Armed Batavians: Use and Significance of Weaponry and Horse Gear from Non-Military Contexts in the Rhine Delta (50 BC to AD 450)

422 Pages·2007·84.443 MB·English

by  Johan Nicolay

Armed Batavians
  
   
Editorial board:
Prof. dr. E.M. Moormann
Prof. dr. W. Roebroeks
Prof. dr. N. Roymans
Prof. dr. F. Theuws
Other titles in the series:
N. Roymans (ed.): From the Sword to the Plough
Three Studies on the Earliest Romanisation of Northern Gaul
ISBN 90 5356 237 0
T. Derks: Gods, Temples and Ritual Practices
The Transformation of Religious Ideas and Values in Roman Gaul
ISBN 90 5356 254 0
A. Verhoeven: Middeleeuws gebruiksaardewerk in Nederland (8e – 13e eeuw)
ISBN 90 5356 267 2
F. Theuws / N. Roymans (eds): Land and Ancestors
Cultural Dynamics in the Urnfield Period and the Middle Ages in the Southern Netherlands
ISBN 90 5356 278 8
J. Bazelmans: By Weapons made Worthy
Lords, Retainers and Their Relationship in Beowulf
ISBN 90 5356 325 3
R. Corbey / W. Roebroeks (eds): Studying Human Origins
Disciplinary History and Epistemology
ISBN 90 5356 464 0
M. Diepeveen-Jansen: People, Ideas and Goods
New Perspectives on ‘Celtic barbarians’ in Western and Central Europe (500-250 BC)
ISBN 90 5356 481 0
G. J. van Wijngaarden: Use and Appreciation of Mycenean Pottery in the Levant, Cyprus and Italy
(ca. 1600-1200 BC)
The Significance of Context
ISBN 90 5356 482 9
F.A. Gerritsen: Local Identities
Landscape and community in the late prehistoric Meuse-Demer-Scheldt region
ISBN 90 5356 588 4
N. Roymans: Ethnic Identity and Imperial Power
The Batavians in the Early Roman Empire
ISBN 90 5356 705 4
Armed Batavians
       
 -     
(    )
 
 
  
  
This publication was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
T Thhiiss bbooookk mmeeeettss tthhee rreeqquuiirreemmeennttss ooff IISSOO 99770066:: 11999944,, IInnffoorrmmaattiioonn aanndd ddooccuummeennttaattiioonn –– PPaappeerr
for documents – Requirements for permanence.
English translated by Annette Visser, Wellington, New Zealand
Cover illustration: Masked helmet from the Waal at Nijmegen. Photo Museum het Valkhof, Nijmegen
Cover design: Kok Korpershoek, Amsterdam
Lay-out: Bert Brouwenstijn, ACVU Amsterdam
Maps and figures: Johan Nicolay and Bert Brouwenstijn, ACVU Amsterdam
ISBN 978 90 5356 253 6
NUR 682
© Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2007
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may
be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the written permission of both
the copyright owner and the author of this book.
…The Batavians, while they lived across the Rhine, formed part of the Chatti; then expelled by a civil war, they occu-
pied the periphery of the Gallic coast which was uninhabited, and also a nearby island, which is washed by the ocean
in front but by the Rhine in the rear and on each side. Without having their wealth exhausted – a thing which is rare
in an alliance with a stronger people – they furnished our empire only with men and arms. They had long training in
our wars with the Germans; then later they increased their renown by service in Britain, whither some cohorts were
sent, led according to their ancient custom by the noblest among them. They had also at home a select body of cavalry
which excelled in swimming; keeping their arms and horses, they crossed the Rhine without breaking formation.

Tacitus, Histories 4.12
Horse gear pendant, 1st century AD. Recent metal
detector find from Tiel-‘Passewaaijse Hogeweg’ (scale 1:1)

 

  
1.1 Background, objectives and development of the research 
1.2 Geographical context and specific characteristics of the research region 
1.3 ‘Military’ and ‘civilian’ during the Roman period 
     :   
2.1 Military equipment 
2.1.1 Defensive weaponry 
2.1.2 Offensive weaponry 
2.1.3 Belts, aprons and baldrics 
2.1.4 Signalling instruments and military distinctions 
2.2 Horse gear 
2.2.1 Bridle 
2.2.2 Saddle 
2.2.3 Girths 
2.3 Phasing and historical context 
            
3.1 Chronological analysis 
3.1.1 Archaeological visibility 
3.1.2 Chronological patterns in the finds 
3.1.3 Chronological analysis per type of find context 
3.2 Geographical analysis 
3.2.1 Collection method and representativity 
3.2.2 Geographical distribution of the finds 
3.2.3 The research region in a northwest European context 
3.3 Composition and spatial distribution at the site level 
3.3.1 Rural settlements and cemeteries 
3.3.2 The urban centres at Nijmegen 
3.3.3 Cult places 
3.3.4 Rivers 
3.4 Conclusion 
     
4.1 The production of weaponry and horse gear 
4.1.1 Mediterranean imports 
4.1.2 Self-sufficient army units: production in military fabricae 
4.1.3 The rise of private workshops 
4.1.4 Centralised production in state workshops 
4.2 Decoration and symbolism 
4.2.1 Political propaganda: the glorification of the imperial family 
4.2.2 The invincibility of Rome 
4.2.3 Appeals for divine protection 

4.3 Conclusion 
           
5.1 The life cycle of a Roman soldier 
5.1.1 Enlistment, military service and honourable discharge: probatus, signatus, miles and veteranus 
5.1.2 Veteran’s work and place of residence after their missio honesta 
5.1.3 The origin of veterans who settled in the eastern Rhine delta 
5.2 Use of weaponry and horse gear during the life of a soldier 
5.2.1 The acquisition of military equipment and the question of ownership 
5.2.2 Military use: functional objects and symbols of rank, wealth and status 
5.2.3 ‘Social use’ after completing military service: personal memorabilia 
5.3 Types of social use in the different non-military contexts 
5.3.1 Ritual deposition at cult places 
5.3.2 River finds: deliberate depositions, lost items and washout material 
5.3.3 Urban centres: lost objects, deliberate depositions and kept object 
5.3.4 Rural settlements: ritual depositions and discarded items 
5.3.5 Graves: gifts for the dead 
5.4 Conclusion 
 -       
    
6.1 The bearing of arms by non-soldiers 
6.1.1 The Corpus Juris Civilis: a ban on weapons possession by civilians? 
6.1.2 Lances, spears, arrows and sling shot: hunting weapons 
6.1.3 Swords and daggers: weapons for civilian self-defence 
6.2 Military-civilian use of the cingulum and baldric 
6.3 Non-military uses of horse gear 
6.3.1 Local horse breeding to supply the Roman army 
6.3.2 Finds of the Gallo-Roman double yoke and the role of horses as draught animals 
6.3.3 Protective symbols for civilian mounts 
6.4 Conclusion 
 ,   .    
       -
 
7.1 The pre-Roman situation: the importance of warriorship 
7.2 Consequences of the Roman takeover: continuity and discontinuity of late Iron Age traditions 
7.3 A ‘civilian’ lifestyle at the imperial frontier 
7.4 ‘Germanic’ newcomers and a revival of martial values? 
7.5 Conclusion 
Abbreviations 
Bibliography 
Appendices 1-4 
About the plates and the catalogue 
Plates 1-96 