Introduction: Late Roman and Early Medieval Bonn

The modern city of Bonn is situated west of the Rhine on the high river bank, which is intersected by several old river beds (Fig. 26.1), most of which remained small streams or stagnant channels until the Middle Ages. This provided an easily defendable site with natural obstacles to the west, north and south. The situation also allowed control over trade on the river as well as on the ancient route to south-western Germany. This favourable location attracted settlers from the late Iron Age onwards. Several small settlements or farmsteads, already known as bonna, have been discovered in the area of the later city (Joachim 1988, 20–2).

When Drusus was running his military campaigns in Germany in 12–9 BC he used the site for building a small camp and a bridge across the river (Rösger and Will 1985). During the first century AD Legio I was moved to the site and a legionary fortress was constructed (Horn 1987, 364–76). With the arrival of the Roman army at least some of the local inhabitants changed their main business from farming to supply production. Pottery kilns, iron smelting furnaces and the remains of antler, bone and leather working indicate the new craft activities. With the rising numbers of civilian inhabitants, two adjacent settlements – a canabae legionis and a vicus – developed and flourished until the end of the third century (Fig. 26.2A). While most of the buildings clustered alongside the main northsouth road, industrial activities concentrated along the fringes of the settlements. Graveyards can be found to the west of the fortress and the canabae. Contrary to Roman legislation, burials were not excluded from the residential areas but can also be found inside both the vicus and canabae (Kaiser 1996, 487–488).

The conflicts with invading Germanic groups in AD 275/276 and 353/355 left the military and civilian settlements in ruins. As far as we know today, life continued only within the re-fortified legionary fortress and at a few rare spots in close vicinity. Two cemeteries remained in use. One was situated to the west of the fortress, while the other lies to the south right in the heart of the ruined canabae (Kaiser 1996, Fig. 7). During the late fourth and fifth century, there were Frankish graves among the burials, but so far no settlement remains can be assigned to the period.