Nijmegen (NL), August 23-24 2008

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

LOL, u should have seen the tearing down of the wall!

M.VIB.M.

[Praefectusclassis]

That was a sad moment indeed!
Here's the last blog post with some of my pics: Day 5-End.

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

Great Photos Jasper!!

thanx for putting in the link!

did you get some more of the lovely MvLSvM Monica left you all?

M.VIB.M.

[Praefectusclassis]

Some yeah, but there was about a gallon-and-a-half. Not sure who drunk it all / took it home. I guess I need to investigate.

[jvrjenivs]

Some yeah, but there was about a gallon-and-a-half. Not sure who drunk it all / took it home. I guess I need to investigate.

I think i know where that bottle is... :wink:

[Tormenta]

Great festival, it was fantastic, was worth the long journey.

[jvrjenivs]

Glad you liked it. Hope to have you again in Nijmegen in 2010.

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

The only thing i am still wondering about with the reconstruction of the wall is the planking...

wouldnt the Romans have made a double layer of planking inside and outside? so that from the Fossa you would see a steady wall of planks in stead of only seeing the large upright beams with planks behind it...

M.VIB.M.

[jvrjenivs]

I based our reconstruction of the wall on the following writings:

1 Kloosterman, R. & Polak, M., 2006. Gedeeltelijke reconstructie van een Romeins castellum ten behoeve van Archeon. Nijmegen.
(Reconstruction based on Claudian fortresses of Alphen aan den Rijn and Valkenburg Z.H. (± 40-69))

2 Driessen, M., 2007. Bouwen om te blijven. De topografie, bewoningscontinuïteit en monumentaliteit van Romeins Nijmegen. Amersfoort.

3 Hanel, N, 2001. Die Umwehrungen der römischen Flottenlager Alteburg in Köln-Marienburg. Kölner Jahrbücher 32, 1999, 569-625.
(Reconstruction of the wall of the Claudian marine base of Cologne, also in The Blackwell companion to the roman army, Oxford 2007.

Our plannes were also overlooked by the Radboud University Nijmegen. Most of the (artist) impressions I looked at during the research for this reconstruction show only planking on the inside of the frame. But indeed a good point.

Look for instance at


Maybe Duncan can give his comment on this... (but then we should maybe start a topic somewhere else on RAT)

[Jona Lendering]

wouldnt the Romans have made a double layer of planking inside and outside?

I also asked that question, but a young Roman soldier explained to me that it was not necessary; the space behind the planks is filled with the sand from the ditch. It is really strong.

[jvrjenivs]

wouldnt the Romans have made a double layer of planking inside and outside?

I also asked that question, but a young Roman soldier explained to me that it was not necessary; the space behind the planks is filled with the sand from the ditch. It is really strong.

You certainly need planking on the inside as the sand from the ditch put a lot of outwards preasure on the walls, but this doesn't say why you wouldn't put a second layer of planing on the outside.

[Jona Lendering]

You certainly need planking on the inside as the sand from the ditch put a lot of outwards pressure on the walls, but this doesn't say why you wouldn't put a second layer of planking on the outside.

But why should you? It does not look attractive without a second layer, but the structure does not become stronger when you add an outer shell.

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

Maybe another topic thread indeed...

anyway... the weekend was great!

[jpvdgiessen]

Here some pictures of the wall

[jvrjenivs]

Thats a wonderfull photo essay about building the wall. Thanks for posting! Laudes added. Only thing I have by seeing this pics is the bad feeling that is already be gone. Hopefully again (and even better) in 2 years.