In the Limburgs Museum in Venlo, the exhibition Banks full of Romans shows relics of everyday life in the Southern Netherlands in the first centuries of our era.
Roman army units guarded the northern border of the Empire at that time along the Rhine. In Limburg large farms were built where food was grown for the soldiers and their families.
Personal items
The Banks full of Romans exhibition is divided into two parts. The visitor first comes across finds that have been made along the Rhine. Shoes, weapons and personal items of soldiers who were stationed in the forts, perfume bottles from their wives and even children’s toys such as wooden swords, all from the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden.
gold mask
Curator Bibi Beekman calls a top find the golden mask that once belonged to a Roman soldier: “The soldiers were allowed to put personal preferences in their equipment. Such a mask was worn on the battlefield. It must have been a special experience to see a group of soldiers come at you with such masks.”
Behind the Rhine border – the limes – lay the Roman hinterland to which present-day Limburg also belonged. Villas arose on the fertile loess grounds in particular: hundreds of large farms where grain was grown. After the harvest, this was transported to the fortresses along the limes.
touch screen
For centuries Limburg was the breadbasket for the legions along the Rhine border. At the exhibition, ample space has been set aside for one of the largest and best-researched farms: villa Voerendaal. In addition to the archaeological finds – including even charred game remains – the history of the villa has been made clear on a large touchscreen. On it, as a visitor, you can see the rise and fall of the villa; from a simple prehistoric farmhouse to a palatial villa with a colonnade around 150 AD.
After the year 250 the Germans succeed in crossing the Rhine border. The Roman Empire is declining and with it the villas in Limburg. In Voerendaal, a small building with a watchtower remains as a defense against the invading Germanic tribes who then cleared the Rhine border.
Symbol
In one of the last display cases are gold coins together with the remains of silver objects. This find, which was once made at Echt, symbolizes the waning days of the Roman Empire. The emperor wanted to maintain his empire for as long as possible. Beekman: “He did that by waving his money bag. Gold coins were still there to pay the soldiers, but silver was scarce. Then they cut other silver objects into pieces to pay soldiers.”
The exhibition Banks full of Romans can be seen in the Limburgs Museum until September 4.