Limes
Encyclopedia
A limes was a border
defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome
. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire
.
The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields
, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any distinction or difference. In Latin, the plural form of limes is limites.
The word limes, hence, was utilized by Latin writers to denote a marked or fortified frontier. This latter sense has been adapted and extended by modern historians concerned with the frontiers of the Roman Empire
; e.g., Hadrian's wall
in the north of England is sometimes styled the Limes Britannicus, the frontier of the Roman province of Arabia facing the desert is called the Limes Arabicus, and so forth.
So far the traditional definition and use of the term. It is now more common to accept that "limes" is not a term used by the Romans for the imperial frontier, fortified or not. This is a modern, anachronistic interpretation. The term became common after the third century when it denoted a military district under the command of a "dux limitis"
, through Europe to the Black Sea
, and from there to the Red Sea
and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast. The remains of the Limes today consist of vestiges of built walls, ditches, forts, fortresses, and civilian settlements. Certain elements of the line have been excavated, some reconstructed and a few destroyed. The two sections of the Limes in Germany cover a length of 550 km from the north-west of the country to the Danube
in the south-east. The 118-km-long Hadrian’s Wall (UK) was built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian
c. AD 122 at the northernmost limits of the Roman province of Britannia
. It is a striking example of the organization of a military zone and illustrates the defensive techniques and geopolitical strategies of ancient Rome. The Antonine Wall, a 60-km long fortification in Scotland was started by Emperor Antonius Pius in 142 AD as a defense against the "Barbarians" of the north. It constitutes the northwestern-most portion of the Roman Limes.
The most notable examples of Roman limites or limes are:
A mediaeval limes is the Limes Saxoniae
in Holstein
.
to designate the limit of a sequence or a function: see limit (mathematics)
. In metaphysics, material objects are limited by matter and therefore are delimited from each other. In ethics, men must know their limitations and are wise if they do.
An etymology was given in some detail by Julius Pokorny
, Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. According to him it comes from Indo-European
el-, elei-, lei-, "to bow, bend; elbow." The Latin meaning was discussed in detail by W. Gebert
The sense is that a limit bends across one in some way. The limes was a cross-path or a cross-wall, which the Romans meant to throw across the path of invaders to hinder them. It is a defensive strategy. The Romans never built limites where they considered themselves free to attack. As the emperor had ordered the army to stay within the limites except for punitive expeditions, they were as much a mental barrier as material. The groups of Germanic warriors harrying the limes during summer used the concept to full advantage, knowing that they could concentrate and supply themselves outside the limes without fear of preemptive strikes.
In a few cases they were wrong. The limit concept engendered a sentiment among the soldiers that they were being provoked by the Germanic raiders and were held back from just retaliation by a weak and incompetent administration; i.e., they were being sold out. They therefore mutinied. The best remedy for a mutiny was an expedition across the limes. Toward the later Empire, the soldiers assassinated emperors who preferred diplomacy and put their own most popular officers into the vacant office.
Roman writers and subsequent authors who depended on them presented the limes as some sort of sacred border beyond which human beings did not transgress, and if they did, it was evidence that they had passed the bounds of reason and civilization. To cross the border was the mark of a savage. They wrote of the Alemanni disrespecting it as though they had passed the final limitation of character and had committed themselves to perdition.
The Alemanni, on the other hand, never regarded the border as legitimate in the first place. The Romans were foreigners changing native place names and intruding on native homes and families (see under Alemanni), only to be tolerated at all because they were willing to pay cash for the privilege and offered the blandishments of civilized life.
According to Pokorny, Latin limen, "threshold", is related to limes, being the stone over which one enters or leaves the house, and some have gone so far as to view the frontier as a threshold. The Merriam–Webster dictionaries take this view, as does J. B. Hofmann in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen under leimon. The White Latin Dictionary denies any connection, deriving limen from *ligmen, as in lien from *leig- "tie". The threshold ties together the doorway. The American Heritage Dictionary refuses to go further than Latin limes.
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire
Borders of the Roman Empire
The borders of the Roman Empire, which fluctuated throughout the empire's history, were a combination of natural frontiers and man-made fortifications which separated the lands of the empire from the "barbarian" countries beyond.-The Limes:A limes was a border fortification system of the Roman...
