Frontiers of the Roman Empire*
The ‘Roman Limes’ represents the border line of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the 2nd century AD. It stretched over 5,000 km from the Atlantic coast of northern Britain, through Europe to the Black Sea, and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast. The remains of the Limes today consist of vestiges of built walls, ditches, forts, fortresses, watchtowers and civilian settlements. Certain elements of the line have been excavated, some reconstructed and a few destroyed. The two sections of the Limes in Germany cover a length of 550 km from the north-west of the country to the Danube in the south-east. The 118-km-long Hadrian’s Wall (UK) was built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian c. AD 122 at the northernmost limits of the Roman province of Britannia. It is a striking example of the organization of a military zone and illustrates the defensive techniques and geopolitical strategies of ancient Rome. The Antonine Wall, a 60-km long fortification in Scotland was started by Emperor Antonius Pius in 142 AD as a defense against the “barbarians” of the north. It constitutes the northwestern-most portion of the Roman Limes.
NOMINACIJA RIMSKOG LIMESA ZA LISTU SVETSKE KULTURNE BAŠTINE (World Heritage List)
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/430
Posle skoro dva veka istraživanja rimski limes je prepoznat kao materijalna baština od izuzetnog značaja te je započeto upisivanje pojedinih njegovih delova na listu Svetske baštine UNESCO-a, sa finalnim ciljem upisivanja na listu svih njegovih delova u Evropi, Aziji i Africi. Do danas su pod zaštitu UNESCO-a stavljeni Hadrijanov i Antoninov zid u Britaniji (1987. i 2008. godine), Gornjegermansko-recijski limes u Nemačkoj (2005. godine), dok su delovi Dunavskog limesa u Nemačkoj, Austriji, Slovačkoj i Mađarskoj u procesu upisivanja na listu svetske baštine. Na početku ovog procesa nalaze se susedne države Hrvatska, Rumunija i Bugarska, dok sam je proces izrade neophodnih dokumenata u Srbiji tek započet. Početak procesa podrazumeva izradu evidencione liste nalazišta koja prema svojoj poziciji i hronologiji odgovaraju kriterijumima za stavljanje na listu Svetske baštine. Ova lista biće predata i kao Preliminarna lista (Tentative list) za UNESCO nominaciju naših lokaliteta.