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Atuatuca (or Aduatuca) is the name of two ancient fortified settlements located in the eastern part of modern Belgium, between the Scheldt and Rhine rivers. The oldest one, Atuatuca Eboronum, attested during the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC), was the stronghold of the Eburones. The other one, Atuatuca Tungrorum (modern Tongeren), founded around 10 BC, was the Roman Empire capital of the Civitas Tungrorum, inhabited by the Tungri.
Whether Atuatuca or Aduatuca is the original form is uncertain. In the earliest surviving manuscript of Caesar's Gallic War, dated to the early 9th c. AD, the name is given as Aduatuca. The reason for the spelling variation has been debated. Maurits Gysseling has proposed that Atuatuca was the original form, which later gave way to Aduatuca under the influence of Romance languages. Lauran Toorians argues on the contrary that the original Gaulish prefix ad- was changed to at- as the result of a hypercorrection by medieval copyists, who may have thought that the ad- form had emerged under the influence of the Old French phonology during the first millennium AD.
The meaning 'the fortress' has also been postulated by Alfred Holder in 1896, by reconstructing the name in Gaulish as *ad-uatucā and comparing the second element to the Old Irish faidche ('the free place, the field near a dún fortress' < *uaticiā). This proposition has been debated as linguistically untenable in recent scholarship.
The name Atuatuci, borne by a Gallic-Germanic tribe dwelling near the Eburones, is linguistically related to the place name Atuatuca, although the settlement cannot be historically linked to the tribe with certainty. Willy Vanvinckenroye has argued that the Eburones did not have their own strongholds and used instead the fortress of the Atuatuci to house troops since they were tributary to them.
Caesar describes Atuatuca as a castellum ('fort, stronghold, shelter') located in the middle of the Eburonean territory, between the Meuse and the Rhine rivers. However, one cannot exclude a location west of the Meuse, since Caesar also states that the land of the Eburones bordered on that of the Menapii, and that there were Eburones living close to the "Ocean", which may suggest that a number of them lived west of this river.
Vanvinckenroye has proposed the plateau of Caster at Kanne, situated between the Meuse and the Jeker river, around 15 km east of Tongeren, as the most likely place for the Eburonean stronghold. An excavation of the place revealed that fortifications had twice been made in the 1st century BC. This may explain why the old name of the central place of the Eburones, Atuatuca, was adopted by the newly founded Roman civitas of the Tungri, Atuatuca Tungrorum, located nearby.
A first wall, dated to the mid-2nd century AD, had a perimeter of 4,544 m, and a second, built in the early 4th century, had a perimeter of 2,604m and a thickness of 3.20m. Horreum were located southwest of Tungrorum, just outside the first wall, and depended on the Roman army rather than on the city.
Three different fires, evidenced by archaeological findings, led to the quasi-destruction of the settlement: a first one, traditionally linked to the Batavian revolt (69–70), a second dated the mid-2nd century (of unknown cause), and a third from the 3rd century (also of unknown cause, perhaps linked to Franks invasions).
Although Ammianus Marcellinus still described Tungrorum as a "wealthy and populous" city by the late 4th century AD, the settlement entered into a slow decline during the 4th and 5th centuries, in a context of insecurity caused by Migration Period from the other side of the Rhine, and due to changes in regional and inter-regional trade. From the early 4th century onward, a new outer wall surrounded the city. Since Tungrorum was located on the route linking Boulogne-sur-Mer to Cologne, the decline of road transportation in favour of rivers during this period led to the rise of the neighbouring Maastricht, washed by the Meuse river. This shift of regional power is symbolized by the fact that Servatius (d. 384), a bishop of Tungrorum, was buried in Maastricht.
Unfortunately, although Caesar says the fort was in the middle of the territory of the Eburones, there is no consensus on the boundaries of the Eburone territory. At one point Caesar says that the chief part of the territory of the Eburones was between the Mosa (Maas or Meuse) and the Rhine."Gallic War" V.24 But it is generally agreed that the Eburone territory also included land between the Scheldt and the Meuse, including all or most of the low-lying "Campine".
Caesar described the surrounding area as a place where the Eburones were able to disperse dangerously; some, including the Eburone leader Ambiorix, apparently into remote parts of the Ardennes, and others towards tidal islands in the Ocean."Gallic War" VI.33 There was "no regular army, nor a town, nor a garrison which could defend itself by arms; but the people were scattered in all directions. Where either a hidden valley, or a woody spot, or a difficult morass furnished any hope of protection or of security to any one, there he had fixed himself"."Gallic War" VI.34
Several arguments have been given for interpreting the name Atuatuca to mean fortress, and not to be the same as Tongeren.
Apart from Tongeren, proposals concerning the location of this earlier Atuatuca of the Eburones include the small village of , just outside Tongeren, Spa (at a place called Balmoral) and Caestert at the place Kanne, just south of Maastricht, and reasonably close to Tongeren. Dendrochronology evidence was once thought to count against this proposal, but more recent review of the evidence has reinvigorated the idea.
Other proposed sites in the nearby Liège Province include Battice, Limbourg, Dolembreux, northeast of Esneux and Chaudfontaine; as well as Thuin, in Hainaut province.1981 "L' Atuatuca césarienne au Fort de Chaudfontaine?", Antiquité Classique 50, 367-381. In Germany, Atsch in Stolberg, near Aachen, as well as the Ichenberg hill near Eschweiler have also been proposed.
Bibliography
(2026). 9789038205786, Academic Press. ISBN 9789038205786
Primary sources
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