Flevum was a castrum and port of the Romans in

Frisia Frisia () is a Cross-border region, cross-border Cultural area, cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. Wider definitions of "Frisia" ...

(actual northern

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

), built when emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

wanted to conquer the German populated territories between the Rhine river and the Elbe river.

History

Two Roman fortifications (usually called ''Flevum I'' and ''Flevum II'') have been discovered at the mouth of actual North Sea Canal: the first was initially a small marching camp made by

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

(similar to the nearby Ermelo fortification built in 4 AD), and later enlarged to be a castrum and a port by Germanicus around 14 AD. The second was built by

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

in 40 AD, 2 km to the northwest of the first. Both the fortifications were inside the western area of Magna Germania that was the short-lived

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 ...

. Indeed the ruins of a Roman naval base at actual

Velsen Velsen () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal. On the north side of the North Sea Canal there is a major steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known as ...

(Netherlands) are believed to be the ancient Flevum, which is listed as Phleoum, Romanized to Phleum, in

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

(2.10). The first fortification was rather a simple and temporary construction site. Its ground plan was more or less triangular and covered an area of about one hectare. The defense systems consisted mainly of an earth wall with an upstream, simple trench. A wooden palisade with a wooden gate defended the eastern part of the river bank. This camp did not yet have port functions initially, although ships could lie on the gently sloping river bank. Shortly thereafter, the wooden fence was reinforced with a reinforced door. This harbor gate gave access to a short open jetty where larger ships could be loaded and unloaded so they would not have to be pulled into the countryside. This castrum was enlarged to 2 hectares. Shipsheds have been discovered in Flevum.Shipsheds image
/ref> The second fort -Flevum II- was built after the destruction of the first castrum around 28 AD, but has left few archaeological evidences. It seems to have survived only until 55 AD.

Maps Gallery

1400-1499 Ptolemaeus Magna Germania FLEVVM.jpg, Flevum - ''Phileu'' 1511 Claudii Ptholemaei FLEVVM.jpg, Flevum - ''Phleum'' (1511) 1513 Quarta Europae Tabula FLEVVM.jpg, Flevum -''Phileum'' (1513) 1700 New Map Ancient Germany FLEVVM.jpg, Flevum - ''L. cusFlevus'' (1700) 1865 Spruner Map FLEVVM.jpg, Flevum - ''Phleum'', ''Flevo'', ''Flevus'' and ''Flevum cast. llum' (1865)

Notes

Bibliography

* Saskia G. van Dockum: ''Das niederländische Flussgebiet.'' In: Tilmann Bechert und Willem J. H. Willems (Hrsg.): ''Die römische Reichsgrenze zwischen Mosel und Nordseeküste.'' Theiss, Stuttgart 1995, , S. 79. * J.-M.A.W.Morel. ''The early roman harbours. Velsen'', in: R.W.Brandt, W.Groenman-van Waateringe & S.E.van der Leeuw (eds.), Assendelver Polder Papers 1, Amsterdam 1987, pags. 169-175. {{Ancient Roman sites in Germany Roman sites in Germany Germania (Roman province) Germany in the Roman era

History

Maps Gallery

See also

Notes

Bibliography