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Saalburg - Episode 18041
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The Saalburg is a Roman fort located northwest of Bad Homburg, 20 km north-north-west of Frankfurt in the state of Hessen in Germany.
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Transcript
Introduction to Archaeology Podcast Network
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Speaker
You're listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network.
Salberg Roman Fort Overview
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Speaker
The Salberg is a Roman fort located northwest of Bad Holmberg, 20 kilometers north northwest of Frankfurt in the state of Hessen in Germany. The fort is part of the Limes Gramonicus on the border between the former Roman Empire and the Germanic provinces. This is episode 41 from February 10th, 2018.
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I'm Chris Webster and welcome to the ARC 365 podcast, 2018 edition. ARC 365 is a podcast today, every day, in 2018.
Support and Membership Information
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This network is supported by our listeners. You can become a supporting member by going to arcpodnet.com slash members and signing up. As a supporting member, you have access to high quality downloads of each show and a discount at our future online store and access to show hosts on a members only Slack team. For professional members, we'll have training shows and other special content offered throughout the year. Once again, go to arcpodnet.com slash members to support the network and get some great extras and swag in the process.
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That's arcpodnet.com slash members.
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This episode is written by Gerard Panditieri.
History of Salberg Fort Development
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The first substantial Roman activity here was during the reign of the Emperor Domitian when Rome was at war with the Germanic tribe, the Chati, from 81 to 96 CE. The first fortifications built here were a pair of small earthen enclosures to protect a mountain pass. By 90 CE, the first substantial fort was built here from wood and earth. It would have been the base of operations for a Numerus, which is a group of auxiliaries consisting of two centurae, around 160 men.
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There is some evidence that the troops stationed here were from Britain, but this is still not certain. Late in the reign of Hadrian, around 135 CE, a larger fort was constructed with a total enclosed area of 3.2 hectares and would have housed a cohort of around 500 men. The walls of this fort were originally made from dry stone and wood, but sometime between 150 CE and 200 CE, they were upgraded to mortared stone, backed by an earthen ramp that would have provided access to the walls and reinforced them.
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The current appearance of the reconstructed fort is based upon this third and final phase of work. This cohort fort would have been manned by the cohorts to Ratorum, Sivium, Romanorum, Equitata, or the second partially mounted Raetian cohort with Roman citizenship. This cohort would probably have been under the command of the legionary headquarters of Mognatatium, modern day mains. It was originally stationed at Aquae Metorquarium,
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modern-day Wiesbaden, which is around 30 kilometers southwest. Then they were moved to Butzbach, 20 kilometers to the north-northeast, and finally to Salberg.
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After around 50 years of military unrest combined with the crisis of the 3rd century, the fort was abandoned. It appears to have been abandoned deliberately without military action. After the abandonment, the fort was used as a quarry for building materials locally.
Reconstruction and Current Status
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In 1897, at the request of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the reconstruction of the fort began. Based on the excavations that had been carried out throughout the 19th century, it is now the most complete reconstructed fort on the Limbs Germanicus.
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The fort, as it now stands, is 147 meters by 221 meters, and has four gates. The main gate, Porta Pretoria, faces south-southwest towards Nita, modern-day Heydernheim. Within the fort is the large Principia central plaza, surrounded by the quarters for the higher officers, which in turn are flanked by roofed halls for assemblies for the garrison.
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The front section of the fort, or Pratintura, contains the Praetorium, commander's residence, to the west of the Via Praetorium, main path from the front gate, and to the east of it stands the Aurarium, grain store. Buildings that no longer stand include stables, magazines, workshops, and troop quarters.
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though troop barracks have been reconstructed in the southeast of the fort. Outside of the fort was the Vikas, or civilian town, which would have supported the fort. In the case of the Salberg, it has been partially excavated and preserved. There are the remains of a Manzio, official hostel, a bath building, basements, and foundations of residential buildings, which have been partially reconstructed, and what may be a Mithuriam, a shrine to the god Mithras.
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Estimates of the population of the Vicus are around 1,500 at its height.
Conclusion and Contact Information
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Housed in the reconstructed buildings is the Salberg Museum, which contains a substantial number of artifacts. It is also a center of research in its own right, with a library of over 30,000 socialite volumes, and it even produced its own publications. In 2005, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in conjunction with the Limes. For more information, please see the show notes. Thank you.
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Thanks for listening to ARC 365. If you want to hear more ARC 365, check out www.arcpodnet.com slash ARC365 for the 2017 and 2018 episodes. Check out arcpodnet.com slash ARC365-G30 for the last 30 episodes. Please subscribe and rate on your service of choice. We're available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play, among others. Support the APN at arcpodnet.com slash members. Thanks for listening, and thanks for being awesome.
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This show is produced and recorded by the Archaeology Podcast Network, Chris Webster and Tristan Boyle, in Reno, Nevada at the Reno Collective. This has been a presentation of the Archaeology Podcast Network. Visit us on the web for show notes and other podcasts at www.archpodnet.com. Contact us at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork.com.