.
The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields
Field (agriculture)
In agriculture, the word field refers generally to an area of land enclosed or otherwise and used for agricultural purposes such as:* Cultivating crops* Usage as a paddock or, generally, an enclosure of livestock...
, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any distinction or difference. In Latin, the plural form of limes is limites.
The word limes, hence, was utilized by Latin writers to denote a marked or fortified frontier. This latter sense has been adapted and extended by modern historians concerned with the frontiers of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
; e.g., Hadrian's wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
in the north of England is sometimes styled the Limes Britannicus, the frontier of the Roman province of Arabia facing the desert is called the Limes Arabicus, and so forth.
So far the traditional definition and use of the term. It is now more common to accept that "limes" is not a term used by the Romans for the imperial frontier, fortified or not. This is a modern, anachronistic interpretation. The term became common after the third century when it denoted a military district under the command of a "dux limitis"
Some limes
The "Roman Limes" represented the border line of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the 2nd century AD. It stretched over 5,000 km from the Atlantic coast of northern BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, through Europe to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, and from there to the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast. The remains of the Limes today consist of vestiges of built walls, ditches, forts, fortresses, and civilian settlements. Certain elements of the line have been excavated, some reconstructed and a few destroyed. The two sections of the Limes in Germany cover a length of 550 km from the north-west of the country to the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
in the south-east. The 118-km-long Hadrian’s Wall (UK) was built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
c. AD 122 at the northernmost limits of the Roman province of Britannia
Britannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
. It is a striking example of the organization of a military zone and illustrates the defensive techniques and geopolitical strategies of ancient Rome. The Antonine Wall, a 60-km long fortification in Scotland was started by Emperor Antonius Pius in 142 AD as a defense against the "Barbarians" of the north. It constitutes the northwestern-most portion of the Roman Limes.
The most notable examples of Roman limites or limes are:
- Hadrian's WallHadrian's WallHadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
– Limes Britannicus (UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage ID 430bis–001) - Antonine WallAntonine WallThe Antonine Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. Representing the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire, it spanned approximately 39 miles and was about ten feet ...
– in Scotland (UNESCO World Heritage Site) - Limes GermanicusLimes GermanicusThe Limes Germanicus was a line of frontier fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD...
, the Germanic & Raetian Limes (UNESCO World Heritage ID 430bis–002) - Limes ArabicusLimes ArabicusThe Limes Arabicus was a desert frontier of the Roman Empire, in the province of Arabia Petraea. It ran -at its biggest extension- for about 1,500 km, from Northern Syria to Southern Palestine and northern Arabia, forming part of the wider Roman limes system...
, the frontier of the Roman province of Arabia PetraeaArabia PetraeaArabia Petraea, also called Provincia Arabia or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Empire beginning in the 2nd century; it consisted of the former Nabataean kingdom in modern Jordan, southern modern Syria, the Sinai Peninsula and northwestern Saudi Arabia. Its capital was Petra...
facing the desert - Limes TripolitanusLimes TripolitanusThe Limes Tripolitanus was a frontier zone of defence of the Roman Empire, built in the south of what is now Tunisia and the northwest of Libya. It was primarily intended as a protection for the tripolitanian cities of Leptis Magna, Sabratha and Oea in Roman Libya.-History:The Limes Tripolitanus...
, the frontier in modern Libya facing the Sahara - Trajan's WallTrajan's WallTrajan's Wall is a complex of valla in Eastern Europe: in Romania, Moldova and Ukraine.Contrary to the name and popular belief, the ramparts were not built by Romans during Trajan's reign.-Romania:...
, the frontier in Moesia Inferior (currently in BessarabiaBessarabiaBessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
and Dobrudja) - Limes AlutanusLimes AlutanusLimes Alutanus was a fortified line consisting of a vallum, built in the North-South direction, on the eastern side of the Olt river and seven roman castra, as is remembered by Tabula Peutingeriana...
