
Germania Inferior
'Germania Inferior' was a
Roman province located on the left bank of the
Rhine, in today's southern and western
Netherlands, and
Nordrhein-Westfalen left of the Rhine. The principal settlements of the province were ''Castra Vetera'' and ''Colonia Ulpia Traiana'' (both near
Xanten), ''Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum'' (
Nijmegen), ''Trajectum ad Rhenum'' (
Utrecht), ''Atuatuca Tungrorum'' (
Tongeren), ''Bona'' (
Bonn), and ''Colonia Agrippinensis'' (
Cologne), the capital of Germania Inferior.
The army of Germania Inferior, known from inscriptions simply as EX.GER.INF. (''Exercitus Germania Inferior''), had several
legions at its service: of these, the Legions
I ''Minervia'' and
XXX ''Ulpia Victrix'' were the most permanent. The Roman Navy's
Classis Germanica, charged with patrolling the
Rhine and the
North Sea coast, was based in ''Castra Vetera'' and later in ''Agrippinensis''.
The first confrontations between a Roman army and the peoples of Germania Inferior occurred during
Julius Caesar's
Gallic Wars. Caesar invaded the region in
57 BC and in the next three years annihilated several Germanic tribes, including the
Eburones and the
Menapii.
Germania Inferior had Roman settlements since approximately
50 BC and was at first part of
Gallia Belgica; it was established as a
Roman province in the year
90, later becoming an
Imperial province. It lay north of
Germania Superior, together with which it made up
Germania. The epithet ''Inferior'' refers to its downstream position.
See also
★
Conquest of Germania Inferior
★ Major rebellions and attacks (see
Batavian rebellion for instance)
★ Influence of Germania Inferior on Roman politics (see
Germanicus)
★ Final abandonment of the province
References
Jona Lendering, ''De randen van de aarde. De Romeinen tussen Schelde en Maas'', (2000 Amsterdam)
External links
★ http://www.livius.org/ga-gh/germania/inferior.htm
★ http://www.library.ucla.edu/yrl/reference/maps/blaeu/germania-inferior-nt.htm#qvarta_branbantiae Blaeu Atlas Germania Inferior