Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior (in English: Lower Germany) was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern Netherlands and western Germany. The principal settlements of the province were Bona (Bonn), Castra Vetera (Xanten), Trajectum ad Rhenum (Utrecht), and Colonia Agrippinensis (Cologne), the capital of Germania Inferior.

Related Topics:
English - Roman - Province - Rhine - Netherlands - Germany - Bonn - Xanten - Utrecht - Cologne

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The army of Germania Inferior, known from inscriptions simply as EX.GER.INF. (Exercitus Germania Inferior), had several legions at its service: of these, the Legions I Minervia and XXX Ulpia Victrix were the most permanent. The Roman Navy's Classis Germanica, charged with patrolling the Rhine and the North Sea coast, was based in Castra Vetera and later in Colonia Agrippinensis.

Related Topics:
Legions - I ''Minervia'' - XXX ''Ulpia Victrix'' - Classis Germanica - Rhine - North Sea

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The first confrontations between a Roman army and the peoples of Germania Inferior occurred during Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Caesar invaded the region in 57 BC and in the next three years annihilated several Germanic tribes, including the Eburones and the Menapians.

Related Topics:
Julius Caesar - Gallic Wars - 57 BC - Eburones - Menapians

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Germania Inferior had had Roman settlements since approximately 50 BC and was at first part of Gallia Belgica; it was established as a Roman province in the year 90, later becoming an Imperial province. It lay north of Germania Superior, together with which it made up Germania. The epithet Inferior refers to its downstream position.

Related Topics:
50 BC - Gallia Belgica - Roman province - 90 - Imperial province - Germania Superior - Germania

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