TitleKlaudius Civilis bestormt de Romeinsche Legerplaats, te Vetera
Additional title: Claudius Civilis storms the Roman camp at Vetera
NamesDubourg, Louis Fabricius, 1693-1775 (Delineator)Folkema, Jacob, 1692-1767 (Etcher)
CollectionWonders: Images of the Ancient World
Warfare -- Ancient
Dates / OriginDate Created: 1747 - 1759
Library locationsThe Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture CollectionShelf locator: PC-WON WARF-Anc
TopicsHoisting machineryCampaigns & battles -- NetherlandsArmies -- Roman -- To 499Warriors -- To 499Campaigns & battles -- To 499Siege warfareBatavi (Germanic people)
GenresConjectural works
NotesStatement of responsibility: "L. F. du Bourg del." "J. Folkema Sculp."--lettered in plate, bottom border.
Physical DescriptionEtchingsExtent: 17.5 x 21.5 cm"Boek II. Bl. 132."--lettered in plate, top right.
DescriptionThe picture shows an incident from the revolt of the Batavians, a tribe from what is now the Netherlands and Germany, against the Romans in 69-70 A.D. Claudius Civilis (also called Gaius Julius Civilis) was the Romanized name of a Batavian prince, who commanded an auxiliary legion in the Roman army. Civilis led a revolt which destroyed two Roman legions and captured several legionary camps before it was suppressed by a large Roman army sent to subdue the uprising. In this fanciful reconstruction of the attack on Vetera (modern-day Xanten, in Germany near the Dutch border), the Batavians are correctly shown dressed as Romans and using Roman weapons and tactics. However, the siege towers of the attackers and walls of the defenders are much grander and more elaborate than would have really been the case. In actuality, the Batavians starved the Roman camp into submission, and pillaged it after the Roman commander had agreed to surrender to the rebels. In the center background, a confusing welter of activities is taking place. A crane-like device operated by the defending Romans has seized hold of a battering ram worked by the attackers and has hoisted it off the ground, where the men holding on to it are being shaken off. Logs and stones are being hurled at the attackers, who are mounting the walls under cover of a formation of overlapping shields referred to by the Romans as the ":tortoise".
Type of ResourceStill image
IdentifiersUniversal Unique Identifier (UUID): 13e2e560-c5c0-012f-424b-58d385a7bc34
Rights StatementThe New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries. Though not required, if you want to credit us as the source, please use the following statement, "From The New York Public Library," and provide a link back to the item on our Digital Collections site. Doing so helps us track how our collection is used and helps justify freely releasing even more content in the future.
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