Kemkes, Martin  / Wötzel, Judith Römer - Limes - Welterbe

The Limes Museum Aalen.
What makes the Roman Limes a UNESCO World Heritage Site? What ideology and understanding of power drove the Romans to conquer their empire? Is the Limes comparable to today's borders? And what did Aalen look like 1,800 years ago, when the largest equestrian fort north of the Alps was located on the site of today's Limes Museum? The book accompanying the Limes Museum Aalen, a branch museum of the Archaeological State Museum of Baden-Württemberg, answers these questions and also provides a broad overview of the lives of people on both sides of the border. Seven people who actually lived in Roman Aalen talk about their lives and bring the times back to life. Based on the latest research, the two authors provide information about the ideology of rule and the understanding of borders in the Roman Empire, the development of the Limes and the Germanic tribes on the other side of the border, as well as the everyday lives of soldiers and civilians here on the edge of the empire. The Aalen cavalry fort, the largest military base on the entire Limes, and the other fort sites along the 164 km long stretch of the Limes in Baden-Württemberg are described. The book concludes with a comparative overview of various border forms from antiquity to the present day. Numerous maps and illustrations characterise the book, as does the wealth of archaeological objects that have been found along the Limes in Baden-Württemberg over more than 150 years.

Dr Martin Kemkes, Provincial Roman Archaeologist, Scientific Director of the Limes Museum Aalen, Head of the Roman Period and Roman Branch Museums Department and Head of the Central Archives of the Archaeological State Museum of Baden-Württemberg.