Centrality on the periphery: an analysis of rural settlement hierarchy in the Dutch part of the Roman limes

Abstract The Lower Rhine region was of crucial importance for the Roman empire as a transit zone from Gaul to the North Sea. The river Rhine functioned both as a transport artery and as a defence line. Huge investments were made in the first century CE to protect this economic lifeline, by installing a line of forts and legionary camps along the river from Cologne up to the North Sea, known as the Lower Germanic limes . Unlike areas further south, however, its hinterland did not witness a development towards a ‘central place’ settlement pattern, but instead shows seemingly separate trajectorie... Mehr ...