Ulpia Noviomagus, (modern [[Nijmegen]]) <br />
C) [[Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum|Batavorum]]  (in modern [[Nijmegen]]) <br />
D) [[Colonia Ulpia Trajana]] (in modern [[Xanten]], Germany) <br />
E) [[Coriovallum]] (in modern [[Heerlen]])

===Settlements or posts (circles on the map)===
F) [[Nigrum Pullum]] (modern [[Zwammerdam]]) <br />
G) settlement of an unknown name on the [[Leidsche Rijn]] <br />
H) Haltna (modern [[Houten]]) <br />
I) settlement of an unknown name (modern [[Ermelo, Netherlands|Ermelo]]) <br />
J) settlement of an unknown name (modern [[Tiel]]) <br />
K) Roman temples (modern [[Elst, Overbetuwe]]) <br />
L) Temple possibly devoted to [[Hercules Magusannus]] (modern [[Kessel, North Brabant]]) <br />
M) Temple (at an area called "{{lang|nl|De lithse Ham}}" near Maren-Kessel, now part of [[Oss]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.omroepbrabant.nl/?news/56926822/Romeinse+vondsten+in+de+Lithse+Ham.aspx|title = Omroep Brabant}}</ref> <br />
N) [[Ceuclum]] (modern [[Cuijk]]) <br />
O) Roman era tombs 2&nbsp;km south of town center (modern [[Esch, Netherlands|Esch]]) <br />
P) [[Trajectum ad Mosam]], also known as Mosae Trajectum, (modern [[Maastricht]])<br />
Not marked on the map: a possible fort in modern [[Venlo]] and a settlement called [[Catualium]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/articles/place/catualium-heel/|title = Catualium (Heel) - Livius}}</ref> near modern [[Roermond]]

==Franks==
[[File:Frankischetalen.png|left|thumb|Map showing roughly the distribution of [[Salian Franks]] (in green) and [[Ripuarian Franks]] (in red) at the end of the Roman period.]]

In the 3rd century the [[Franks]], a warrior Germanic tribe, started to appear in the Netherlands. Their attacks happened in a time period with a catastrophic sea invasion of the area.

{{Quote|Another change was irreversible. During transgression phases, the sea is more aggressive than under normal circumstances. The third century saw the beginning of an era of increased violence from the sea. The canal between Lake Flevo and the Wadden Sea widened and the mud-flats of the north become wetlands. The Frisians and Chauci increased the height of the terps (the mounds on the alluvial plain on which they lived) but in vain. It seems that their country was largely depopulated, and the Frisians disappear from our sources. (It is unlikely that the inhabitants of modern Friesland are related to the ancient Frisians.).....The cause of this devastation (in Frisian lands) is easy to find: raids of a new Germanic tribe, the Franks.<ref>Jona Lendering: Germania inferior (Livius.org)]</ref>}}

Modern scholars of the [[Migration Period]] are in agreement that the Frankish identity emerged at the first half of the 3rd century out of various earlier, smaller [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] groups, including the [[Salian Franks|Salii]], [[Sicambri]], [[Chamavi]], [[Bructeri]], [[Chatti]],  [[Chattuarii]],  [[Ampsivarii]], [[Tencteri]], [[Ubii]], [[Batavians|Batavi]] and the [[Tungri]], who inhabited the lower and middle Rhine valley between the [[Zuyderzee]] and the river [[Lahn]] and extended eastwards as far as the [[Weser]], but were the most densely settled around the [[IJssel]] and between the [[Lippe River|Lippe]] and the [[Sieg River|Sieg]].  The Frankish confederation probably began to coalesce in the 210s.<ref name="Previté-Orton 151">{{cite book|author= Charles William Previté-Orton|author-link= Charles William Previté-Orton|title= The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History, vol. I|page=151}}</ref>

The Franks eventually were divided into two groups: the [[Ripuarian Franks]] (Latin: Ripuari), who were the Franks that lived along the middle-Rhine River during the Roman Era, and the [[Salians]], who probably originated in the [[Salland]] in Overijssel, before pressure from the Saxons then forced them to move into the empire in the 4th century and became the [[Salian Franks]].

Franks appear in Roman texts as both allies and enemies (''[[laeti]]'' or ''[[dediticii]]''). In 288 the emperor [[Maximian]] defeated the [[Salian Franks]], [[Chamavi]], [[Frisians]] and other Germans living along the Rhine and moved them to [[Germania inferior]] to provide manpower and prevent the settlement of other Germanic tribes.<ref name="W5051">Williams, 50–51.</ref><ref name="BCE7">Barnes, ''Constantine and Eusebius'', 7.</ref> In 292 [[Constantius Chlorus|Constantius]] defeated the Franks who had settled at the mouth of the Rhine. These were moved to the nearby region of [[Toxandria]].<ref>{{harvnb|Howorth|1884|pp=215–216}}</ref> 

They were forced by the confederation of the Saxons from the east to move over the Rhine into Roman territory in the fourth century. Around 310, the Franks had the region of the [[Scheldt]] river (present day west Flanders and southwest Netherlands) under control, and were raiding the [[English Channel|Channel]], disrupting transportation to [[Roman Britain|Britain]]. Roman forces pacified the region, but did not expel the Franks, who continued to be feared as pirates along the shores at least until the time of [[Julian the Apostate]] (358), when Salian Franks were granted to settle  as ''[[foederati]]'' in [[Toxandria]], according to Ammianus Marcellinus.<ref>{{cite book|author= Previté-Orton|title= The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History, vol. I|pages=51–52}}</ref>

At the beginning of the 5th century, the Franks became the most important ethnic group in the region, just before the end of the [[Western Roman Empire]].

==See also==
*[[History of the Netherlands]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite journal |first=Henry H. |last=Howorth |title=XVII. The Ethnology of Germany (Part VI). The Varini, Varangians and Franks. Section II |journal=[[Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute]] |volume=13 |year=1884 |publisher=Trübner & Co. |pages=213–239 |doi=10.2307/2841727 |jstor=2841727 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449556}}
*Bernard Colebrander, MUST (edd.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=K7RtK8T11sAC ''Limes Atlas''], (Uitgeverij 010, 2005 Rotterdam)
*{{cite book |last1=Veen |first1=Christel |title=Roman period statuettes in the Netherlands and beyond: representation and ritual use in context |date=2023 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |location=Amsterdam |isbn=9789463729383}}
* [http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/ExcerptaRomana Excerpta Romana. De bronnen der Romeinse Geschiedenis van Nederland]

== External links ==
* [https://www.livius.org/germinf.html Germania inferior]
* [https://www.livius.org/fa-fn/fectio/fectio.html Fectio Fort]

{{Netherlands topics}}
{{Territories with limited Roman Empire occupation & presence}}

[[Category:Netherlands in the Roman era| ]]
[[Category:Roman frontiers|Netherlands]]
[[Category:Roman fortifications in Germania Inferior]]