Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="TypeCoin971793, post: 2992938, member: 78244"]Someone in a Facebook coin group ticked me off by insulting my dead cat, so I am cooling myself down by making a nice little writeup (which I find to be really calming). My focus today will be on the Roman history or Trier, since that makes up nearly the entirety of my second visit and coin purchases. As I stated earlier, the Roman history of Trier begins with Julius Ceasar conquering the Gauls in 52 BC and annexing their territory (which included Trier) to the Roman Empire. Not too long after, Augustus founded a Roman city where present-day Trier is located, calling it Augusta Treverorum. It was initially intended to be a fort to protect the Empire against barbaric invasions, but it became one of the most important administration centers along the Rhine. Trier became the crossroads between many major cities, including Rheims, Metz, Strasbourg, and Cologne. The situation next to the Moselle River was also important to the development of Trier as it provided a major commercial link. Under the reign of Tiberius (particularly 17 AD), a bridge spanning the Moselle River was constructed. By 44 AD, Augusta Treverorum was recognized as being a very wealthy city. For the next couple of centuries, the city underwent constant peaceful development, during which time several major construction projects were completed. Among these included the Amphitheater, a large bathhouse today called the Barbara Baths, a new bridge to replace the first one, and a 4-mile wall surrounding the city which had 44 towers and 4 massive gates (one of which being the Porta Nigra and another being the Amphitheater). By this time, Trier had become the seat of the governor of the Province Gallica Belgica. The Roman Bridge (the bases are Roman; the rest is 17th-Century I believe): [ATTACH=full]738805[/ATTACH] The ruins of the Barbara Baths: [ATTACH=full]738809[/ATTACH] The Amphitheater (I was sadly closed due to ice, so this is the best I’ve got): [ATTACH=full]738811[/ATTACH] The Northern Gate (the Porta Nigra): [ATTACH=full]738812[/ATTACH] The unadultrated period of development ended with the Crisis of the Third Century. It began with Emperor Valerian being captured by the Sassanid Empire in 260, which left his son, Gallienus, in control in control of the empire. Unfortunately, his control was a very shaky one. Then governors in Pannonia (a province bordered by the Danube) staged local revolts, so he left the Rhine region where he had been a consul for the Danube. As a result, this left Postumus in control of the Rhine provinces. With this power, Postumus revolted against the Roman empire and established his own Gallic Empire, which included the original Gaulish regions plus the loosely-loyal territories of Iberia and Britannia. Gallienus tried to take back the Gallic Empire in 263, but was unsuccessful, and never challenged Postumus again. Postumus was overthrown and killed by his own troops in 268. [ATTACH=full]738814[/ATTACH] After Postumus, the Gallic Empire began to quickly decline, falling in 274 to Aurelian at the Battle of Châlons. For a time during the reign of the Gallic Empire, Trier was made its capital, but the stresses of the unstable empire and the 274 conquest took their toll on the city. To make matters worse, just a year later the Rhine region was invaded by the Germanic tribes, the Franks and the Alamanni. The penetrated deep into the Rhine and left much of the region in ruins, but Probus (?) was able to push them back. While the extent of the damage to Trier is not know, it surely would have taken a negative toll. (I sure hope I got all of that right; most of that info was quite new to me.) This period of instability caused by having such a large empire inspired Emperor Diocletian to divide the Empire into 4 sub-empires. Trier became the capital of the Western Empire, which included the area of the Gallic Empire plus the western bit of North Africa. Trier got a large bump in importance in 293 when it became the residence of Constantius Chlorus, the father of Constantine I (the Great). In the early 4th Century, Constantine I moved to Trier. The Franks, upon hearing this, thought it would be a good idea to invade the Rhine yet again. They were handily defeated by Constantine I, and two of their kings and many of their soldiers were captured and fed to beasts in the Trier Amphitheater. After this, he sponsored major building works in Trier, which included an expansion of the imperial palace so that it encompassed the church, the Basilica (which was his throne room), and the Imperial Baths. These constructions were so impressive that Trier was sometimes compared with Rome. All but the Roman baths were completed during Constantine’s reign; when he left to found Constantinople in 316 all work on his residences in Trier came to an abrupt end. Valentinian I would complete the baths, and his son Gratian would finish the Cathedral. Maximus murdered Gratian in 383 and ruled in Trier until he was vanquished and executed by Theodosius in 388. Trier would cease to be an imperial residence after the reign of Valentinian II, primarily because of increased military pressure by the Germanic tribes. The administrative functions of the city were also relocated, thus leading to the city’s decline. After 406, Trier became subject to a slew of Germanic invasions, finally falling into Frankish hands in 485. The Imperial Baths (restoration was going on, so excuse the picture): [ATTACH=full]738819[/ATTACH] I got to explore the underground channel system. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> [ATTACH=full]738820[/ATTACH] The Constantine Basilica: [ATTACH=full]738821[/ATTACH] Inside the Constantine Basilica: [ATTACH=full]738822[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]

Log in or Sign up

Reply to Thread

Useful Searches