Continued From Colonia Ulpia Traiana Part II
Roughly 85 meters southwest of the Römische Schiffswerft, nearly at the next intersection is the Limespavillion, a thematic exhibition about the Roman army generally as well as the Roman limes in the vicinity of Colonia Ulpia Traiana. There are lots of helpful maps and information on legionary camps and Castra Vetera I and II in particular. Of special note are several casts of funerary stele of a few soldiers which have been colorized. There are several audio visual displays and overall it’s a fairly interactive exhibition.
Again, because of the boundaries of the park, the last little bit to the southeast can only be reached in a roundabout way. Continue on to the next cardo to the southeast, and then following that leads to the remains of a temple dedicated to the Matronae in insula 20. Unfortunately, this is one of the only points of interest in the entire site that doesn’t have an informational sign (at least not for the temple). The entire eastern side of the enclosure as well as the small temple itself have been excavated and conserved here. The dedication to the Matronae is based on fragments of inscriptions found here that mention the deities. The one informational sign at the temple indicates that part of a 1st century CE funerary inscription dedicated to the painter Tiberius Julius Tertius was found among the remains of the temple as well.
A sign near the road northwest of the temple also indicates the presence of a grave that was found here. The grave dates to about 50 CE; notably before Colonia Ulpia Traiana was founded, but certainly not before there was a heavy Roman presence in the area with Castra Vetera and probably also the modest Cugerni settlement of Cibernodurum in the area.
The final stop for Colonia Ulpia Traiana is the great baths and the LVR-RömerMuseum, which occupy the whole of insula 10. The baths seem to have been constructed around 125 CE and replaced an earlier artisan quarter, which was demolished to make room for the baths. The complex was around 11,500 square meters and functioned until being destroyed in the Germanic raids circa 275 CE. Starting in the southern corner of the insula a large square room served as latrines. The capacity is estimated to have been space for up to 60 people. A channel leads in to the latrines from the north, which was connected to the frigidarium of the complex. The wastewater from the frigidarium was used to clear out the waste from the trough of the latrines and wash it out into the sewer system via the channel exiting the latrines to the south.
There’s another room of unspecified use to the northeast of the latrines. Stretching out northwest of the latrines is the one side of the portico that lined the large palaestra of the baths. Walking along the path of the portico, there are a few informational signs, one explaining the conservation of the site and the visual differences for the original walls and the conservation and reconstruction. The course of the portico turns to the northeast before reaching the street, leaving a series of structures between the portico and the street along the northwest side of the insula. These structures are very generally described as outbuildings. The small middle room at the very southwest of this part of the complex contained medical instruments, leading to the supposition that medical treatments may have been carried out in part of the area. The other rooms likely served some sort of service or maintenance function. Part of a subterranean water channel that ran beneath the rooms has been exposed in one of the central rooms.
To the northeast of these service areas are the main bathing rooms of the complex. Most of these are covered by a modern construction that was built to replicate the form of the Roman building. The main baths are accessed through the museum, but there are some additional elements outside the main building along the northeast side. At the north corner of the insula are the remains of a water tower that helped to collect and supply the baths. A channel then runs along the northeast side under protective window coverings. At the south end of this stretch are the remains of another small latrine.
The main entrance to the museum and the thermal area of the baths is located at the east corner of the insula. Because the museum is only accessible through the archaeological park, it operates on the same opening hours of the park and there is no additional charge. The museum occupies the footprint of the entrance hall of the baths. In the sub-level of the museum, where the restrooms and lockers are located, the foundations of that room can be seen. Upon entering the baths from the museum, a series of raised platforms and catwalks carry the visitor above the vestiges of the bathing complex.
The first room encountered is the frigidarium. Some remaining mortar in the floor of the frigidarium preserves the pattern of the paving stones that made up the floor surface. On the north side of the frigidarium was the cold water basin, also with remaining mortar in which the impression of the facing stonework. Along the north side of the frigidarium, an area has been excavated in the floor exposing the foundations of the building and how deep the walls penetrate below the floor level. The frigidarium narrows on the north side, and this narrowed area is flanked on either side by a pair of sudadatoria. These small rooms, like all the heated rooms of the baths here, have replica pilae placed through all or part of the floor to demonstrate the layout of the hypocaust system. The eastern sudatatorium has a small section of reconstructed (with modern materials) hypocaust and floor. The sudatatoria were accessible via corridors from the frigidarium.
