Matilo or Matilone was once a Roman fort (''

castellum A ''castellum'' in Latin is usually: * a small Roman fortlet or tower,C. Julius Caesar, Gallic War; 2,30 a diminutive of (' military camp'), often used as a watchtower or signal station like on Hadrian's Wall. It should be distinguished from ...

'') in modern-day

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...

. Positioned on the southern banks of the Oude Rijn, it served to protect the Roman borders in the province of

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

('' Limes Germanicus''). On the Peutinger map, it lies between the encampments of '' Albaniana'' (

Alphen aan den Rijn Alphen aan den Rijn (; en, "Alphen upon Rhine" or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Old Rhine), where the r ...

) and '' Praetorium Agrippinae'' ( Valkenburg). The seventh-century '' Ravenna Cosmography'' gives its name as ''Matellionem''.

Name

Matilo probably derives its name from a body of water near which it was situated, as is usually the case with Roman place-names ending in -on, -one, -an or -ane. This particular water body had most likely already received its name before Roman settlement along the Oude Rijn. It is therefore of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

or Germanic origin and its meaning remains unclear.

History

Due to lack of any evidence predating Roman finds, archaeologists usually conclude that the Romans were the first to settle in this particular location. Before their arrival, people mostly lived further from the river. The first Romans arrived at the site in 47 AD as part of a larger operation to reinforce the Germanic lines. In order to increase the efficiency of supply chains and communication lines within his army, general

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo ( Peltuinum c. AD 7 – 67) was a popular Roman general, brother-in-law of the emperor Caligula and father-in-law of Domitian. The emperor Nero, highly fearful of Corbulo's reputation, ordered him to commit suicide, which ...

had a canal built (known as the '' Fossa Corbulonis'', or Corbulo's Canal), connecting the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

and

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

. Matilo was erected there, at the meeting place of the Oude Rijn and the newly dug canal, because of its strategic importance. Archaeological evidence seems to suggest that the Romans only constructed the fort itself somewhere at around 70 AD, whereas a small watchtower might have taken its place in the years before. The construction of Matilo therefore immediately followed the

Batavian Rebellion The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior 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 inhabited Batavia, on ...

in 69 and as such played an important role in restoring order to the province of

. Somewhere between 85 and 116, the moat was

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade ...

d and between 130 and 196 AD the Romans added three

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

s and rebuilt the

armoury An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

(''armamentarium'') in stone. They did this once more sometime in 196–243, and replaced the wooden outer wall with a stone one as well. The wall and moats were then rebuilt once more after that. This ''castellum'' was home to the cohors XV ''Voluntarium'' from the last quarter of the first century up to at least 196–198, the ''cohors I Lucensium (Hispanorum)'' occupied the outpost during

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

's reign (103 or 110) and another inscription mentions the ''Numerus Exploratorum Batavorum (Antoniniarum)''. Archaeological findings of ammunition for an

onager The onager (; ''Equus hemionus'' ), A new species called the kiang (''E. kiang''), a Tibetan relative, was previously considered to be a subspecies of the onager as ''E. hemionus kiang'', but recent molecular studies indicate it to be a distinct ...

indicate that an

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

division was once garrisoned there.''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' XIII.8823-25; Brandenburg & Hessing (2005) 27, 31.

Notes

References

Bibliography

*Brandenburg, C.R. & Hessing, W.A.M. (2005) ''Matilo - Rodenburg - Roomburg: De Roomburgerpolder van Romeins castellum tot moderne woonwijk'' (Amersfoort). *Lems, E. (1995) ''Op zoek naar Matilo: Sporen van de Romeinen in Leiden'' (Leiden).

External links

*Lendering, J. (2009
''Matilo''
Accessed: 02-02-2013 {{coord, 52.1497, N, 4.5184, E, source:wikidata, display=title Archaeology of the Netherlands Germania Inferior History of Leiden Military of ancient Rome Roman frontiers Roman sites in the Netherlands Roman legionary fortresses in Netherlands