Canal of Drusus

Last updated

The Canals of Drusus (Latin : Fossae Drusianae) were Roman canals constructed for military purposes by Nero Claudius Drusus around 12 BC. It is believed to have linked the Rhine delta with the Lake Flevo, (today's IJsselmeer). They facilitated troop transport to the north, avoiding the need to cross the open North Sea. This was of strategic importance for attacks on the Germanic people living on the Frisian coasts and along the Elbe estuary in the German Bight. Drusus' son Germanicus used the canals dug by his father's army in a military campaign some decades later. The canals are mentioned by Roman historians who lived two centuries later. One of them is Suetonius, who refers to them in his Vita Divi Claudi [1]

Contents

The exact location of the canals is unknown, and it is a subject of debate among modern historians, archaeologists and geologists. The canals might have been located inland along the valley of the river IJssel (not yet a distributary of the Rhine branch in Roman times). Alternatively, they might have been closer to the coast in the lagoon area north of Utrecht (one of many Roman border posts), connecting lagoon lakes with local branches of the Rhine delta.

Another possibility is the Lange Renne just over the border, in Germany. It connects two slings of the Rhine and has all the characteristics of a canal, including a 10-meter-deep hole in the canal bed where one of two dams was once removed, obviously created by the sudden influx of the water, and a dam on the other side of the canal that is not entirely removed.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meuse</span> River in western Europe

The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of 925 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuwe Waterweg</span> Ship canal in the Netherlands

The Nieuwe Waterweg is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland: the Maasmond, where the Nieuwe Waterweg connects to the Maasgeul. It is the artificial mouth of the river Rhine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhine</span> Major river in Western Europe

The Rhine is one of the major European rivers. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms the Swiss-Liechtenstein border and partly the Swiss-Austrian and Swiss-German borders. After that the Rhine defines much of the Franco-German border, after which it flows in a mostly northerly direction through the German Rhineland. Finally in Germany, the Rhine turns into a predominantly westerly direction and flows into the Netherlands where it eventually empties into the North Sea. It drains an area of 9,973 km2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IJssel</span> River in the Netherlands

The IJssel is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer, a North Sea natural harbour. It more immediately flows into the east-south channel around the Flevopolder, Flevoland which is kept at 3 metres below sea level. This body of water is then pumped up into the IJsselmeer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nero Claudius Drusus</span> Roman general and statesman, step-son of emperor Augustus (38–9 BC)

Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, commonly known in English as Drusus the Elder, was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a patrician Claudian but his mother was from a plebeian family. He was the son of Livia Drusilla and the stepson of her second husband, the Emperor Augustus. He was also brother of the Emperor Tiberius; the father of the Emperor Claudius and general Germanicus; paternal grandfather of the Emperor Caligula, and maternal great-grandfather of the Emperor Nero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhône</span> Major river in Switzerland and France

The Rhône is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Arles, near its mouth, the river divides into the Great Rhône and the Little Rhône. The resulting delta forms the Camargue region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scheldt–Rhine Canal</span> Canal connecting Belgium and Netherlands

The Scheldt–Rhine Canal (Schelde-Rijnkanaal) in Belgium and the Netherlands connects Antwerp with the Volkerak, and thereby the Scheldt with the Rhine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpine Rhine</span> Part of the river Rhine in Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland

The Alpine Rhine Valley is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the Alpine Rhine, the part of the Rhine between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and Lake Constance. It covers three countries, with sections of the river demarcating the borders between Austria and Switzerland and between Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The full length of the Alpine Rhine is 93.5 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Europoort</span> Area of the Port of Rotterdam

Europoort is an area of the Port of Rotterdam and the adjoining industrial area in the Netherlands. Being situated at Southside of the mouth of the rivers Rhine and Meuse with the hinterland consisting of the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and partly France, Europoort is one of the world's busiest ports and considered a major entry to Europe. The port handled 12 million containers in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Świna</span> River in Poland

The Świna is a channel in northwest Poland, between 2 and 4 km from the German border. It connects the Szczecin Lagoon with the Baltic Sea separating the islands of Uznam and Wolin. It is a part of the Oder estuary, and carries about 75% of that river's waterflow. It has a length of about 16 km. Świnoujście is a major town at the end of the channel towards the Baltic Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland)</span> River in Netherlands

