The landscapes through which the Hadrian's Wall and the German Limes run are different, though alien to the Romans in both cases. But the Romans brought their norm-sized forts, milecastles and watch towers to Britannia as well as Germania.
The first esample is from the Hadrian's Wall, the second from the German limes near Walldürn in the Odenwald.
When I visited Xanten in 2010, I rented a bicycyle for one day to get to some interesting places, among them the amphitheatre at Birten. I then cycled along the Rhine for a bit and took a turn along a lake.
Where I found this.
A Roman watchtower, 5 km from the former fort of Castra Vetera (the few remains of which are now buried beneath a grain field on the slope of Fürstenberg Hill). There must have been a chain of those along the Rhine - or rather, where the Rhine had been in Augustean times; its meanders have shifted a bit.
The foundations of 4 x 4 metres are made of greywacke and mortar and are sufficient to support a wooden or half timbered construction of several storeys. There's no mention that this tower had ever been reconstructed all in stone like some of those at the Hadrian's Wall and Limes.
Access would have been by a ladder to the second storey. The lower storey was used to store provisions, the middle one for living quarters, and the highest one was the actual lookout. Since the land around Xanten is rather flat, you could see far on a clear day.
I don't think I've ever commented here, Gabriele, but I've always meant to tell you that I enjoy seeing the pictures that you post on your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting on my RTB post!
Hi May, thank you for visiting and your kind words.
ReplyDeleteThis one is a lazy post, lol. Usually I post pics with some more historical explanation, but I have some 2000 pics in my folders, so I sometimes just share a few. :)
Yay Pictures, I was just talking to a blog buddy yesterday about your wonderful photos of Hadrian's Wall. We were both saying how we felt homesick for England. :)
ReplyDeleteJust. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ann and Bernita.
ReplyDeleteI'm not even from Britain, but I still feel homesick sometimes. :)
Hi, Really enjoy your posts and the site :-) Seems churlish to ask but would it be possible to add a Lat and Long to the info to go with the pics? I'd like to check them out on Google Earth but searching for a few brick in an aerial photo is difficult.....
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