Roman Castle Würzberg

Fort

The fort area extends over approximately 6,000 square meters, corresponding to the typical size of a numerus fort in the Odenwald. The surrounding wall was constructed in the form of an irregular quadrangle. The praetorial front (front side) measured 72.03 m, the length of the rear front was 74.10 m. The wall on the left, northern side was 81.03 m long, and on the right, southern side, 80.63 m long. The thickness of the foundation was 1.25 m, and that of the rising masonry was 90 cm to 95 cm. The fortification was equipped with a total of four entrances. The main gate (Porta Praetoria) was oriented towards the Limes. The rear camp gate (Porta Decumana) existed only as a small postern gate, which was probably only used in the first construction phase and later walled up. The rounded corners of the wall were not provided with defensive towers. While Kofler had assumed that the gates also had no defensive towers, Baatz concluded that both the Porta Praetoria and the Porta Principalis Sinistra (left side gate) and the Porta Principalis Dextra (right side gate) probably had gate towers analogous to the Hesselbach fort, but demanded further excavations for final clarification. In front of the fortification, following a 50 to 80 cm wide berm, lay a roughly six-meter-wide ditch (fossa), whose depth reached only one meter below the level of the berm. It was constructed in the form of a so-called fossa punica, meaning: the ditch wall facing the enemy was significantly steeper than the one facing the camp. In the areas immediately in front of the gates, the ditch was interrupted by earthen dams.

Inside the fort, following the rampart that supported the wall-walk, the Via Sagularis (rampart road), which had been gravelled since the second construction phase, was found. The locations of the Via Principalis (the main camp road connecting the side gates) and the Via Praetoria (main road) are also confirmed. Traces of internal buildings could not be found at all (Knapp) or only rudimentarily (Kofler and Baatz) during all three excavation campaigns. They are likely to have consisted of half-timbered buildings with possibly paved floors in all construction phases.

The investigations of 1963 finally identified the following construction phases:

• In the Trajanic period, the camp was built with a wood-earth wall.
• In the Hadrianic period, i.e., between 117 and 138 AD, a double dry-stone wall filled with earth in the interspace replaced the wooden fortification.
• Between 140 and 150 AD, the dry-stone masonry was replaced by a mortared stone wall.
• With the forward relocation of the Limes, the fort (like the entire Odenwald Limes) was abandoned by 159 AD at the latest.

This results in the same sequence as was also proven for the Hesselbach fort and as is typical for all forts of the Odenwald Limes. Nothing is known about the numerus stationed here, an auxiliary troop unit of about 160 men.

Vicus and Baths

A fort vicus was proven during subsequent investigations in the 1930s but not published.

Approximately 60 meters south of the Porta Principalis Dextra (right camp gate) was the fort bath, which on a small scale had all the functions of typical Roman thermal baths and was investigated and conserved by the Hessian State Office for Monument Preservation in 1980. From north to south, a wooden Apodyterium (changing room) was followed in a stone building by a Frigidarium (cold bath, Room A) with a Piscina (cold water basin, A¹), a Tepidarium (lukewarm bath, B) with a corresponding basin (B¹), and a Caldarium (warm bath, C) with a warm water basin (C¹). West of the Frigidarium was a circular Sudatorium (dry sweat bath, A²). A total of two Praefurnia (heating rooms), west of the Sudatorium and south of the Caldarium (D), provided the necessary water and room temperatures. The bath was plastered and painted and had taps with running cold and warm water as well as glass windows.

The Würzberg fort is considered one of the best-preserved numerus forts of the Odenwald Limes. The contours of the fort's enclosure are still clearly visible today in the undeveloped terrain. The foundations of the fort bath and parts of the rising masonry are conserved, thus conveying a comprehensive impression of the structure of such a building.