page_title: Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes
section_title: Function
hierarchical_section_title: Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes / Function
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Das restaurierte Limestor bei Dalkingen mit seinen fünf Ausbauphasen. Die mächtige Torfront wurde aus Anlaß des Limesbesuchs von Kaiser Caracalla 213 errichtet. Diese Aufnahmen wurden 2009 mit einem Canon CanoScan 5200F von einem Diafilm digitalisiert. Zustand im Juli 1995. Italiano: Il Porta Limes di Dalkingen (WP 12/81)
context_page_description: The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, or ORL, is a 550-kilometre-long section of the former external frontier of the Roman Empire between the rivers Rhine and Danube. It runs from Rheinbrohl to Eining on the Danube. The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes is an archaeological site and, since 2005, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Together with the Lower Germanic Limes it forms part of the Limes Germanicus.
  The Limes used either a natural boundary such as a river or typically an earth bank and ditch with a wooden palisade and watchtowers at intervals. A system of linked forts was built behind the Limes.
context_section_description: The function of the Roman military frontiers has been increasingly discussed for some time. The latest research tends to view at least the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes not as a primarily military demarcation line, but rather a monitored economic boundary for the non-Roman lands. The limes, it is argued, was not really suitable for fending off systematic external attacks. Thanks to a skillful economic policy, the Roman Empire extended its influence far to the northeast, beyond the frontier. Evidence of this are the many border crossings which, although guarded by Roman soldiers, would have enabled a brisk trade, and the numerous Roman finds in "Free Germania" (as far as Jutland and Scandinavia). Attempts were occasionally also made, to settle Roman legions beyond the limes or, more often, to recruit auxiliaries. As a result, the Romanization of the population extended beyond the limes.
caption: The Limes Gate at Dalkingen (WP 12/81), which was built in five phases of expansion
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