Aduatuca (or Atuatuca ; Latin: Aduatuca or Atuatuca ) is the name of one or more fortified settlements that existed during the Gallic war of Julius Caesar in the region between the Scheldt and Rhine rivers north of the Ardennes in the eastern part of modern Belgium . At that time, this region was inhabited mainly by the Eburon tribe. The word itself may have meant "fortress." [1] The pronunciation of “Atuatuca” with “t” is considered original, despite the fact that many Latin documents use “d”. [2] The modern Belgian city of Tongeren , named in the later Roman imperial times Aduatuca Tungrorum, originated on the site of at least one of these settlements.
Possible location
In addition to the later references to Aduatuc, which clearly relate to modern Tongeren, Caesar's notes on his war in Gaul are the only surviving source of information about this place. For the first time, the Aduatuk was mentioned by Caesar during the discussion on the suppression of the Eburon uprising and the subsequent participation of the Sigambras from Germany, as the “name of the fort”. [Id castelli nomen est.] Aduatuk, according to the notes, was located almost in the center of the Eburon country, where Titurius and were housed for the purpose of wintering. [3] [4] He was referring to the previous sections of the notes, which reported that Titurius and Aurunkuley were killed during this rebellion of the Eburons. [5] These two Caesar officers were ordered to winter in the middle of the Eburon country after a year of drought, which caused rebellion, although Aduatuca was not named in the previous discussion. [6]
Unfortunately, despite the fact that Caesar reports that the fort was located in the middle of the Eburon territory, there is no consensus on the borders of the territory of this tribe. At some point, Caesar says that the main part of the country of the Eburons was between Mosa (Maas) and the Rhine. [7] But, as a rule, it is generally accepted that the territory of the Eburons also includes land between Scheldt and the Meuse, including all or most of Campin . [eight]
Caesar described the environs of Aduatuki as a place where the eburons could disperse; some, including the leader of the Ambiorix tribe, apparently to remote areas of the Ardennes, and others to the tidal islands in the ocean. [9] There was “no regular army, no city, no garrison that could defend itself with weapons, but people were scattered in all directions. Where neither a hidden valley, nor a wooded place, nor a complex swamp provided any hope of protection or security for anyone, there he corrected himself. ” [ten]
There are arguments in favor of interpreting the name Aduatuk as a fortress, rather than the place where modern Tongeren is located.
Caesar's remarks mentioned above, id castelli nomen est, can be interpreted not only as “that is, the name of the fort”, but also “this is the name of the fort”.
- The neighboring Germanic tribe, whose settlements are not named, are also called Aduatuki , they settled in a well-fortified settlement (which is not named Caesar). Therefore, their name “Aduatuki” was interpreted as “fortress man”. [one]
- There is no serious archaeological evidence in Tongeren that these places were occupied before the Romans established it along their important military route between Bav and Cologne . [eleven]
- The geography of Tongeren, although hilly, is not as hilly as Caesar describes. What he describes seems more typical of the regions south of Tongeren, closer to the Ardennes in modern Wallonia . Whiteman notes that the "only topographic detail" regarding the Aduatuki eburons was a "narrow defile suitable for an ambush" not too far west. [12] But this is “too common a feature of the Ardennes landscape to help” in locating the Aduatuki eburons. [13]
In addition to Tongeren, suggestions regarding the location of the earlier Eduron Aduatuca include the Belgian Spa (at a place called Balmoral) and the Plateau, next to the modern village of , south of Maastricht and fairly close to Tongeren. [11] [13] [14] Dendrochronological evidence was believed to refute this proposal, but a later review of the evidence reinforced this idea. [15]
Other proposed facilities in the neighboring province of Liège include , Lembur , , northeast of Ainault and Chauffontaine ; as well as Thuyenne in the province of Hainaut . [16] [17] In Germany, in Stolberg , near Aachen , as well as Ichenberg hill near the railway station were also proposed.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Wightman, 1985 , p. thirty.
- ↑ Gysseling, Maurits (1960), Toponymisch Woordenboek van België, Nederland, Luxemburg, Noord-Frankrijk en West-Duitsland , < http://www.wulfila.be/tw/facsimile/?page=78 >
- ↑ Gallic War VI.32 .
- ↑ Guy Julius Caesar. Divide and rule. Notes of the triumph . - M .: LitRes , 2015. - 720 p. - ("The Great Leaders"). - ISBN 978-5-699-54458-5 .
- ↑ Gallic War VI.32 , and VI.37
- ↑ Gallic War V.24 , V.27 .
- ↑ Gallic War V.24
- ↑ Wightman, 1985 , p. 31.
- ↑ Gallic War VI.33
- ↑ Gallic War VI.34
- ↑ 1 2 Vanderhoeven, 2004 .
- ↑ Wightman, 1985 , p. 32.
- ↑ 1 2 Wightman, 1985 , p. 40.
- ↑ Vanvinckenroye, 2001 .
- ↑ Archived copy (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment September 14, 2018. Archived March 27, 2012.
- ↑ 1981 “L 'Atuatuca césarienne au Fort de Chaudfontaine?”, Antiquité Classique 50, 367-381.
- ↑ Janssens, 2007 .
Literature
- Caesar. Gallic war
- Janssens, Ugo. Ces Belges, "les plus braves": histoire de la Belgique gauloise . - Racine, 2007.
- Vanderhoeven, Alain. Confrontation in Archeology: Aspects of Roman Military in Tongeren // Archeology in confrontation: aspects of Roman military presence in the northwest / Alain Vanderhoeven, Michel Vanderhoeven. - Ghent University, 2004 .-- P. 143.
- Wightman, Edith Mary. Gallia Belgica . - University of California Press, 1985.
- Vanvinckenroye, Willy. Über Atuatuca, Cäsar und Ambiorix // Belgian archaeology in a European setting . - 2001. - Vol. 2.