Download Service Provider for Hungry Legionaries Wreck of a Roman

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Service Provider for Hungry Legionaries
Wreck of a Roman Transport Ship reaches the LWL-Römermuseum
Haltern (lwl). Five tons of grain a day – the soldiers of a
Roman legion needed this amount 2000 years ago. It was a
problem obtaining this amount in Germania. In its new
exhibition “IMPERIUM”(16.5.-11.10), the LWLRömermuseum in Haltern am See shows how the legionaries
were supplied. On Wednesday (29.04.) the wreck of a
Roman transport ship reached the Römermuseum – it came
from Lelystad in the Netherlands.
Wreck of a Roman transport ship from
the military camp of Zwammerdam.
© Rijksdienst voor Archeologie,
Cultuurlandschap en Monumenten in
Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed.
Maritiemm Erfgoed Lelystad (RACM)
Shelter for Roman ships: archaeological research
in Haltern am See has found traces of
boathouses (here as model), which served at least
as repair and storage areas.
Photograph: LWL.
Researchers found the
freighter, of which over ten
metres are preserved, near the
Roman army camp of
Zwammerdam in the province
of Utrecht. The museum’s
director, Dr. Rudolf Asskamp
comments: „The Romans were able to
supply their troops with food and wine
even in remote areas, using these or
considerably larger freighters.”
Depending on their size, the ships
transported 15-50 tons of supplies.
These supplies for the thousands of
soldiers stationed on the Lippe came
mainly from Gaul. Dr. Asskamp
explained the yield of the Germanic
farms was not able to satisfy the needs of
the legionaries.
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The builders of the ship made the body of the
boat, which can be seen in the museum from
16th May, out of a single tree trunk. It differs
from other ships made in this fashion in that
there were numerous additions which
lengthened the body in both directions. The
ship was approximately eleven metres long and
about 1,25 metres wide
Military Escort
Military vessels escorted the freighters on their
journeys through Germania. They were
probably based in Haltern and were similar in
Protective escort: Ships like the “Victoria” escorted the
military and civilian freighters on Germanic rivers. bemost respects to the patrol boats of the
Photograph: agenda/Wolfgang Huppertz
Oberstimm type. The “Victoria”, which was built
especially for the exhibition project “IMPERIUM
CONFLICT MYTH. 2000 Years Varus Battle”
is a boat of this type. In addition the Lippe was navigable for heavy warships – socalled Liburna – which had a greater draught than the river ship “Victoria”.
Alongside the military transporters, private business people also sailed the
Lippe, for whom the large numbers of soldiers provided an attractive market.
The traders risked the threat of dangers to supply the legionaries.
The Coming Exhibition
The exhibition “IMPERIUM” spotlights the political achievements of the Roman
emperor, Augustus, and the cultural heyday of the “Golden Age”. Locations
connected with the protagonist who gave his name to the battle, Publius
Quinctilius Varus and the stages in his career are traced in the exhibition.
Press Contact: Martin Holzhause, LWL-Pressestelle,
Telefon: 0251 591-235, [email protected]