Draft:Bingium
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Bingium is the Latin name of the present-day town of Bingen am Rhein, which it bore during its time as part of the Roman Empire. Strategically located on the Roman road between Trier and Mainz at the confluence of the Nahe and Rhine rivers, a civilian settlement (vicus) developed around a fort built by Drusus. No above-ground remains of the military camp or civilian settlement have survived, though numerous finds attest to the Roman presence.[1]
Name and mentions
[edit]Tacitus mentions Bingium in his Historiae. This was likely the name of the fort founded by Drusus, possibly derived from Celtic roots and later applied to the civilian settlement. Other forms of the name include Bingio (Ammianus Marcellinus), Bingum (Geographer of Ravenna), Vingio (Itinerarium Antonini), and Vingo or Vinco (Ausonius, Mosella).[2]
Establishment and location
[edit]A Celtic settlement may have existed at the confluence of the Nahe and Rhine rivers. As part of Roman expansion to the Rhine, Drusus established a legionary camp in 13/12 BC in what later became Mogontiacum (Mainz) and, in the first decade BC, a fort on the right bank of the Nahe, near its confluence with the Rhine, on the road connecting to Augusta Treverorum (Trier). Bingium's location was strategically vital for the Roman military, protecting the Nahe's mouth, securing the Middle Rhine Valley, and guarding the Ingelheim Rhine Valley and lower Nahe Valley.[2]
Military base
[edit]No traces of the Roman fort remain, suggesting it was likely constructed of wood and earth. However, at least one fortification is assumed to have protected a ford and later a Roman bridge over the Nahe on key overland routes. Earlier theories of two fortifications in Bingen and Bingerbrück are now considered unlikely.[3]
The Roman military presence is documented through literary sources, such as the Notitia dignitatum, and epigraphic evidence, including gravestones of military personnel. Auxiliary troops documented for the first half of the 1st century include cohors IV Delmatarum, Cohors I Pannoniorum, and cohors I Sagittariorum.[3]
During the Flavian period, auxiliary troops were withdrawn, and vexillations from Legio XIIII Gemina and Legio XXII Primigenia, later permanently stationed in Mogontiacum, were deployed to Bingium. Brick stamps found in Bingerbrück confirm their presence. A gravestone also attests to a command from Legio IV Macedonica. In the early 5th century, the Notitia dignitatum names a praefectus militum Bingensium as the military commander for the bingio.[3]
Civilian settlement
[edit]With the fort's construction, a civilian settlement (vicus) emerged. Bingium's connection to the Roman Rhine Valley Road from Mogontiacum to Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium facilitated trade and civilian-military traffic. By the mid-4th century, the settlement had regional significance. In 370, Ausonius noted in his Mosella that the town was walled, following Germanic invasions in 359 that prompted Emperor Julian to fortify the civilian settlement.[4]
Excavations in the crypt of St. Martin's Church uncovered a fragment of an ancient altar, suggesting a possible temple on the site in Roman times, perhaps dedicated to Mercurius. However, the fragment's origin is uncertain, as it may have been relocated to the church crypt later.[4]
Nearby bridge
[edit]A Roman pile bridge, known as the 'Drusus Bridge', connected the Nahe's banks between present-day Bingen and Bingerbrück. This bridge carried the Ausonius Road to Trier and the Rhine Valley Road to Cologne across the Nahe.[5]
In 1983, iron pile shoes, oak piles, and numerous spolia were found in the riverbed. Dendrochronological and archaeological analysis dated the foundation piles to 77 AD, during Emperor Vespasian's reign, aligning with bridge construction in Cologne and Mainz. A wood sample dated to around 305 may indicate a quay or bank reinforcement built under Emperor Constantine.[5]
Necropolises
[edit]Roman Bingium is primarily evidenced through several necropolises and their finds. In Bingerbrück, a large necropolis with gravestones of auxiliary troops and civilians was uncovered during railway construction in 1859/60. The gravestone of Annaius Daverzus, a member of the cohors IV Delmatarum, depicts Roman weapons and clothing from the first half of the 1st century. Additional grave finds are located along Mainzer Straße and the road to Cologne in Bingerbrück. In Bingen, two cemeteries near Klopp Castle include the 'Tomb of the Doctor', discovered in 1924, containing medical instruments such as bronze cupping heads.[5]
Christianisation
[edit]
Evidence of Christian life in late Roman Bingium dates to the 5th and 6th centuries. Several tomb inscriptions, including the gravestone of the priest Aetherius, now displayed in St. Martin's Church, attest to this period.[6]
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ Keuscher, Jakob (1845). "Bingen zur Zeit der Römer. Bingium Romanorum" [Bingen in Roman times. Bingium Romanorum]. Zeitschrift des Vereins zur Erforschung der Rheinischen Geschichte und Altertümer (in German). 1: 273–330.
- ^ a b Dräger, Paul (2022). "Ausonius und der lateinische Name Bingens. Zu einem übersehenen Telestichon in Ausonius̕ Mosella" [Ausonius and the Latin name Bingens. On an overlooked telestichon in Ausonius' Mosella] (PDF). Kurtrierisches Jahrbuch (in German). 62. Trier: Verlag für Geschichte und Kultur: 31–32.
- ^ a b c Bullinger, Hermann (1978). "Bingen". In Hoops, Johannes (ed.). Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde [Encyclopaedia of Germanic Antiquities] (in German). Vol. 3 (2 ed.). Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter. p. 5. ISBN 3-11-006512-6.
- ^ a b Horn, Hauke (2016). "Die Baugeschichte von St. Martin zu Bingen". In Schäfer, Regina (ed.). St. Martin in Bingen. Die Geschichte der Basilika [St. Martin in Bingen. The history of the basilica] (in German). Roßdorf: edition-tz.de. pp. 92–122. ISBN 978-3-940456-75-5.
- ^ a b c Schmidt, Ernst Gottlob; Freudenberg, Johannes (1860). "Römische Grabdenkmäler vom Ruppertsberg bei Bingen" [Roman funerary monuments from Ruppertsberg near Bingen]. Jahrbücher des Vereins von Alterthumsfreunden im Rheinlande (in German). 28: 79–87.
- ^ Klein, Michael Johannes (2019). Dobras, Wolfgang (ed.). Eine Zeitreise in 175 Geschichten. Der Mainzer Altertumsverein 1844–2019 [A journey through time in 175 stories. The Mainz Antiquarian Society 1844–2019] (PDF) (in German). Vol. 114. Mainz: Nünnerich-Asmus. pp. 37–38.