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Dr J's Audio-Visual Resources for Classics

Romans in Germany: the Augustan Period
A Teacher Workshop held at Temple University, Ambler Campus
March 24, 2001

Romans in Gaul
A Teacher Workshop held at Temple University, Ambler Campus
November 3, 2001

Romans in Germany II: Antonine Period
A Teacher Workshop held at Temple University, Ambler Campus
March 23, 2002

Romans in Spain
A Teacher Workshop held at Temple University, Ambler Campus
November 2, 2002

 

 

ROMANS IN COLOGNE


 

Geography: Cologne is the northernmost colony founded by the Romans. Click on the map at left to see an enlarged overview of the cities founded by the Romans in Europe  Also see this Map of Roman Empire (150 CE)

 

Roman History of Cologne

Over 2000 years ago, Augustus  envisioned the tribal capital of the Ubii to be the seat of a future province of Germania. The folly of Varus changed forever the scope of the Romans' ambition, but the city flourished and became known as Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (CCAA).  Today we know this city simply as Cologne, and it continues to be a center of interest in Roman culture and history... (from In Search of the Roman Army: A Visit to the Roemisch-Germanisches Museum by Jenny Cline, Editor)

WEBSITES ON THE HISTORY OF THE COLONY

Read up on the history of COLONIA AGRIPPINENSIS here:

Now answer these questions (reveal the answers by simply moving your mouse over the answer blank):

This bust is billed as Vipsania Agrippina" – the mother of Julia Agrippina...Who did Julia, daughter of the Roman general Germanicus, marry in 48 AD? Answer > Tiberius

 

 

 

Roman Ruins in Cologne

Roman Waterworks in Cologne:
sewer, aqueduct, baths,

Roman sewer / Town Hall: Rare section of a Roman municipal sewage system. Example of the engineering skill of Roman architects. Read the article at http://www.koeln.de/portrait/e/colognefoot2.html: How long and how high is the Roman sewer in Cologne?

Roman Baths: ACTA TEMPESTIVA, ARCHEO newsbriefs: This article, courtesy of the editors of ARCHEO magazine and Giovanni Lattanzi, tells about a new archeological find: Roman baths in Cologne!

Other Roman Waterworks/Aqueducts (for Comparative Purposes)

Go to this website for a photo of the Roman Harbour Street http://romanhistorybooksandmore.freeservers.com/p_cologneR.htm

A nice essay on the construction and make-up of ancient Roman Roads by Adam Pawluk

Roman Gate, Foto: Inge Decker

Roman North Gate, Domterrasse: Foundations and side arch of Roman North Gate. Click on photo for info. Read the articles at
http://www.uni-koeln.de/koeln/unkommentiert.html and http://www.koeln.de/portrait/e/tourist2.html to find out more about this structure.

Roman city wall

 

Corner tower of the Roman city wall, Cologne
Click on the photo for a larger view. Read the article at http://www.villarustica.de/intro/index04e.html#intro08 and find out why this ancient monument is so important to our knowledge of Roman history. There are also well-preserved mosaic decorations here.

 

 

 

Praetorium: Foundations of the Roman governor´s palace (1st - 4th Century) preserved in their original form; Roman monuments and decorations. See the ruins of the praetorium at Irene's Travelogue pages (http://romanhistorybooksandmore.freeservers.com/p_cologneR.htm).

 

Ubiermonument (Monument of the Ubii): Oldest square-stone masonry ever found North of the Alps (24 B.C.); Roman port entrance: English/Latin archaeological report: http://webrum.uni-mannheim.de/phil/webas/html/thetis4.html

 

Other Roman ruins in Cologne:

Tomb in Weiden: Family tomb of a Roman lord of a manor´s family (2nd Century)

St. Severin: Preserved Roman/ Frankonian burial ground with foundation walls of the original church
(4th C.)

