The Raetien Limes
After the campaigns of Drusus and Tiberius in 15 BC areas north of the alps (til the danube) were under Roman control. The date of the foundation of the province Raetia is not entirely clear, but latest under the emperor Caligula (37-41) the province was established. The provincial territory included territories from Switzerland, Austria and Germany (80000 km2). Probably still under the emperor Tiberius (AD 14 - AD 37) the surveillance along the danube started. Under Claudius (AD 41 - AD 54) the danube was the frontier line (ripa = river as provincial boundary). Several forts and fortlets guarded line of the river. Usually they were placed near river crossings and on sites providing good views. A road was established to the south to garantee an effective communication along this frontier line. After the civil war in AD 69/70 Vespasian settled himself as emperor and the concept of the provincal defense changed. The Romans penetrated into the areas north-west of the danube. Later the emperor Domitian established the new frontier line of the Province Raetia in the Schwaebischen Alp. The Raetien Limes started in the east at the fort at Eining, ran to the west to its northernmost stretch near Teilenhofen and met the upper german limes next to Lorch. The new frontier line included the fertile land of the Noerdlinger Ries (later a lot of villas were established in this area).
		Fort at Eining
		Reconstruction of a watch-tower
The Raetien border produced 4 different phases. Under Domitian (AD 81 - AD 96) and Trajan (AD 98 - AD 117) a military way marked the frontier. Along its line timber watch-towers (compare to the Gask Ridge) were erected to control the area. Those towers were usually 4 - 6 m square, surrounded by a ditch and had three storeys (the second storey provided the entrance, the third was used for duty). Just north of the military way a palisade was built under Hadrian (AD 117 - AD 138). Later in his reign it was replaced in some places by a fence. Antoninus Pius (AD 138 - AD 161) replaced the timber towers by stone towers and under Marc Aurel (AD 161 - AD 180) or his successor Commodus (AD 180 - AD 192) these stone towers were integrated into a stone wall presumably 1-2 m in width (compare to Hadrian's Wall). In the western part of the Raetien border everything devolped with a delay since the final course was only clear under Antoninus Pius. South of the miltitary way and later the stone wall forts were evenly spaced along the curtain. Thus the construction of the Raetien border can be compared to the construction of the Britain frontiers. In the early 1st century the borders consisted of a road that was surveilled by timber towers (compare Gask Ridge to the early Raetien Limes). Hadrian built a massive stone frontier in Britain, but improved also other frontiers in the whole empire. On the Raetien border a palisade was established. Antoninus Pius conquered Scotland again and established a turf frontier. But in Raetia he built stone towers. Only under Marcus Aurelius the frontiers in Britannia as well as Raetia consisted of stone. If we compare those frontiers in general, they all provided similar features (forts, fortlets, towers, rampart, military way). Thus they all had basicly the same purpose, control movement and mark the province. None of these constructions were intended to be defensive, with major threats the troops stationed in the hinterland had to deal with.
Fort at Pfuenz	Reconstructed Gateway at Pfuenz	Stone Towers of the Raetien Limes
The Gask Ridge Antonine Wall Hadrian's Wall