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Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Ripa Pannonica in Hungary (RPH) Nomination statement of Pannonia were replaced with enormous round towers. However, except for a fortification begun in Barbaricum this never occurred on the fortifications along the border, which indicates a perilous decrease in the attention paid to the limitaneus units. Evidence of late Roman construction or alterations is lacking in the two legionary fortresses. The final construction project of the fortress at Aquincum was the remodeling of the porta praetoria, which can be placed during the period of the Tetrarchy. However, this fortress was abandoned soon after, and in place of it a new fortress was built to the east of its walls during the time of Constantine. In contrast to the legionary fortresses, we know of late Roman construction at essentially every earlier auxiliary fort (castellum) where there have been excavations. The new fortifications in the late Roman period broke from the earlier principles in their ground plans, which adapted considerably to the terrain (e.g. Visegrád–Sibrik-domb fort). The final construction period of the Ripa Pannonica occurred at the turn of the 5 th century, when towerlike forts with dimensions of 10-30 m were erected, sometimes on their own and sometimes within the area of the existing forts. This fact clearly indicates that when they were built the numbers of soldiers at the forts were no longer large enough to ensure the proper protection of the several hundred meters of walls of the old forts. In the case of Lussonium, a few meters inside of the southern gate of the late Roman fort, a portion of a 10 × 9 m fortlet with 2.3 m thick walls was successfully excavated. The soldiers of the Ripa may have been forced to construct these fortlets in the years after the death of Theodosius (379-395 AD). The construction of the towers can at the latest be linked to the re-organizational activities related to the person of Generidus dux in the first decade of the 5 th century. Their maintenance, or rather their use by military forces organized by Rome, lasted for about the next two decades until a new situation developed as a result of the Huns appearing on the Great Hungarian Plain (433 AD), when a significant portion of Pannonia, including the section of the border in the territory of Hungary was relinquished. Watch towers and signal towers The watch towers and signal towers 1 , which only rarely can be differentiated, were quite small structures, and when they were built from wood they have left hardly any trace on the surface. It was natural that from the time of Tiberius and Claudius, with the beginning of the permanent military presence on the Ripa, there was a need for a more assertive control over the borderline, even though a good relationship had been created with the peoples on the other side through treaties. This manifested itself primarily with the construction of auxiliary forts, and not of watch towers. The guarding of the river border at this time was instead presumably performed through regular patrols. However, by the end of the 1 st century at the latest – according to evidence on Trajan’s Column – a series of watch towers along the border had become customary. 1 Watch tower (in latin: burgus) – Multilevel military building along the limes and the limes road. Its lateral length rarely exceeds 10 m. Signal tower (in latin: burgus) – Member of a series of observation posts along the limes road suitably settled to transmit military signs within eyeshot and earshot. In some cases, where the limes road swings away from the river-bank, – in addition to the signal tower-chain – extra watch towers were built on the bank. (The two kinds of towers do not typologically differ from one another apart from their localization.) Fortified river port (in latin: burgus, “bridge head fort” by the deep-rooted expression of the Hungarian literature) – Fortlet with two wing-walls protruding into the river, built in pairs on the opposite banks of the Danube. 38
Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Ripa Pannonica in Hungary (RPH) Nomination statement In the first half of the 2 nd century the towers were still made from timber for the most part, and so their discovery depends on luck to a great extent. For the most part an intense black spot in the middle of an area surrounded by a ditch indicates a wooden tower in the aerial photographs. More thorough analysis is only possible on the late Roman towers, particularly from the time of Constantius II (337-361 AD) and Valentinian (364-375 AD). In the area of the Danube Bend they were built without exception from stone, while in the southern section of the border, in the areas of Intercisa (Dunaújváros) and Annamatia (Baracs), they were wooden. The majority of the towers, which were generally 10 m in diameter, were surrounded by square ditches, while in some places, such as near Intercisa, they had a double row of square ditches, and in exceptional cases round ditches can also be found. One only finds an exterior encircling wall in the case of watch towers from the time of Valentinius. These were built for the most part on the interior side of the ditch, but there are some on the exterior side as well. Depending on the size of the tower, the floor of the upper storey was supported by columns or pillars. In small fortlets a single pillar was erected, while in the significantly larger watchtowers there were four columns. The conformity in size of the watch towers from the time of Valentinian deserves attention. This could only have occurred if the military was working from centralized plans. The conformity also relates to the most important details of the ditches and encircling walls. The length of the ditches measured at their axes is often 25-26 m, or double that, about 52 m. Presumably, this corresponds to 100 or 200 feet (1 foot is not quite 30 cm), with the approximately 27 cm units that were generally used here. The situation is similar in the case of wall thickness, the common 1.05 m thickness allows us to conclude a value of 4 feet, and the 1.35-1.4 m thick walls (such as Solva – 19) a value of 5 feet. The scale proportions can be extended to the towers surrounded by a double row of ditches as well. The interior ditches of these have a length of 100 feet, or 28-30 m. The towers can be placed in various categories according to their enclosing walls and ditches, including their shape and number. Rhomboid ditches, which probably date from the period of the Tetrarchy, constitute an independent group according to this. Similarly, the towers surrounded by double rows of ditches between Intercisa and Lussonium are related and most likely are from the time of Valentinian. This type does not appear at all between Aquincum and Solva. In all likelihood these two areas must have been in different military districts of Valeria. In many cases, where the limes road runs right along the bank of the Danube, such as for a long stretch in the area of the Danube Bend, it is impossible to distinguish between watch towers and signal towers. Elsewhere, through, where the limes road swings away from the Danube, a second row of watch towers often appear. In these cases the watch towers erected on the banks of the Danube or the edges of plateaus can be differentiated from the signal stations – generally on the inner side – of the limes road that runs further from the Danube. The two kinds of towers, however, do not typologically differ from one another, or only do so to a minimal extent. Fortified river ports One characteristic of the Ripa is the row of late Roman fortified river ports built on the banks of the Danube. Research has shown similar structures in the Rhine area. The Romans considered the border rivers, including the Danube, and a strip of land several miles wide on the opposite side to be theirs. Presently 14 structures of this type are known or suspected along the borderlines of Pannonia Prima and Valeria. 39
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