The Oude Rijn is a branch of the Rhine delta in the Dutch provinces of Utrecht and South Holland, starting west of Utrecht, at Harmelen, and running by a mechanical pumping station into the North Sea at Katwijk. Its present-day length is 52 kilometres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sicambri</span> Roman-era Germanic people

The Sicambri, also known as the Sugambri or Sicambrians, were a Germanic people who during Roman times lived on the east bank of the river Rhine, in what is now Germany, near the border with the Netherlands. They were first reported by Julius Caesar, who described them as Germanic (Germani), though he did not necessarily define this in terms of language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Rhine</span> Lower portion of the river Rhine

Lower Rhine refers to the section of the Rhine between Bonn in Germany and the North Sea at Hook of Holland in the Netherlands, including the Nederrijn within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta; alternatively, Lower Rhine may also refer to just the part upstream of Pannerdens Kop, excluding the Nederrijn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flood control in the Netherlands</span> Manmade control of flooding in the Netherlands

Flood control is an important issue for the Netherlands, as due to its low elevation, approximately two thirds of its area is vulnerable to flooding, while the country is densely populated. Natural sand dunes and constructed dikes, dams, and floodgates provide defense against storm surges from the sea. River dikes prevent flooding from water flowing into the country by the major rivers Rhine and Meuse, while a complicated system of drainage ditches, canals, and pumping stations keep the low-lying parts dry for habitation and agriculture. Water control boards are the independent local government bodies responsible for maintaining this system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta</span> Delta formed by 3 rivers in the Netherlands

The Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta is a river delta in the Netherlands formed by the confluence of the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt rivers. In some cases, the Scheldt delta is considered a separate delta to the Rhine–Meuse delta. The result is a multitude of islands, branches and branch names, in which a waterway that appears to be one continuous stream may have numerous separate names for different sections, e.g. Rhine → Bijlands Kanaal → Pannerdens Kanaal → Nederrijn → Lek → Nieuwe Maas → Het Scheur → Nieuwe Waterweg. Since the Rhine contributes most of the water, the term "Rhine Delta" is commonly used, although this name is also used for the delta where the Alpine Rhine flows into Lake Constance. By some calculations, the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta covers 25,347 km2 (9,787 sq mi), making it the largest in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danube</span> Second-longest river in Europe

The Danube is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important river, it was once a frontier of the Roman Empire. In the 21st century, it connects ten European countries, running through their territories or marking a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for 2,850 km (1,770 mi), passing through or bordering Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine. Among the many cities on the river are four national capitals: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade. Its drainage basin amounts to 817,000 km2 (315,000 sq mi) and extends into nine more countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkerak</span>

The Volkerak is a body of water in the Netherlands. It is part of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, and is situated between the island Goeree-Overflakkee to the north-west and the Dutch mainland to the south and east. The western part of the Volkerak is also called Krammer. Tributaries of the Volkerak are the Dintel and Steenbergse Vliet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netherlands in the Roman era</span>

For around 450 years, from around 55 BC to around 410 AD, the southern part of the Netherlands was integrated into the Roman Empire. During this time the Romans in the Netherlands had an enormous influence on the lives and culture of the people who lived in the Netherlands at the time and (indirectly) on the generations that followed.

The Marsaci or Marsacii were a tribe in Roman imperial times, who lived within the area of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, under Roman domination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Germanic Limes</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Germany, Netherlands

The Lower Germanic Limes is the former frontier between the Roman province of Germania Inferior and Germania Magna. The Lower Germanic Limes separated that part of the Rhineland left of the Rhine as well as the southern part of the Netherlands, which was part of the Roman Empire, from the less tightly controlled regions east of the Rhine.

References

  1. Roller, Duane W. (2006). "Roman Exploration" (Digitized by Google Books online). Through the Pillars of Herakles: Greco-Roman Exploration of the Atlantic. Taylor and Francis. p. 119. ISBN   978-0-415-37287-9 . Retrieved 2008-12-08.

51°57′N5°58′E / 51.950°N 5.967°E / 51.950; 5.967