Oppidum Batavorum was built around 10 BC at the same time as the Roman command post was established at Kops Plateau. Oppidum Batavorum means ‘fortified place of the Batavians’.
The Romans used the city as an administrative centre for the Batavians whose tribal territory was actually 30 kilometres further west. The construction of the Oppidum Batavorum and the presence of the Roman soldiers at Kops Plateau allowed the Romans to exert more direct influence.
Rich cultural diversity
Oppidum Batavorum was mainly inhabited by merchants, craftsmen and officials. The Batavian and Roman cultures slowly adapted to one another. The Batavians in Oppidum Batavorum belonged to prominent, aristocratic families who had swapped their position as tribal leaders for a place within the Roman administration or army, thus securing a dominant position within Batavian society. The people of Oppidum Batavorum lived in long, narrow properties, that have been discovered in the area adjacent to the Kelfkensbos-Burchtstraat.
Massacre and revenge
In 9 AD, Germanic tribes completely wiped out three Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest near Osnabrück. Only a handful of the 20,000 Roman soldiers survived the massacre. Between 14 and 16 AD, the Romans undertook various punitive expeditions against Germanic tribes in revenge for the humiliation. To celebrate the success of these expeditions, emperor Tiberius erected a column in Oppidum Batavorum, which depicts the goddess Victoria crowning the emperor with a laurel wreath, a sign of victory. Part of the column was excavated in 1980 and transferred to Museum Het Valkhof, which was built on the grounds of Oppidum Batavorum. A replica of the column stands in front of the museum as part of a modern sundial.
Destruction of Oppidum Batavorum
In 69 AD, the Batavians revolted. The city of Oppidum Batavorum was right in the middle of the rebellion. When the Batavians realized that they had lost the battle, they set fire to the city. After the Romans regained control of the area, they built a new city one and a half kilometres to the west, called Ulpia Noviomagus.
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