The Augustan military zone along the lower Rhine was formally reorganized as the province of Germania Inferior, Lower Germany, during the reign of Domitian around CE 85. Until this time, the area had been on the eastern fringe of the province of Gallia Belgica. The provincial capital was Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (modern Cologne). Numerous legionary and auxiliary bases fortified the lower Rhine frontier throughout its history. Lower Germany was bounded by the Rhine river in the north, and immediately south of this border lay marshy lowlands and the islands in the delta of the Rhine, Meuse, Waal, and Schelde rivers. Northbound ships carrying goods from the interior crossed over from the delta to Britannia. The province extended in the west beyond the Meuse River, and ended in the south at the Vinxtbach river. The sandy soils of the northern lowlands were of poor quality for cultivation, but they were well suited to cattle and horse breeding. The loess regions to the south, particularly to the west of the Cologne basin, on the other hand were ideal for agriculture, particularly cereal cultivation. The middle part of the province between Nijmegen and Krefeld was characterized by gentle wooded hills. The rugged Eifel and Ardennes mountains in the south and south-east of the province were mined for ores and stone of varying kinds. During the reign of Domitian (CE 284-305), the provincial boundaries were redrawn to extend westwards into areas formerly belonging to Gallia Belgica. The province in its late phase was renamed Germania Secunda.
This villa rustica was built on a slope so that the residential building (A on Plan 1) overlooked the rest of the lower lying farmyard (Image 1). The entire complex covered an ...
In the Neronian fort of the 5th and 15th legions near the civilian settlement of Colonia Ulpia Traiana were two vast buildings on either side of the headquarters building (princip...
West of the House of Dionysos stood the so-called "atrium house" which covered an area of 1400 sq. m. (Plan 1). It was built around the middle of the 1st century CE.
Entering ...
The largest urban villa excavated thus far in Cologne is the House of Dionysos (3400 sq. m.), named after the early 3rd century mosaic floor decorated with Dionysiac motifs in ...
This Mediterranean-type house just inside the western city wall had a peristyle courtyard ca. 9 x 14 m. in size, in the middle of which was a pool (3 x 8 m.) with apsidal ends (P ...
In the second half of the 1st century CE a large peristyle house was constructed on the western fringe of the city, built on the remains of abandoned pottery kilns. The peristyle ...
Only a fraction of this house in the immediate vicinity of the House on Gertrudenstraße was excavated. Enough was salvaged, however, to be able to recognize that the house was of ...
This insula southeast of the forum is commonly referred to as an industrial quarter (Plan 1). It was divided into several long, narrow plots on which were houses, shops and ...
The facade of this modest house of a villa rustica near the Meuse river measured 24 m. in length and had two protruding wings joined by a portico (Plan 1). The house was built in ...
This farm, known as Hambach 59, was built in the late 1st century CE and inhabited until its destruction in the 4th century (Plan 1). The farmhouse, 19.50 x 26 m. in size (A on ...
This villa rustica was situated west of Cologne in the same region as Hambach 59. It was built in the late 1st century CE and inhabited until the 4th century (Plan 1). The farm ...
There was no division between the residential and service parts of this modest farm. The house, with its bath (A and B on plan), and the outbuildings were built of stone at the ...
The stone-built structures of this villa rustica near the Meuse river, the largest excavated thus far in the Netherlands, were erected in the early 2nd century and repeatedly ...