VHS Zwettl
Was the Danube Limes truly a border between the Roman Empire and its neighbours, or rather a space of encounter and exchange?
This question is explored by Assoz. Prof. Dr. Anna Kaiser in a lecture at the Volkshochschule Zwettl, organised in cooperation with the Center for Cultural Property Protection as part of the Roman Trails project.
The lecture demonstrates that, within the Roman Empire, the Danube was far more than a military frontier. As a major transportation route, a contact zone and a link between cultures, it shaped life along the Danube Limes and connected people, regions and ways of life.
Drawing on original letters and written sources, the lecture brings the lived experiences of Roman soldiers to life. These sources offer insights into their everyday concerns, personal experiences and life far from home. At the same time, they reveal that the frontier was more permeable than is often assumed today and that Roman life also extended beyond the Danube.
Many of the themes commonly associated with the Roman period today, from military life, travel and trade to encounters with the “barbarians”, are also familiar from the stories of Asterix. The lecture draws on these well-known images as a starting point for comparing historical sources with popular perceptions of the Roman Empire. In doing so, it offers an engaging perspective on the historical reality of life along the Danube Limes and on the role of the Danube as a connecting space between different cultures.
Roman Trails
The project focuses on the creation of a common, cross-border thematic region of the areas of South Moravia and the northern part of Lower Austria (Weinviertel), based on the - little known - Roman history north of the Danube and the establishment of interactive (long-distance) hiking and cycling trails along the traces of the Roman history.
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