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Why were Celtic Oppida’s abandoned?
#1
So for anyone unfamiliar with the term, Oppida’s as I understand it were urban settlements in pre-roman Gaul, Hispania, the British Isles and Germania. Much like Roman, Greek and Persian towns  of antiquity and the later Medieval era these Oppida’s served as seats of political power for the Celtic-Germanic elite, as well as centers of commerce, industry, communication and presumably any other services one could expect to find in a town or city.
 
There seems to be a frustrating lack of information on these Celtic cities as well as their historical development throughout antiquity and the early medieval period immediately following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Wikipedia (the fountain of moderately accurate information I’m aware ?) states that in while in western Europe these settlements were largely supplemented by roman towns and later cities, in Germania they remained before falling out of use in the 1st century AD.
 
For the life of me I cannot fathom why these Germanic towns would have fallen out of use after the 1st Century AD if this is indeed accurate. Celtic and Germanic societies before and during the rise of the Roman Empire were what I can best describe as agrarian cattle rustlers,  with the majority of the population supporting itself by raising crops and livestock whilst the ruling military elite plundered whatever surplus existed from neighboring tribes. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that in a pre-urbanized and industrial society where 90% of the population only have access to very limited goods, the opportunity to profit from theft or protection rackets would be minimal. This entire dynamic of this entire economic model would have been completely shifted however once the Roman Empire replaced the Celtic tribes west and south of the Rhine and Danube as unless I’m mistaken, the main impact of the rise of the Roman Empire on the Germanic tribes was to unify them against a common enemy. This resulted in the rise of the tribal ‘confederations’ far larger, better organized and better equipped than anything the Roman Empire had faced before, as the vast riches and resources that could flow into Germania through legitimate trade, subsidies or war plunder would have eliminated the need for induvial tribes to raid each other.
 
With this in mind, does anyone know why Celtic Oppida’s allegedly fell out of use after the 1st Century AD when looking at things logically, the increased opportunities for trade and war plunder contact with such a wealthy neighbor would have provided should have made these towns flourish. The only answer I can come up with is that increased reliance on cheaply manufactured roman goods and the ability of Roman Emperor’s to single out induvial Germanic peoples with ‘sanctions’ would have made inferior Celtic industries redundant, stripping Oppida’s of their work forces as blacksmiths and artisans switched to agriculture to support themselves.
 
Is this a correct assessment, or does anyone else know anything on this subject? (And thank-you in advance)  
Real Name: Tim Hare
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#2
There has been quite a lot of work on this topic, much of it, unsurprisingly, in French. One problem is definition: Latin sources use the word oppidum (pl. oppida) to describe a range of settlements, ranging from hill forts to unfortified villages and towns. Even before Caesar, individual settlements might be in a state of flux, as social, economic and military conditions shifted. Already, it seems that some hill forts were being abandoned before the conquest, and this process continued with Caesar, sometimes by Roman fiat, but mostly because the Roman conquest put an end to intertribal warfare. While some centers developed into Roman cities, often it was the case that small centers blossomed based on interactions with Roman power, take Lugdunum, a small community that exploded after the Romans established a colony and used it as a major administrative center.

There is every reason to believe that Gaul before Caesar had a rapidly developing economy, that was increasingly integrated with the Mediterranean. These were societies that while still mostly sub-state in nature, engaged in complex interregional politics and diplomacy, in part through the institution of the Druids, minted coins on a substantial scale (a huge hoard was recently unearthed in Jersey, probably moved there during Caesar's conquest), and had numerous economic, diplomatic and military contacts with the Mediterranean. The fact that the Gauls were so developed is also one reason why Caesar is able to conquer them with relative ease. One reason he could move around Gaul so rapidly was that in many places the Gauls had built roads and bridges that his army could use (compare to the lack of infrastructure that hampered Roman armies in Germany). And the fact that they were economically advanced societies, with lots of surplus to appropriate, also undergird Caesar's logistics.
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#3

Thank-you for your very informative response. It is interesting that one of the key factors in the Roman conquest of Gaul was the Gauls own economic infrastructure making it easy to move large troop concentrations around.


