(Latin; , : ) is a term used primarily for the Germanic border defence or delimiting system of ancient Rome marking the borders of the Roman Empire.Benjamin Isaac, "The Meaning of 'Limes' and 'Limitanei' in Ancient Sources", Journal of Roman Studies, 78 (1988), pp. 125–147Great Walls and Linear Barriers, Peter Spring, Pen and Sword, 2015, Chap. 24. , 9781473853843 The term has been extended in modern times to refer to the frontier defences in other parts of the empire, such as in the east and in Africa.
Overview
The Roman frontier stretched for more than from the Atlantic coast of northern Britain, through Europe to the Black Sea, and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast. The positions of the borders changed especially during the main periods of Roman expansion and contraction, and first became more stable during the early Empire period under Augustus, but the borders continued to change with time in different provinces. The borders had different constituents depending on local needs; often they consisted of natural boundaries (e.g. rivers) with roads behind for easier movement of troops between linked forts (e.g. Danubian Limes), or else roads with linked forts (e.g. Stanegate, Fosse Way).
The remains of the frontiers today consist of vestiges of roads, forts, fortresses, walls and ditches, and associated civilian settlements. The soldiers at a border were referred to as limitanei. They were not expected to win large-scale wars, but rather to deter small-to-medium-sized raiding parties.
Notable examples of Roman frontiers include: Hadrian's Wall in northern England Antonine Wall – in ScotlandUNESCO World Heritage Centre. New Inscribed Properties"Wall gains World Heritage status'" BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2008. Saxon Shore, late Roman coastal forts in South-East England Limes Arabicus, the frontier of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea facing the desert Limes Tripolitanus, the frontier in modern Libya facing the Sahara Fossatum Africae, the southern frontier of the Roman Empire, extending south of the Roman province of Africa in North-Africa. Germanic Limes including the: Lower Germanic Limes Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes Danubian Limes including the: Rhaetian Limes (only those elements along the Danube) Noric Limes, the frontier of the Roman province Noricum, from the River Inn along the Danube to Cannabiaca (Zeiselmauer-Wolfpassing) in Austria. Pannonian Limes, the frontier of the Roman province Pannonia, along the Danube from Klosterneuburg Austria to Taurunum in Serbia. Moesian Limes, the frontier of the Roman province Moesia, from Singidunum Serbia along the Danube to Moldavia. Dacian Limes including: Limes Alutanus, the eastern border of the Roman province of Dacia Limes Transalutanus, the later advanced eastern frontier of Dacia Limes Porolissensis, the northernmost line of defence of the province.
Etymology The stem of limes, limit-, which can be seen in the genitive case, limitis, marks it as the ancestor of an entire group of words in many languages related to Latin; for example, English limit or French limite. The Latin noun līmes (;Oxford English Dictionary (1989) Latin ) had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields; a boundary line or marker; any road or path; any channel, such as a stream channel; or any distinction or difference.Benjamin Isaac, "The Meaning of 'Limes' and 'Limitanei' in Ancient Sources", Journal of Roman Studies, 78 (1988), pp. 125–147 The term was also commonly used after the 3rd century AD to denote a military district under the command of a dux limitis.Benjamin Isaac, "The Meaning of 'Limes' and 'Limitanei' in Ancient Sources", Journal of Roman Studies, 78 (1988), pp. 125–147; Benjamin Isaac, The Limits of Empire: the Roman Army in the East (Oxford: Oxford University Press, revised edition 1992).
An etymology by Julius Pokorny in Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch says that limes comes from Indo-European el-, elei-, lei-, "to bow", "to bend", "elbow". According to Pokorny, Latin limen, "threshold", is related to limes, being the stone over which one enters or leaves the house. Some scholars have viewed the frontier as a threshold. The Merriam–Webster dictionaries take this view, as does J. B. Hofmann in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen under leimon. The White Latin Dictionary denies any connection, deriving limen from *ligmen, as in lien from *leig-, "tie". In this sense, the threshold ties together the doorway. W. Gebert also wrote an article discussing the term.W. Gebert, "Limes", Untersuchungen zur Erklärung des Vortes und seiner Anwendung, Bonner Jahrbücher Bd. 119, No. 2, 1910, 158–205.
The first use of the term limes as meaning "land border" appears for the first time in 98 AD by Tacitus:Tacitus, De vita et moribus Julius Agricolae, 41, 2–3E. Schallmayer, Der Limes. Geschichte einer Grenze, München, 2006, p. 14
...nec iam de limite imperii et ripa, sed de hibernis legionum et de possessione dubitatum (...not only were the frontier of the empire and the banks [of the Danube] in danger but also the winter-quarters of the legions and the provinces).
Its definitive use for the Danubian border seems to date from about 122 in the time of Hadrian:Scriptores Historiae Augustae, De vita Hadriani, XII, 6
Per ea tempora et alia frequenter in plurimis locis, in quibus barbari non fluminibus sed limitibus dividuntur, stipitibus magnis in modum muralis saepis funditus iactis atque conexis barbaros separavit (During this period and on many other occasions also, in many regions where the barbarians are held back not by rivers but artificial barriers, [Hadrian] shut them out by tall stakes planted deep in the ground and fastened together in the manner of a palisade).
