At the end of the first century BC a fortress was built in Basel. It was quickly abandoned, but a small settlement outside the gates remained inhabited. In the early first century AD a second fortress was built. This one was abandoned at the end of the century. After the middle of the third century there was renewed military building activity. This work may have started during the reign of Gallienus (254-268 AD) and was continued under Diocletianus and Constantine. In 374 AD Valentinianus I erected a fortification named Robur ("Stronghold") near Basel, as reported by Ammianus Marcellinus:
Secuto post haec anno, Gratiano adscito in trabeae societatem Aequitio consule, Valentiniano post vastatos aliquos Alamanniae pagos munimentum aedificanti prope Basiliam, quod appellant accolae Robur, offertur praefecti relatio Probi, docentis Illyrici clades. In the year following these events, Gratianus was made consul as the colleague of Aequitius; and Valentinian, who after devastating several cantons of the Alamanni was building a fortification near Basle, which the neighbours call Robur, received the report of the prefect Probus, telling of the devastation in Illyricum. Ammianus Marcellinus, History 30,3,1. Translation J. C. Rolfe. This munimentum is probably a fortification that was found in 1973 on the opposite side of the river Rhine. It was a square with sides of 21 m., with four round towers on the corners (interior meas. 13 x 13 m.).
Plan and reconstruction drawing of the fortification on the opposite side of the Rhine. Martin 1998, Abb. 1 and Asal 2017, Abb. 18.
The remains of Roman Basel are buried below the modern city and have been investigated on many occasions. The archaeological evidence is fragmentary. The finds were taken to the Historisches Museum in Basel.
Reconstruction of Basel around 374 AD. Archäologische Bodenforschung Stadt Basel.
Literature
Stähelin 1931, 565; Fellmann 1960; Berger 1981; Fellmann 1981; Drack-Fellmann 1988, 354-360; Drack-Fellmann 1991, 71-75; Martin 1998; Ammann 2002; Flutsch et al. 2002, 369; Asal 2017.
[20-Oct-2023]