, the eastern border of the Roman province of DaciaDaciaIn ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range... - Limes TransalutanusLimes TransalutanusLimes Transalutanus is a fortified frontier system of the Roman Empire, built on the western edge of Teleorman's forests. The frontier was composed by a road following the border, military stonghold, a three metre vallum 10–12 metres wide, reinforced with wood palisades on stone walls, and also a...
, the frontier in the lower Danube - Limes MoesiaeLimes MoesiaeLimes Moesiae was a Roman-built system of fortifications consisting of three lines of defense, between the Black Sea shore and the Danube. Additionally, in Wallachia there were other two lines of defense: the "Constantine Wall" and the "Limes Transalutanus"....
, the frontier in eastern Romania and Moldavia
A mediaeval limes is the Limes Saxoniae
Limes Saxoniae
The Limes Saxoniae , also known as the Limes Saxonicus or Sachsenwall , was a limes or border between the Saxons and the Slavic Obotrites, established about 810 in present-day Schleswig-Holstein....
in Holstein
Holstein
Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
.
Etymology and sentiment
The stem of limes: limit-, which can be seen in the genitive case, limitis, marks it as the ancestor of an entire group of important words in many languages; for example, English "limit". Modern languages have multiplied its abstract formulations. For example, from limit- comes the abbreviation lim, used in mathematicsMathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
to designate the limit of a sequence or a function: see limit (mathematics)
Limit (mathematics)
In mathematics, the concept of a "limit" is used to describe the value that a function or sequence "approaches" as the input or index approaches some value. The concept of limit allows mathematicians to define a new point from a Cauchy sequence of previously defined points within a complete metric...
. In metaphysics, material objects are limited by matter and therefore are delimited from each other. In ethics, men must know their limitations and are wise if they do.
An etymology was given in some detail by Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny was an Austrian linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.-Life:...
, Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. According to him it comes from Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
el-, elei-, lei-, "to bow, bend; elbow." The Latin meaning was discussed in detail by W. Gebert
The sense is that a limit bends across one in some way. The limes was a cross-path or a cross-wall, which the Romans meant to throw across the path of invaders to hinder them. It is a defensive strategy. The Romans never built limites where they considered themselves free to attack. As the emperor had ordered the army to stay within the limites except for punitive expeditions, they were as much a mental barrier as material. The groups of Germanic warriors harrying the limes during summer used the concept to full advantage, knowing that they could concentrate and supply themselves outside the limes without fear of preemptive strikes.
In a few cases they were wrong. The limit concept engendered a sentiment among the soldiers that they were being provoked by the Germanic raiders and were held back from just retaliation by a weak and incompetent administration; i.e., they were being sold out. They therefore mutinied. The best remedy for a mutiny was an expedition across the limes. Toward the later Empire, the soldiers assassinated emperors who preferred diplomacy and put their own most popular officers into the vacant office.
Roman writers and subsequent authors who depended on them presented the limes as some sort of sacred border beyond which human beings did not transgress, and if they did, it was evidence that they had passed the bounds of reason and civilization. To cross the border was the mark of a savage. They wrote of the Alemanni disrespecting it as though they had passed the final limitation of character and had committed themselves to perdition.
The Alemanni, on the other hand, never regarded the border as legitimate in the first place. The Romans were foreigners changing native place names and intruding on native homes and families (see under Alemanni), only to be tolerated at all because they were willing to pay cash for the privilege and offered the blandishments of civilized life.
According to Pokorny, Latin limen, "threshold", is related to limes, being the stone over which one enters or leaves the house, and some have gone so far as to view the frontier as a threshold. The Merriam–Webster dictionaries take this view, as does J. B. Hofmann in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen under leimon. The White Latin Dictionary denies any connection, deriving limen from *ligmen, as in lien from *leig- "tie". The threshold ties together the doorway. The American Heritage Dictionary refuses to go further than Latin limes.
External links
- Official website of the Verein Deutsche Limes-Straße (in German)
- German site with nice maps
- Livius.org: Limes
- Livius.org: Limes Tripolitanus
- Antikefan: Roman Limes (German)
- Derlimes.at Official website of the Limes group in Austria) (in German, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin)
- Limes, Italian Review of Geopolitics (Italian)