Warriors, soldiers and civilians. Use and significance of weaponry and horse gear in a changing socio-political context

The civitas Batavorum was of great military significance throughout the Roman period, initially as a base of operations for the conquest of Germania and, from the mid-1^st to the early 5^th centuries AD, as part of the Roman limes. The Rhineland’s military significance was not only strategic in nature. It appears to have been determined in part by the importance of warriorship in pre-Roman tribal societies and the way in which Rome capitalised on this in the frontier zones of the empire. The aim of this chapter is to explain the use and significance of weaponry and horse gear from non-military contexts against the changing socio-political backdrop. My starting point is the importance of warriorship in the pre-Roman situation and the transformation of late Iron Age traditions in the context of the Roman empire.