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Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Ripa Pannonica in Hungary (RPH) Nomination statement
defense and military doctrine from time to time. These reflect both the prevailing strength of the Roman
Empire as well as the shifts in emphasis that brought about the ensuing changes in defensive strategy.
The forts’ construction in earth and timber, and then in stone, the defensive works with special sizes and
forms erected due to the need for increased protection in the late Roman era, as well as the occasional
discovery of the construction of new fortifications makes it possible through archaeological research
and conservation work to track the individual phases of military architecture and their monuments of
outstanding significance.
New elements of universal value are represented by the bridgeheads or fortified river ports, which arise
from the characteristic Roman notion of the river border, where Rome considered the entire breadth of
the Danube along with its far shore to be its property. With regards to this, we have information from
as early as the period of the Marcomannic Wars in the 2 nd century. In the 4 th century, in addition to
the fortifications erected primarily across from the legionary fortresses, new forts and bridgeheads were
constructed at river crossings.
This is also the first time in the course of Roman Limes World Heritage proposals that legionary fortresses
are also included in the nomination. Two sites of this type show up in the present nomination. Next
to both of these a Roman city was established and important excavations have been performed and are
ongoing at both sites – although to differing degrees – to exhibit the connections between them. The
exhibition of these civilian towns is also accompanied by a special feature that augments the universal
value of the Ripa Pannonica, in that they throw light on important theoretical questions about Roman
regional planning and the establishment of cities. That is to say, these civilian cities are not the same as the
civilian settlements, canabae, that commonly developed around the legionary fortresses and that sprung
up here as well. These examples were independent of the canabae and were built outside the military
territory at least two Roman miles from the fortresses. It is a particular point of interest and a result of
historical development that in time these civilian settlements were legally united, which in the case of
Aquincum can be satisfactorily displayed. The richly decorated residential and public buildings, temples
and shrines, as well as other finds related to the standard of living and customs as well as the composition
and Romanization of the Roman frontier society at the two canabae and the two civilian cities provide us
with extraordinary information.
The civilian settlement, vicus of Intercisa (Dunaújváros), due to its size and wealth, stands out prominently
from the list of civilian settlements that developed next to forts for auxiliary troops. It has extraordinary
and universal value since it shows that towns without the rights of cities could develop that clearly
significantly outstripped those invested with these rights, so long as the local situation, the composition of
the inhabitants and the town’s geographical circumstances created favorable conditions.
Finally, the tower-like fortifications that were built in the last period of Roman border defense in Pannonia,
at the turn of the 5 th century, have outstanding archaeological significance. Some of these fortlets with
quite high walls were formed by enclosing one corner of an existing fort, while others were newly built
structures on an existing fort site. All of this suggests that at this time the numbers in the army had
decreased considerably and the remaining soldiers took refuge in more easily defended, multi-storied forts
and stout towers. These forts do not only add to the universal value of the Ripa Pannonica through their
specific forms and structures, but also by the fact that they provided the late Roman inhabitants and the
peoples from across the border that were settling in the area in increasing numbers with a location to
make connections and merge with one another.
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