Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Research Aims, Central Concepts and Perspectives
- 2 Social change in the Late Iron Age Lower Rhine region
- 3 Caesar’s Conquest and the Ethnic Reshuffling of the Lower Rhine Frontier zone
- 4 The gold triskeles coinages of the Eburones
- 5 Roman Frontier Politics and the Formation of a Batavian Polity
- 6 The Lower Rhine Triquetrum Coinages and the Formation of a Batavian Polity
- 7 Kessel/Lith. A Late Iron Age Central Place in the Rhine/Meuse Delta
- 8 The Political and Institutional Structure of the pre-Flavian Civitas Batavorum
- 9 Foederis Romani Monumenta. Public Memorials of the Alliance with Rome
- 10 Image and Self-Image of the Batavians
- 11 Hercules and the Construction of a Batavian Identity in the Context of the Roman Empire
- 12 Conclusion and Epilogue
- Abbreviations
- Bibliograpy
- General Index
2 - Social change in the Late Iron Age Lower Rhine region
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Research Aims, Central Concepts and Perspectives
- 2 Social change in the Late Iron Age Lower Rhine region
- 3 Caesar’s Conquest and the Ethnic Reshuffling of the Lower Rhine Frontier zone
- 4 The gold triskeles coinages of the Eburones
- 5 Roman Frontier Politics and the Formation of a Batavian Polity
- 6 The Lower Rhine Triquetrum Coinages and the Formation of a Batavian Polity
- 7 Kessel/Lith. A Late Iron Age Central Place in the Rhine/Meuse Delta
- 8 The Political and Institutional Structure of the pre-Flavian Civitas Batavorum
- 9 Foederis Romani Monumenta. Public Memorials of the Alliance with Rome
- 10 Image and Self-Image of the Batavians
- 11 Hercules and the Construction of a Batavian Identity in the Context of the Roman Empire
- 12 Conclusion and Epilogue
- Abbreviations
- Bibliograpy
- General Index
Summary
INTRODUCTION
In recent decades the study of Late Iron Age societies in Gaul and the Rhineland has been at the forefront of discussion in both academic and popular archaeology. The primary focus has been the major social changes that occurred during that period, leading to more complex societies with a more highly developed social hierarchy and the first moves toward urbanisation. The most notable archaeological evidence is the appearance of major fortified settlements or oppida, a rapid rise in the use of coins and the emergence of collective sanctuaries. Such changes are usually regarded as diagnostic of the La Tène cultural region, distinguishing it from regions to the north where they did not occur.
In the Northwest European context, what picture do archaeological texts of today paint of Late Iron Age societies in the Lower Rhine region? The first response is that this region barely rates a mention in the international literature. It is viewed as part of the northern border zone of Gaul, as a region weak in La Tène cultural influences and which saw no structural social change in the Iron Age. Many publications reproduce a map showing the distribution of Late Iron Age oppida (fig. 2.1); the northern border runs through Northern France, Southern Belgium and the German Middle Rhine region towards Central Europe. The Lower Rhine region is thus usually seen as part of the northern zone of rather static societies with relatively egalitarian social structures. This picture stems chiefly from the Lower Rhineland's ‘poor’ material culture, in particular the weak presence of elements associated with elite power, such as major fortified settlements and rich metalwork. Characteristic are the simple burial ritual and the barely differentiated settlement pattern with an absence of oppida. Major social change, the texts suggest, would not occur there until after the Roman conquest. Some authors explain these regional differences by using core-periphery models or social evolutionary perspectives. There is also a long and powerful tradition of explaining the differences in ethnic terms (fig. 2.1). The Lower Rhine region is regarded as part of the northern ‘Germanic’ world, the counterpart of a southern ‘Celtic’ world.
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- Ethnic Identity and Imperial PowerThe Batavians in the Early Roman Empire, pp. 9 - 22Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2004