The next major room, to the north of the frigidarium, is the first of two tepidaria. Again, replica pilae mark out the hypocaust system of the room. On either side of the tepidarium was a praefurnium. These prafernia are also connected to the sudatatoria, serving to heat both of these adjacent rooms. A second and larger tepidarium is located to the north of the first. Unlike the first, no pilae are used to mark out the hypocaust system in this room. This tepidarium is heated by two praefernia, each located on opposite sides at the east and west side of the room. The eastern praefurnium is larger than the praefurnium on the west side as the water pool for the room was located on the eastern side, and the eastern furnace may have needed to generate more heat for the pool. Like the frigidarium, an area along the north wall has been excavated below floor level to reveal the depth of the foundations.
The final room at the north of the bathing complex is the caldarium. Though it appears as a single room, the caldarium had a dividing wall down the middle, effectively separating it into two rooms. A few replica bricks have been placed to show where this dividing wall was. Each side was heated by one of two praefurnia located on either side of the dividing line at the north side of room. It was near these praefurnia that the heated water pools for the caldaria were located. In addition to signs explaining each of the rooms, there are various informational signs detailing construction and heating techniques used in the baths.
The LVR-RömerMuseum is quite large, especially for what is effectively a site specific museum for the most part. It’s really on par with any of the regional archaeological museums in Germany. The museum itself is essentially three levels (not including the basement level), but the exhibition is presented in a way that continues through the transitions of the levels, which is really kind of an ingenious use of the limited footprint of the museum. Much of the collection of the museum is drawn from Colonia Ulpia Traiana and the immediate surroundings, though one notable exception is a small selection of objects related to the Battle of Gelduba, which was fought about 40 kilometers southeast of Xanten near modern Krefeld during the Batavian Revolt.
There are a lot of replicas in the museum, particularly with relation to military objects. I thought most of these were pretty clearly presented as being modern copies or reconstructions but were also of pretty good quality. There are a few models of the baths and of Colonia Ulpia Traiana. It’s worth noting that the upper levels also offer views out over the remains of the bathing complex.
The museum collections are composed of a lot of smaller objects; fittings for uniforms and pieces of weapons collected from excavations around the military encampments. Some glass and terracotta. There’s a decent numismatics and gem collection. A few helmets and weapons. A decided lack of statuary, aside from portrait busts and a few smaller bronze statues.. A couple of the most famous pieces from the area aren’t in the museum. The so-called Xanten Youth, a 1st century CE bronze statue of a young man is in the Neus Museum in Berlin, and the Xanten Horse Phalerae, a set of decorative silver horse harnesses that has been tentatively linked to Pliny the Elder, is in the British Museum. Some wooden objects including a barrel and part of a barge recovered from the river are also interesting pieces that one doesn’t see terribly often. One of my favorite, and in my opinion, one of the most interesting pieces in the museum is the altar to Silvanus dedicated by Ammausius the bear catcher. Overall the epigraphic collection with altars and inscriptions associated with the military is quite nice.
The museum took me about 2 hours to go through with another 3.5-4 hours for the archaeological park, putting the whole thing at around 6 hours total. I honestly didn’t spend a ton of time with the reconstructions, so there’s certainly the possibility for more time there. Again, personally I would have liked to just see the archaeological remains rather than the reconstructions, but I understand the reasoning behind it. Even so, there’s enough actual archaeological material to make it worthwhile. The baths alone are very well done and the use of the protective housing to replicate the façade of the building as well as the limited reconstruction among the baths was a good balance between preservation and presentation. Most points of interest in the archaeological park had information in English, German, and Dutch. There were quite a few exhibits in the museum and some of the more detailed information of the reconstructions and informational pavilions in the park that were only presented in German, though. I was staying near Köln when I visited and Colonia Ulpia Traiana makes a pretty good full-day trip from there by car or public transportation.
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.