Brittenburg: Verdronken hoeksteen van het Romeinse Rijk,
Tom Buijtendorp. ISBN: 9789088907586. Imprint: Sidestone Press
https://www.sidestone.com/books/brittenburg
From the Middle Ages until the end of 18th century, mysterious ruins regularly appeared on the Katwijk coast. It was a fact displayed on Dutch maps. According to ancient literature, a Roman fort - Brittenburg - must have been located there. For centuries, people searched for the fort. In 1960, some divers performed underwater investigation in vain. Today, a book reopens the "cold case".
Brittenburg (Arx Britannica or Castellum Britanicum) in an Ortelius Map (Abraham Ortelius, 1527-1598). The map was made for Lodovico Guicciardini's description of Nederlanden. Guicciardini, 1521-1589, was an Italian writer and merchant from Florence who lived primarily in Antwerp from 1542 or earlier. To see his book, use the link
https://amshistorica.unibo.it/185.
Wikipedia tells that Brittenburg was visible on the beach between Katwijk aan Zee and Noordwijk aan Zee after storms in the years of 1520, 1552 and 1562. "It was originally a large complex located at the mouth of the Oude Rijn, which today is believed to be about a kilometer westwards (offshore in the North Sea) of the current location of the European Space Research and Technology Centre."
A detailed discussion of Brittenburg, that is, about old documents and maps is also given by the author of the new book, Tom Buijtendorp, at
Besides Ortelius Map, there is another map quite interesing where we can see the fort in the landscape.
It is a painting of the Brittenburg fort in Katwijk aan Zee, 17th century. Courtesy
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden . The
caption tells: "After a storm in the 16th century, the remains of what is believed to have been a Roman structure became visible. They have not been seen since, although extensive archaeological research has taken place." The castle looks different from Ortelius' one. In any case, note the white labels. They are reporting the cardinal directions. We can use them to rotate due North the map. Here the result (a little bit of Retinex to see the ruins...).
It looks like a satellite image. Actually, I find this cardinal orientation of the fort - if it is so - very interesting. I am not surprised to find a Roman fort - or a Roman colony - having a perfect cardinal orientation, or an orientation of the main axis to sunrise or sunset on specific days of the years (see for instance, the discussions about
Timgad and
Hardknott fort in Britannia).
From its square layout it seems a Roman fort (circular structures had been added during middle ages). As told by the article: "Gezien de strandbreedte van circa 130 meter bij laag water, strekten de waarnemingen zich dus minimaal over die lengte uit. Kennelijk was de Brittenburg aanzienlijk groter dan het 240 voet (75 meter) lange gebouw dat op latere plattegronden staat afgebeeld.". So let us estimate a size of about 75 meters. It could have been a fort smaller than the Hardknott fort, that you can see in the next image. From gate to gate, we have 112 meters. It seems that Brittenburg had inside a structure like the central part we can see in the Hardknott fort.
Hardknott Fort. Courtesy Google Earth,
Site
http://www.rodinbook.nl/indexbrittenburg.html is giving a map, on which surveying directions are given too. It seems from this map that the orientation of Brittenburg was not cardinal (a deviation of about 14° is given). Actually, as explained by
Wikipedia, the old picture by Ortelius for Guicciardini was used later for such a land surveyor's draft. "The current location of Brittenburg fort is controversial" this is adding the
above mentioned site, which continues "The general view is that the ruins are somewhere under the sea near Katwijk. My view is that Brittenburg is still on the coast near Katwijk. The compass direction and the distance to Katwijk as indicated on the oldest map have not been subject to coastal erosion. ... Calculations based on the data on this surveyor's plate show that the Brittenburg should be located near the current canal. ... Hope exists that Brittenburg can be found." The read of
Buijtendorp's book will be quite interesting to learn his point of view concerning the location of the fort, and his discussion about the layout and orientation of Brittenburg.
In fact, the search for the Roman Fort is still open.
In any case, there is a curious story concerning the Katwijk coast,
Caligula and the
Tower of Kalla, a Roman lighthouse. Suetonius wrote it. According to
Wikipedia, the emperor lined up his soldiers and artillery on the beach and declared war on Neptune. After that Caligula claimed victory over the sea, he commanded his men to collect shells as war booty. As a monument to this victory he built a tall lighthouse. People called this tower, the "Kalla's tower" (Kalla = Caligula).
OK, more or less. He had not declared war on Neptune indeed. Suetonius tells: "Postremo quasi perpetraturus bellum, derecta acie in litore Oceani ac ballistis machinisque dispositis, nemine gnaro aut opinante quidnam coepturus esset, repente ut conchas legerent galeasque et sinus replerent imperavit, "spolia Oceani" vocans "Capitolio Palatioque debita," et in indicium victoriae altissimam turrem excitavit, ex qua ut Pharo noctibus ad regendos navium cursus ignes emicarent; pronuntiatoque militi donativo centenis viritim denariis, quasi omne exemplum liberalitatis supergressus: "Abite," inquit, "laeti, abite locupletes." "
"Finally, as if he intended to bring the war to an end, he drew up a line of battle on the shore of the Ocean, arranging his ballistas and other artillery; and when no one knew or could imagine what he was going to do, he suddenly bade them gather shells and fill their helmets and the folds of their gowns, calling them "spoils from the Ocean, due to the Capitol and Palatine." As a monument of his victory he erected a lofty tower, from which lights were to shine at night to guide the course of ships, as from the Pharos. Then promising the soldiers a gratuity of a hundred denarii each, as if he had shown unprecedented liberality, he said, "Go your way happy; go your way rich." "
The lofty tower mentioned by Suetonius suggested that Brittenburg were a lighthouse.
Cassius Dio tells the following. "And when he [Caligula] reached the ocean, as if he were going to conduct a campaign in Britain, and had drawn up all the soldiers on the beach, he embarked on a trireme, and then, after putting out a little from the land, sailed back again. Next he took his seat on a lofty platform and gave the soldiers the signal as if for battle, bidding the trumpeters urge them on; then of a sudden he ordered them to gather up the shells. Having secured these spoils (for he needed booty, of course, for his triumphal procession), he became greatly elated, as if he had enslaved the very ocean; and he gave his soldiers many presents. The shells he took back to Rome for the purpose of exhibiting the booty to the people there as well."
It seems that Caligula intended to have a campaign in Britannia, and that this campain was aborted for some reason on the shore of the ocean. His actions were derided by ancient historians, in particular in describing the order to collect seashells.
"While repeating the earlier stories, the later sources of Suetonius and Cassius Dio provide additional tales of insanity. They accuse Caligula of incest with his sisters, ... They state he sent troops on illogical military exercises ... and, most famously, planned or promised to make his horse, Incitatus, a consul, and actually appointed him a priest. The validity of these accounts is debatable. In Roman political culture, insanity and sexual perversity were often presented hand-in-hand with poor government. Caligula's actions as emperor were described as being especially harsh to the senate, to the nobility and to the equestrian order. According to Josephus, these actions led to several failed conspiracies against Caligula. Eventually, officers within the Praetorian Guard led by Cassius Chaerea succeeded in murdering the emperor. ... The situation had escalated when, in 40 AD, Caligula announced to the Senate that he planned to leave Rome permanently and to move to Alexandria in Egypt, where he hoped to be worshiped as a living god. The prospect of Rome losing its emperor and thus its political power was the final straw for many. "
We have already stressed the importance of Alexandria in
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