Mithraeum

Castrum Divitium, Deutz: Well-preserved foundations of the Eastern Gate

Cologne maps out its archeological heritage using high-tech SICAD Geomatics

 

Roman Artefacts in Cologne

Roman holdings of the Romisch-Germanisches Museum in Cologne (museum website)
(also on power point presentation here)

Pottery made in Cologne

http://www.museenkoeln.de/rgm/perm/b_geschichte_01.htm

 

THE DISCOVERY AND PRESERVATION OF ANCIENT MOSAICS (USING THE COLOGNE DIONYSOS MOSAIC AS A STARTING POINT)

http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/New/Europe-9906/html/itinerary.html

a detail of the mosaic
Dionysos-Mosaik (Ausschnitt)
What were the circumstances that led to the discovery of this mosaic?
click here to find out (http://romanhistorybooksandmore.freeservers.com/t_cologne.htm)
Click here for an enlightening news article by Ute Kaltwasser, editor of the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”) about the efforts to restore the Dionysus mosaic and to find out what is so remarkable about the photograph below:


(click here for a bigger version)
 
The San Antonio Museum has a fresco of Dionysos on a panther, but their website is down. Here is tehURL incase they get things rocking: http://www.sa-museum.org/collections/ancient/roman/mosaics/3.html

for a large collection of links to art objects from antiquity with images of Dionysus, see Barbara McManus' http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/index4.html

 

Below are some images of other Dionysian-related mosaics from around the world. Click on each image to see a larger view and click on the attendant URL to read about the mosaic.

Possible Assignments:

Is the mosaic in Cologne significantly different from any of the others? (it is probably bigger than the others, and uses almost 1.5 million tesserae!)

Make a list of the artistic compositions of these fragments (figures, attributes, colors, orientation, group composition, combinations of animal-mineral-vegetable-human beings.....) What qualities of life do they tend to represent? Why would anyone want such decoration in their tricilinium or peristyle (most common rooms of discoveries)
  click on the photo, a detail from a mosaic identified as Dionysios with Oceanus and Thetis for a larger view. This is taken from http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/acar/acar8-28-00.asp, a webpage devoted to the archaeological site of Zeugma, and a discussion of the difficulties in preserving ancient mosaics, mostly because their value makes them attractive to thieves. Zeugma has the additional problem that its precious archaeological site is about to be inundated.

Click here (http://www.zippori-usa.com/about.htm) for a curious connection between youth, beauty, and Dionysus (from the Dionysus mosiac at Sipporah - read all the way down to the bottom of the file).

What is the connection? What does Dionysus have to do with youth?

Describe the artistic composition of as many squares of the Dionysus mosaic as possible:

compare them to these other "Dionysus mosaics" from other archaeological, sites around the world:

 

Homepage: http://www.rollins.edu/arh305/annissa/sindex.htm Hellenistic and Roman Sepphoris - mosaic is evidence of pagan influence in a predominately Jewish City

 

Dionysos Mosaic at Sepphoris: http://www.rollins.edu/arh305/annissa/sm.htm (measuring 21' X 17' and dating to 

 

other webpage on Sepphoris: http://www.furman.edu/~mcknight/galreg21.htm

drinking contest drunken Heracles
the "Mona Lisa of the Galilee" the bathing of Dionysus

GO HERE (http://techunix.technion.ac.il/~meryzse/prof.html) 

Delos: House of the Masks (Perseus): page with thumbnails (last photo from House of Dionysos)

satyr a mask a mask a mask Dionysos on Panther winged and crowned Dionysos on panther (House of Dionysos)
Dr. J's Illustrated Dionysus Mosaics from Delos...note the cluster of grapes and the panther motif 9814X.jpg (2742 bytes) 9832X.jpg (3411 bytes)

http://romanhistorybooksandmore.freeservers.com/p_cologneRG.htm

Resources on Various Aspects of the Roman World:

for fun, see how many German names today have Roman etymologies...http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/ger.html