I’m still unclear as to why perfectly serviceable population centres like Oppida’s seem to have been abandoned in mass by the Germans in areas the Romans never established a permeant and settled presence in. In other societies towns and cities are typically only abandoned due to natural catastrophes that mean people physically cannot resettle, but as far as I’m aware Germania never experienced anything on this scale during antiquity. I understand your point that Celtic Gaul was always ahead of Germania economically because closer contact with the Mediterranean increased the chances for trade, but did the Germans remain in a real life case of medieval stasis for the entire 500 year period of the Western Roman Empire?

I know that the Germanic tribes were in a constant state of shifting militarily alliances, but wars very rarely result in cities being completely abandoned. (Just look at how many times Jerusalem has changed hands throughout history, even after the entire population has been subjected to death and deportation)

Finally, is there a good point of reference for understanding how the expansion of the Roman Empire into Gaul impacted the Germanic economy. As I said in my initial post, my understanding is that overall Roman expansion had the main effect of unifying Germanic society in the face of an external foe in wartime and providing a vast market for tradable goods during peacetime, which decreased internal strife between Germanic tribes. I’ve read that in both North Africa and Germania Berber and Germanic chieftains built themselves Roman styled villas, drank Roman wine from Roman imported goblets and used subsidies of coin paid by Rome to furnish their own household armies. Is there any evidence that Germans attempted to copy the purpose of a Roman town (i.e industry, communication and trade) in their own territory, or did their urbanisation always remain static at the level of small villages and villas? (Presumably with Roman traders providing them with what would normally be manufactured and sold in towns and cities west of the Rhine)

Considering it was close contact with the civilisations around the Mediterranean Sea that spurned economic growth in Gaul, you would expect to see the same in Germania after a few generations once the Roman border moves to the Rhine.
Real Name: Tim Hare
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#4
My guess is trade, and the lack of it. At Caerwent, Wales, the legion fort had trade through the new Roman road and the Troggy Brook, actually a small river in boats could travel up it. The difference between a river and a brook is, you can pull a loaded boat through it. (There were some shockingly narrow rivers through the dales of England.) There was also the small trade of supplying a legion. The hill fort a couple of miles away was abandoned. It's hard to trudge your trade goods up the hill for market day, when you can take a boat to market.

The death of the Celtic steel industry in 'Germany' came when Ceaser destroyed the trade partners in Gaul.
Hillforts are too far from the river fords, where the Romans put their forts. Trade happens at river fords. London, Frankfurt and any other big city on a river.
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#5
(11-21-2020, 10:47 AM)BoBoOlson Wrote: My guess is trade, and the lack of it. At Caerwent, Wales, the legion fort had trade through the new Roman road and the Troggy Brook, actually a small river in boats could travel up it. The difference between a river and a brook is, you can pull a loaded boat through it. (There were some shockingly narrow rivers through the dales of England.) There was also the small trade of supplying a legion. The hill fort a couple of miles away was abandoned. It's hard to trudge your trade goods up the hill for market day, when you can take a boat to market.

The death of the Celtic steel industry in 'Germany' came when Ceaser destroyed the trade partners in Gaul.
Hillforts are too far from the river fords, where the Romans put their forts. Trade happens at river fords. London, Frankfurt and any other big city on a river.

Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts across.

Question in regards to your theory on Celtic steel industry. Why would Roman occupation of Gaul destroy this industry in Germany?

Surely the Romans would simply replace the Gauls as potential trade partners, accept with more gold and silver to trade and much larger consumer base to feed. Typically a wealthy neighbour increases opportunities for trade.

In regards to Oppida’s as trading centres, surely ‘competition’ from the better situated Roman forts would only impact those geographically close to the frontier. Would it really cause Oppida’s hundreds of miles away to go out of business economically? (That would imply the vast majority of Germans who might otherwise travel to an Oppida to trade for goods or pay for services found themselves within range of a Roman fort, which I can’t imagine would be the most inviting of places even in peace times)
Real Name: Tim Hare
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