About the Limes and the Ripa Pannonica (Roads&Borders)

Pannonia in the 2nd century AC

  The Ripa Pannonica, the outer frontier of Pannonia and of the Roman Empire, lies in the Carpathian Basin along the Danube, and belongs to Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia. Its main characteristics is that the Danube being the physical obstacle, no artificial obstacle like a wall or an earthwork had to be built. That is why the proper Latin name of this type of frontier is ripa and not limes (though in a broader sense the whole Roman frontier can also be named limes). The bigger river frontiers are the Rhine and Danube frontiers in Europe and the Euphrates frontier in the East. The main difference in the structure of river and land frontiers is the lack of a built barrier in the former case. The other features like the limes road, forts, fortlets, towers and civil settlements developed in a similar way. However, there is another slight difference. Taking into account the width of the river barrier, sometimes hundred of meters and the islands, the Roman military administration built posts on the islands and the opposite bank of the rivers as well. These counter forts and fortified ports are always in close connection with a fort on the other side, and form together the full frontier system. The sites of the Ripa Pannonica in Hungary lie on the right side of the Danube in a total length of 415 km along the limes road. The military sites lying on the large islands and the left bank of the Danube are to be nominated as well, since they belong to the frontier system of the Ripa Pannonica. According to the Koblenz declaration all military sites – forts, fortlets, towers, the limes road, furthermore the connected civil settlements like canabae, vici of the forts and the two towns: Brigetio and Aquincum – can be incorporated into the frontier line in the 2nd century AD, from Traianus to Septimius Severus. According to the Koblenz declaration military sites of earlier or later centuries which lie on this line can be nominated as well, and regarding that the outer frontier of Pannonia was always along the Danube during the Roman era from the last decade of the 1st century BC until the third decade of the 5th century AD, all visible, confirmed and conserved military sites.