Castra Bonnensia
About
Legio I Minervia was levied by Domitian in 82-83 CE for the Chattian War and based at Bonna (Bonn) from its founding; it remained the legion's home fortress for the rest of its existence (with a brief detachment fighting for Trajan in the Dacian Wars). The legion's legate c. 101-106 CE was the future emperor Hadrian. By 117 CE the legion had long since returned to and was firmly garrisoned at Bonna.
What happened here
A legionary fortress holds five thousand men and is laid out to the same plan everywhere, so a transferred soldier knows his way around on the first day. Two main streets cross at the headquarters building, where the standards and the pay chest are kept in a sunken strongroom under guard. Around it: the commander's house with a courtyard garden, granaries raised on stone piers, a hospital, workshops, and long barrack blocks divided into rooms for eight men who cook and mess together. Training is daily, and building work is constant — soldiers make their own bricks, tiles and boots. A civilian town grows against the walls, with bars, traders and the unofficial families of men who are not legally allowed to marry.
In ancient writing
- Tacitus, Histories 4.20
Tacitus describes Bonna as a legionary camp fought over during the Batavian revolt of 69-70 CE, recounting the clash there between Civilis's forces and Roman troops.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →