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We covered Roman frontiers in Britain, Jordan, Egypt, and the Neverlands... We thought its time for the largest one; the Rhine frontier! It is often said that Augustus founded and built the Roman border with the Rhine, that he installed stone forts along it, and that it was an unshakable border meant to repel any invasion. This video aims to dispel the above myths and shed some light on Roman borders. It wasn't one emperor who built it, it took decades for the wooden forts to slowly become permanent stone ones, and the border was very dynamic network that shifted through the centuries! This video covers the grand strategy of the Rhine frontier and explains how Roman borders worked, as well as how Rome built its largest border. (Defense in depth - How Rome guarded its LARGEST border)
Primary Sources:
O. Krok. 93
O. Krok. 6
O. Krok. 14
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Breeze, D. J. The Frontiers of Imperial Rome. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. 2011.
Kortüm, K. Zur Datierung der Römischen Militäranlagen im obergermanisch-raetischen Limesgebiet. Chronologische Untersuchungen anhand der Münzfunde, Saalburg, Jahrbuch, 1998 , 49: 5-65.
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Woolliscroft, D.J. 1997 ‘Signalling and the design of the German limes’, in W. Groenman-van Waateringe, B. van Beek, W. Willems and S. Wynia (eds.) Roman Frontier Studies 1995 Oxford: Oxbow, 595-602.
Intro (0:00)
Creation of the Frontier (1:55)
The Roman thought process (5:37)
The watchtowers (9:17)
The fortlets (11:21)
The Roman Grand Strategy (13:28)
Fighting Invaders (14:32)
Impressive self-sufficiency! (16:07)
The frontier's death (17:51)