08-03-2007, 06:39 PM
Salve Joel,
Just to complicate measure, the Low Countries translate as "the Netherlands" and that would be the Dutch, sometimes refered to as Holland, but that's just a province (or actualy, two, Noord and zuid Holland). Belgium used to be a part of the Netherlands only a few hunderd years ago, and the Flemish (Vlaanderen) share the language. Belgium is in fact a lot higher then the Netherlands, the border is near the faultline of the Brabant Massive and the Dutch mainly occupy the swampy riverdelta of the Rhine and the Maas river. Wallonia, the French part, has the Ardennes and is higher still. The Roman Limes runs through the Netherlands, then part of Germania Inferior, on the southern border of the Neder Rhine, now only a distant memory of a real river. The site www.limes.nl will show you the tract of the Limes and the fortifications. The site www.Livius.com is an English language goldmine on this stretch of the ancient border.
Just to complicate measure, the Low Countries translate as "the Netherlands" and that would be the Dutch, sometimes refered to as Holland, but that's just a province (or actualy, two, Noord and zuid Holland). Belgium used to be a part of the Netherlands only a few hunderd years ago, and the Flemish (Vlaanderen) share the language. Belgium is in fact a lot higher then the Netherlands, the border is near the faultline of the Brabant Massive and the Dutch mainly occupy the swampy riverdelta of the Rhine and the Maas river. Wallonia, the French part, has the Ardennes and is higher still. The Roman Limes runs through the Netherlands, then part of Germania Inferior, on the southern border of the Neder Rhine, now only a distant memory of a real river. The site www.limes.nl will show you the tract of the Limes and the fortifications. The site www.Livius.com is an English language goldmine on this stretch of the ancient border.