Some experts suggested that the Germanic limes may have been called Munimentum Traiani (Trajan's Bulwark) by contemporaries, referring to a passage by Ammianus Marcellinus, according to which emperor Julian had reoccupied this fortification in 360 AD.Hessian state archaeologist Prof. E. Schallmeyer, quoted in Schmid, A., Schmid, R., Möhn, A., Die Römer an Rhein und Main (Frankfurt: Societäts-Verlag, revised edition 2006).
Meaning of limes as a form of barrier The limes was classified according to the way they functioned as a barrier: natural, artificial, or internal.
Natural barriers In the first case the barriers, which divided the Roman world from the barbarians or from other foreign states, could be:
of a fluvial type (such as the Rhine, Danube and Euphrates) and called ripa (in the sense of a riverbank);Yann Le Bohec, L'esercito romano da Augusto alla fine del III secolo, Rome 1992, 7th reprint 2008, p. 206.
mountainous (such as the chain of the Carpathians in Dacia or the Atlas in Mauretania);
or desert (such as along the southern frontier of Egypt and the provinces of Arabia and Syria).
Internal areas The third case is very particular. It concerns the so-called praetentura, that is, an area within the empire itself (as was the praetentura Italiae et Alpium at the time of the Marcomannic Wars) entrusted to a special military command (in this particular case to Quintus Antistius Adventus), intended to prevent and block possible barbarian invasions.
Main strategic-territorial sectors of the Roman limes
In Europe Britain
The frontier in Britain existed from the 1st to the 5th century AD. Initially the Fosse Way road was a frontier. From the 1st to the 2nd century first the Gask Ridge and then the Stanegate, with their chains of forts and watchtowers, marked the northern boundary of Britannia. Later Hadrian's Wall was built as the frontier and for a short time the Antonine Wall further north. The defence of Hadrian's Wall was achieved through the incorporation of forts and castella. Security and monitoring on the coasts in the west and southeast were achieved by forts and by chains of watchtowers or signal towers, both along the coastline.
The garrisons, Exercitus Britannicus, consisted mostly of cohorts of auxilia. The strategic reserve comprised three legions based in Eburacum (York), Isca Silurum and Deva. The observation and surveillance of the waters around the British Isles was the responsibility of the Classis Britannica, whose headquarters were in Rutupiae (Richborough). Legions, auxilia and the fleet were commanded by the provincial governors. From the 3rd century, units of comitatenses, limitanei and liburnaria (marines) came under the command of two generals:
Comes Britanniarum Dux Britanniarum
Saxon Shore
This section of the limes existed from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD and covered the provinces of:
Britannia Inferior Belgica Lugdunensis Aquitania
This limes of the Late Antiquity ran through the territory of the present-day United Kingdom and France. In the 3rd century, a separate military district, the Litus Saxonicum, was established on the British side of the English Channel between the estuaries of the Wash and the Solent, to repel Saxon pirates and plunderers. The Gallic side of the English Channel and Atlantic coast were included therein. Monitoring and coastal surveillance were carried out by a chain of watchtowers or signal towers, forts and fortified ports (Gaul). Most of the Saxon Shore camps probably served as naval bases.
The garrisons of the forts were composed of infantry and several cavalry regiments. Monitoring and surveillance of the Channel were the responsibility of the Classis Britannica and Classis Sambrica, whose headquarters were in Locus Quartensis (Port d'Etaple), guarding the mouth of the River Somme. The units of comitatenses, limitanei and liburnaria in this area came under the command of three generals:
Comes litoris Saxonici per Britanniam (Count of the Saxon Shore) Dux Belgicae secundae Dux tractus Armoricani et Nervicani
Lower Germania (Rhenish limes: between the Rhine and the Elbe)
This section of limes existed from the 1st to the 5th century AD and ran through the province of Lower Germania (Germania Inferior).
It lies on the territory of today's Netherlands and Germany. This limes was a river border (limes ripa) on the Rhine, defended by a chain of camps, that ran from the North Sea (Katwijk-Brittenburg camp) to Vinxtbach (opposite Rheinbrohl fort on the Upper Germanic Limes), forming the border between the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superior. By contrast with the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, it was not marked by a solid palisade or wall. Neither can any defensive ditch or rampart be identified. The guards were stationed in nearby castra and watchtowers usually built immediately on the Rhine. The limes was served by a well-developed military road. Each camp had its own river port or landing stage and a storage area, because the Rhine not only formed the border but was also the most important transport and trade route in the region. In the first section, between the camps of Rigomagus (Remagen) and Bonna (Bonn), there were only a few camps. In the second, middle, section between Bonna and Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum (Nijmegen), there were considerably more. Here there were also larger legion camps; with one exception, all were cavalry barracks. The landscape of the third section between Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum and Mare Germanicum (the North Sea) was characterised by numerous small streams and boggy marshland. Consequently, in this area there was only one cavalry camp. Border security here consisted mainly of tightly packed, relatively small cohort forts.