My Travel and History Blog, Focussing mostly on Roman and Mediaeval Times
27 Sept 2006
The Roman Fort at Hedemünden - Introduction
Forest at Hedemünden
During this time, a base camp was established some 65-90 metres above the valley of a Werra ford, near a village now called Hedemünden. The fortress protected the ways that connected the lands of the Chatti (basically northern Hessia and southern Lower Saxony) with the lands of the Marcomanni (who migrated from the Main river to Bohemia) and Cherusci (middle and northern Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt). The exact borders between the tribes are still disputed and the Roman sources none too clear. In a country of woodcovered hills and mountains, paths and rivers were strategically important. The fort at Hedemünden is so far the easternmost proof for a more permanent Roman presence between Rhine and Elbe; the known forts and settlements are all closer to the Rhine/Main/Lippe area. Read more »
Since Caesar established the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica west of the Rhine in about 50 BC, the German tribes had developed a habit to cross the river and raid the richer places along the border. To put an end to this, Nero Claudius Drusus the Elder (known as Drusus) and Tiberius Claudius Nero (Tiberius) led several campaigns into the lands of the Cherusci and Chatti and pushed as far as the Elbe (Albis) between 16 and 9 BC. They managed to play the tribes and families against each other, and for some years it looked like Germania Transrhenania could become a Roman province.
During this time, a base camp was established some 65-90 metres above the valley of a Werra ford, near a village now called Hedemünden. The fortress protected the ways that connected the lands of the Chatti (basically northern Hessia and southern Lower Saxony) with the lands of the Marcomanni (who migrated from the Main river to Bohemia) and Cherusci (middle and northern Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt). The exact borders between the tribes are still disputed and the Roman sources none too clear. In a country of woodcovered hills and mountains, paths and rivers were strategically important. The fort at Hedemünden is so far the easternmost proof for a more permanent Roman presence between Rhine and Elbe; the known forts and settlements are all closer to the Rhine/Main/Lippe area. Read more »
