Roman auxiliaries at a checkpoint. Photo: Römerkastell Saalburg

No retreat!

The Limes: Rome’s answer to Germanic guerrilla tactics

After more than 30 years of rather unsuccessful wars, the Roman Emperor Tiberius chooses to abstain from invading Germania. In the year 17 AD, the focus lies on defending and securing the Roman provinces—but a gutsy tribe called Chatten is not exactly peacable. During the war against them, the Limes is constructed, and brings some 150 years of peace.

By Martin Kania, translation and editing by Sebastian Theby

While the Romans concentrate on securing the Rhine border, Germanic tribes are busy with struggles for internal might. Particular tribes are fighting neighbouring ones, empires collapse, and the once so mighty tribe called Cherusker is now devoid of power. The Chatten, then again, overtake a leading function among all the tribes. Even though they are defeated by the Romans more than only one time, there are still occurring raids within the Roman province. Eventually, a peace contract is set up, leading to twenty years of peace.

Civil war in Rome
The year 68 AD: rebellions against emperor Nero lead to a civil war one year later. The Rhine based army declares the leader Vitellius as the new emperor, and strive towards Rome. The border is quite weakened—a situation which is immediately recognized by the Chatten tribe and affiliated tribes.

Subsequently, they are wreaking havoc at the Roman bridgehead at Wiesbaden. Afterwards, they are crossing the Rhine and lay siege to the legion’s camp at Mainz. An ever growing amount of gathered tribes is now calling for an autonomous empire, and the Roman resistance is quelled not long after. All Roman forts north of Mainz are burnt to the ground, and those who are not pledging allegiance to the new “Imperium Galliarum” are executed.

The empire strikes back and stays
At the beginning of the year 70 AD, the civil war has come to an end, and Vespasian is the new Roman emperor. Under his command, eight legions are swiftly defeating the resistance at the Rhine. In order to integrate the defeated ones into the empire, the soldiers are bound to show mercy. The following decade sees the reconstruction of numerous forts, as Vespasian is eager to secure the Roman-Germanic territories. 40.000 soldiers are now stationed between the Lake Constance and the city of Koblenz.

Strategic thoughts are the reason for altering the border. Once again, the Romans transcend the Rhine, and move east. Streets are built between the Taunus Heights and the Wetterau area in the north, the Black Forest in the south, and the Main and Neckar rivers in the east. Now, the troops can move between the Danube and the Rhine much more easily. Military camps nearby Germanic settlement areas provide the safety needed.

Guerrilla tactics against Rome’s legions
With the occupation of the Wetterau area, the Roman frontier inevitably approaches the territories of the Chatten tribe. Before they can once again attack the Romans, Emperor Domitian decides to start a pre-emptive strike in 83 AD. An army of 30.000 men pushes northwards through the Wetterau area, but the Chatten avoid an open battle. Instead, small combat forces attack the back of the Roman army, and their channels of supply.

Of all Germanic tribes, the Chatten are mastering the art of war at best. The Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus refers to this mastery years later in his essay “Germania”: “They are acting very thoughtful and ambidextrous, considering that they are Germans. Selected men are in command, they obey their superiors, know military assemblies, are sensitive to lucky opportunities, skip an attack, entrench by night, and trust—which usually is a Roman manner—their leaders, not their army. […] Other tribes are heading for a battle, whereas the Chatten are waging war.“

Forest aisles help to control the deep woods
The Chatten’s guerrilla tactics demand Domitian’s reaction. In order to recognize enemy movements as fast as possible, forest aisles (limites, singular: limes) are laid out in the woods. Possibly, the Romans are erecting the wooden watchtowers already at this point, and connect them with patrol paths. Without any result, the war lasts until the year 85 AD. In the same year, another tribe invades what today is Bulgaria, and forces the Romans to withdraw their troops from Germania.

As a consequence, the Romans’ prime objective is once again reduced to securing the occupied areas, and to incorporating them into the empire. The Provinces of Upper Germania (Germania Superior) and Lower Germania (Germania Inferior) are officially founded. Nonetheless, there is no peace for Germania: the year 89 AD brings a revolt of a local Roman commander called Saturnius. His forces are raiding the Roman areas east of the Rhine, accompanied by the Chatten tribe. This motley crew, however, is almost single-handedly defeated by the Romans. The war against the Chatten is over—most likely, the subsequent peacetime is secured by contracts, historians say.

The Limes becomes the empire’s official border
At the turn of the centuries, Emperor Trajan concentrates troops right at the new border, which is by then officially called Limes. They are the first to be alarmed, when hostile Germanic warriors are transcending the border. The interior of Upper Germania gets structured in the meantime, receiving administrative districts and according local capitals such as Frankfurt-Heddernheim (Nida), Wiesbaden (Aquae Mattiacorum), or Dieburg (Vicus Med…). Eventually, the entire infrastructure is strongly developed.

Trajan’s successor, Emperor Hadrian, is responsible for building the first continuous wooden palisade a few decades after that. By the year 160 AD, most of the wooden towers are replaced by towers made of stone. Moreover, the Odenwald Limes is moved up to thirty kilometres eastwards—the Romans need to get their hands on the wood in that additional area. Due to the towering consumption of wood which is used for heating and constructing, a serious lack of this raw material occurs. Therefore, the rotting Limes palisade is not reconstructed, but replaced by a ditch-wall-system, which is just as effective. Life in the province flourishes at the beginning of the third century AD, until Germanic assaults start to increase again. They predict the fall of the Limes; in the year 260 AD, the weakened Romans withdraw their troops behind the Rhine, and abandon their province.

Continue with: The frontier

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