Continued From Colonia Ulpia Traiana Part II

The archaeological park is more or less divided up into the insula that would have been present in antiquity using dirt visitor paths (the actual roads are either not excavated or are not present) to mark the paths of the dividing roads. The vast majority of the site is unexcavated, but it’s still interesting to see how the city was divided up into insulae. There are a total of 40 insulae in Colonia Ulpia Traiana with the 1^st being located at the northwestern corner and counting along the west wall to the south corner (insula 8). The numbering then returns to the origin, with the first insula in each series being closest to the wall that runs along the northwest side of the town. The amphitheater is located in insula 40.

Heading northwest from the amphitheater, insulae 39 and 38 were residential and craft workshops initially dating back to the 1^st century CE. Reconstructed towers are located at the end of each of the streets adjacent to these insulae. In addition to the residential buildings, evidence of silversmithing and perhaps a butcher have been found here. Currently, at the north side of insula 39 and south side of insula 38 are two reconstructed buildings. Insula 38 features the smaller of the two, the Handwerkerhäuser, the Craftsmen’s Houses. As the name suggests some ground level craft shops and light production spaces along with associated residential areas on the second story are reproduced here. These are based on excavations that preceded building the reconstructions. The excavated buildings still remain in situ, overlaid by a protective concrete layer in most parts of the building.

There are a few exceptions to the covering over of the archaeological remains. On the west/southwest side of the Handwerkerhäuser is a small area with a protective covering. Located here are the remains of a six meter long hypocaust heating channel. It doesn’t seem to have been associated with baths, and given the nature of the immediate surroundings, was probably not just a heated living space. It probably served to heat a room that was used as some sort of drying room for production; though the exact nature is unclear. Inside the middle of the three shops, the floor is excavated to reveal some of the original Roman constructions. Present in this room are the remains of a basin and some sort of channel system. Again, the exact purpose of these are unclear, as no remnants that would indicate what was produced here have been found. The remains of a later stone foundation from the 2^nd century CE when the space was rearranged are visible around the channels.

Across the street is the reconstructed Herberge, a guest house. A functioning snackbar is located in what would have apparently been a thermopolium on the corner. The wing that radiates out to the southwest is the bathing complex of the inn. The wing to the north includes reception areas and cubicula. The areas reconstructed here are a little sparse of objects, particularly in comparison to the Handwerkerhäuser. It’s a little bit basic as reconstructions go overall, but still interesting. In the courtyard area is a garden with plants that would have been used by the Romans, though this area is not a reconstruction, as there is no evidence of a garden having been here. Though there are no ancient remains visible in this reconstruction, there was an area being excavated to the southwest.

In the next insula over (insula 34), of which nothing is excavated, there are a few points of interest. Along the road on the north side is an informational marker noting the presence of an inhumation grave dating to the 1^st century CE, before the foundation of Colonia Ulpia Traiana. The notable nature of the grave comes from the fact that the man who was buried here was interred face down, an unusual position. At the southeast corner of the insula is an informational pavilion about the water works of the city, including a sizable section of water channel from the aqueduct that fed the city as well as a small full section of a water channel and a reconstruction of a water collection basin.

Continuing back to the guest house and northwest along the wall, the next insula features the Hafentempel; the Harbor Temple. The temple gets its name because of its proximity to the harbor, which would have been just outside the walls at this point, more or less in the area of the present-day Xantener Südsee. The deity to whom the temple was dedicated is unknown. As with much of the park, what is visible today is a partial reconstruction of the temple using wholly modern materials. There are steps to climb up onto the platform and look into the cella area. About 18 meters in front of the temple is another modern construction marking where the remains of the altar were found. Interestingly, an inhumation burial dating to about 5^th-6^th century BCE was found near the altar. A hedge row marks an area off around the temple that would have been the fanum/enclosure of the temple.

Around the rear of the temple (north side) is staircase access down beneath and around the base of the temple, where the actual ancient remains of the temple can be seen. All that exists now are parts of the core and foundation of the temple. The foundation of the temple was around 2 meters thick, an especially large foundation that was necessary due to the proximity of the building to the river and the nature of the soil because of this. A few artifacts are on display in the subterranean viewing gallery for the foundations. The temple seems to have been largely abandoned and had started being used as a material quarry in the 4^th century CE.

