Gelduba was a location in ancient

Germania Inferior ''Germania Inferior'' ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed ''Germania Secunda'' in the 4th century AD, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Cl ...

, the modern site of Gellep in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. A cemetery at the site was in use at least from the reign of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

(AD 54–68).

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

mentions the place as the site of a

Roman camp ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

and a battle during the

revolt of the Batavi The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi, a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhab ...

ans in 69–70. Afterwards, a was built there, according to Pliny's ''

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

''. The original fort of wood and earth went through three stages before it was converted to stone by 150. It was held by the . It was destroyed by the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

after the revolt of

Postumus Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus ( 259–269) was a Roman commander of Batavian origin, who ruled as emperor of the splinter state of the Roman Empire known to modern historians as the Gallic Empire. The Roman army in Gaul threw off its al ...

in 259 and again in 275–276. Under the

Tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their junior colleagues and designated successors, the ''caesares''. I ...

, it was rebuilt with only a rampart of stone. In 295, it was raised to a . In 353–355, during the reign of

Magnentius Magnus Magnentius ( 303 – 10 August 353) was a Roman general and usurper against Constantius II. Of Germanic descent, Magnentius served with distinction in Gaul, where the army chose him as a replacement for the unpopular emperor Constans. Ac ...

, it was again destroyed by the Franks.

Valentinian I Valentinian I (; 32117 November 375), also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. He ruled the Western Roman Empire, Western half of the empire, while his brother Valens ruled the Byzantine Empire, East. During his re ...

() had it rebuilt. Around 380, semicircular towers and new ditches were added. It continued in use as a Roman fortress until at least the 5th century. Gelduba's (village) was still inhabited in the early 5th century, but it was destroyed in a fire a century later. The cemetery remained in continuous use until the later 8th century. It has over 6,000 identified graves. In the Roman period, both the fort and the village made use of it. The graves of Germanic

auxilia The (; ) were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen Roman legion, legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 27 BC. By the 2nd century, the contained the same number of infantry as the ...

ries under the late Empire are distinctive for their

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Grave goods may be classed by researche ...

. In the course of the 4th century, the orientation of graves changed from north–south to east–west and the prevalence of grave goods declined. By the mid-5th century, the graves assume a distinctly '

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

' character. A new burial space was founded on the western edge of the existing one with a

tumulus A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

over a richly adorned grave. Other rich Franks are buried around the tumulus. During the Merovingian period, the cemetery continued to be used by all classes. __NOTOC__

Gallery

File:A_Roman_army_helmet_by_Paul_Garland.jpg,

Spangenhelm The Spangenhelm, or segmented helmet, was a popular medieval European combat helmet design of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. They are often contrasted with Eastern lamellar helmets. Construction The name Spangenhelm is of Germ ...

(6th century) File:Roman pocket knife Roman Gellep Germany noBG.jpg, Roman pocketknife and reconstruction File:Gelduba Grabstein (80) Museum Burg Linn.jpg, Roman gravestone File:Engobierte Keramik (Ende 3. Jh.), Gelduba Grab 5555, Museum Burg Linn.jpg, Roman pottery File:Glasbecher mit Schlangenfadenverzierung (Ende 4. Jh.), Gelduba Grab 4756, Museum Burg Linn.jpg, Roman glassware (4th century) File:Gläser mit aufgesetzten Nuppen, Gelduba (4. Jh.), Museum Burg Linn.jpg, Roman glassware (4th century)

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Gelduba (Krefeld-Gellep)
at

Livius.org Jona Lendering (born 29 October 1964) is a Dutch historian and the author of books on antiquity, Dutch history and modern management. He has an MA in history from Leiden University and an MA in Mediterranean culture from the Amsterdam Free Uni ...

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