The Roman province.

Germania Superior

Easternmost Province of Gallia Diocese

Germania Superior is an Imperial province over which the Imperator is proconsul. It is governed by a legate of consular rank who is in command of both the provincial administration as well as all the military forces in the province.

The provincial capital is at Moguntiacum, in the north of the province.

Provincial History

In early historic times the Germanic culture settled along either side of the lower Rhine river and the Celtic tribes similarly along the upper. Bridged and crossed by Julius Caesar in 55 and 53 CE, the Rhine became the boundry of Roman Gaul and the frontier of the Empire from from Lake Constance to its mouth at Lugdunum Batavorum (Leiden, Neth.).

Under the Emperor Augustus the provinces of Germania Superior and Germania Inferior were established on the other side of the Rhine, as part of the effort to expand the Roman frontier to the Elbe river, but this halted after the disasterous Varus disaster in 9 CE.

After the Civilis revolt during the Year of the Four Emperors (69 CE) the area along the Rhine became a military frontier. The Emperor Domitian reformed the Germania provinces out of Belgica province in Gaul; the border of lower Germany now ended at the Rhine.

South of Bonna (Bonn) the boundary of the Roman Empire was marked by the limes (Roman fortified frontier) well east of the river. The Romans under the Flavian emperors began annexing the area in AD 74 to secure better communications between the Rhine and Danube armies. This latter area was annexed to Germania Superior and called the Agri Decumates. Today this zone is the Black Forest and adjoining areas of what is now southwestern Germany between the Rhine, Danube, and Main rivers. The name may imply earlier occupation by a tribe with 10 cantons. According to Tacitus, the territory was previously inhabited by the Helvetii; later, Gauls settled there. The Romans were displaced from the Agri Decumates by the Alemanni in about 260 CE.

Life on the Rhine

Once the frontiers had stabilized, cultural and commercial contacts were inevitable and influential, and as important as armed conflict. Although the frontier was heavily fortified, it was not a hindrance to the passage of trade or people. Rome exported fine pottery, glass, and metalwork across the Rhine. In return, raw materials such as amber, leather, and slaves went back across the frontier. "Free" Germans also served in Roman armies.

Border raids were constant, and there were periodic larger disturbances. Between about 150 and 200 CE a whole series of Germanic groups moved south along the river valleys of central and eastern Europe. This migration was violent and highly destructive. About 150 CE the Marcomanni, a Germanic tribe, moved south into the middle Danube region. In 167 they got as far as Italy itself, forcing the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son spent the next 20 years curbing their inroads.

These migrations resulted in great violence along the entire frontier during the 3rd century. Parts of Gaul suffered greatly, and Germania Superior was on the front line of the conflicts. Although Goths ravaged the Danube region, even killing the emperor Decius in 251, intensive campaigns brought the Germanic tribes back under control, so that by about 280 stability had returned to the Rhine and Danube.

The Roman army and an alliance system involving, among others, Franks, Alemanni, and Goths maintained the frontier until about 370 CE.

Cities in Germania Superior

• Argentoratum, Aquae, Moguntiacum
• Borbetomagus, Aventicum, Augusta Rauricorum
• Vindonissa, Basilia, Besontio
• Arae Flaviae, Castra Regina