From there, I continued around the circuit of the walls, passing a few more reconstructed towers as the walls turn toward the southwest. The insula along this path have not been excavated, or at least nothing is presently visible. At about the midpoint of this side of the city is one of the main gates of Colonia Ulpia Traiana, the Nordtor. This gate is completely reconstructed, along with a bit of the city walls on either side of the gate. The road leading out from here would have continued on in the direction of Burginatium (modern Kerum) an auxiliary fort about 9 kilometers away. Inside the walls the decumanus maximus would have originated from this gate. The tower is accessible and one can climb up to the upper level, which provides a view over the city.

No ancient remains of the gate itself are really visible, but there is an excavation near one of the entrances on the interior of the city in which a water channel that ran under the tower is visible. This channel carried wastewater out of the city and toward the Rhenus with a sluice to prevent flooding back into the city. The water channel runs out to the exterior of the city where it branches off into ditches on either side of the road leading out of the city. The ditches and the channel exits are visible outside the gate. There are a few casts of funerary stele in the area outside the gate as well, along with some information about the necropoli of the city, including a few burials that occurred in the necropolis outside this gate. One of the funerary stele casts, belonging to a certain Firmus, has had its painting reconstructed as well.

Heading back toward the center of the city along the decumanus maximus, the two insulae on either side of the road leading from the gate (15-16, 22-23) are mostly bereft of anything. Cutting back over to the northeast at the second intersection brings one to a cluster of points of interest. Insula 24 is taken up mostly by the children’s play area while the adjacent insulae feature interpretive pavilions just across the roads. Along the road northwest of the play area at the next intersection (technically in insula 23) is a pavilion dedicated to transportation with several reconstructions of carts and wagons that would have been used by the Romans.

Continuing along this road, past the intersection, leads to an area in the middle of the road that has been excavated to reveal the sewer system that ran under the road. Some of it is certainly reconstruction, but it looks as though elements may also be original. Doubling back to the previous intersection and turning to the southwest there is another pavilion at the northeast side of the play area (insula 32). This one includes information and examples of various building materials and techniques used. Down this road across the next intersection is a third pavilion with some reconstructed examples of the ovens and mills used in baking and milling. Incidentally, the route around the outside of the play area was the northern corner of the secondary walls built in the 4^th century CE.

The insula across from the bakery pavilion and to the southeast of the play area (insula 25) was occupied by the forum of Colonia Ulpia Traiana. An inscription found here indicates that the forum was completed around 160 CE. None of the forum is visible or presently excavated, though at the south side of the insula some hedges replicate part of the excavated floor plan of the basilica that dominated the southeast side of the forum. The next insula to the southeast (insula 26) was taken up by the Capitolium. Nothing of the main part of the temple remains visible, but at the eastern corner of the insula, a small section of the precinct enclosure has been conserved. This point was also the location of the eastern corner of the 4^th century CE walls of Tricensimae.

Because of the boundaries of the archaeological park, one has to backtrack a bit to continue along with the visit. Heading back toward the area of the basilica and cutting over by the windmill and to the intersection on the east side of the archaeological museum. I tend to save the museums for afternoons in the summer, as I’ve mentioned many times, so I headed southeast and wrapped up with the museum last. At the next intersection to the southwest is the Römische Schiffswerft, the shipbuilding workshop. The workshop has completed six ships, two of which are on display in a tent across from the workshop. These include a replica of a barge found nearby, and the remains of which are on display in the museum. A second ship found nearby is also replicated but the remains are not on display. The workshop also apparently produces Roman furniture replicas when it is not building ships. Information states that the ship display is not open in the winter.

Continued In Colonia Ulpia Traiana Part III

[Show slideshow]

Sources:

Ammianus Marcellinus. Res Gestae, 18.2.4.

Bowman, Alan K., Peter Garnsey, and Dominic Rathbone (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume XI: The High Empire, A.D. 70-192. New York City: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Dando-Collins, Stephen. Legions of Rome: The Definitive History of Every Imperial Roman Legion. New York: Quercus, 2010.

Derks, Ton. “Ethnic Identity in the Roman Frontier: The Epigraphy of the Batavi and the Other Lower Rhine tribes.” Ethnic constructs in Antiquity: The Role of Power and Tradition, Ton Derks and Nico Roymans (eds.), Amsterdam University Press, 2009.

Grant, Michael. A Guide to the Ancient World: A Dictionary of Classical Place Names.  New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997.

Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Walton & Murray, 1870.

Stillwell, Richard, William L. MacDonald, and Marian Holland. McAllister. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton, NJ: Princeton U Press, 1976.

Tacitus. Annals, 1.45, 1.68-70.

Tacitus. Historiae, 4.18-36, 4.57-62, 5.14.