506 Ursula Rothe
Gauls as they did in the Narbonensis (Wierschowski 1995: 259), so too was it not an
Italian–Roman identity that evolved in the wake of these changes; rather, it was one that
was pan-Gallic.
Oppidum Ubiorum/Ara Ubiorum/Colonia Claudia
Ara Agrippinensium—Cologne
The city of Cologne in Germany started life as a Roman city, a fact still reflected in its
name. The tribe in this region was the Ubii, a group that, similar to the Batavi, origi-
nally lived further south beyond the Rhine. They were Germanic-speaking (Weisgerber
1968) and, from the very first, friends to the Romans, informing them of the movements
of the central German Suebi, a large tribal confederation that was pressing southward
and westward in the mid-first centuryBCand putting the Ubii under increasing pres-
sure (Caesar, deBello Gallico6.9–10; 6.29). Consequently, Agrippa allowed the Ubii
by to resettle on the western bank of the Rhine further north (Tacitus,Germania28;
Cassius Dio 58.49.2), to the south of the Batavi in the former territory of the ill-fated
Eburones (see the preceding text). Although the first important settlement in thecivi-
tas UbiorumwasBonna-Bonn, this town, with its legionary garrison, developed a more
military character, while it wasoppidum Ubiorum,laterara Ubiorum,thatgrewtobe
the important civilian center. InAD50, Claudius gave it colony status withius Italicum
(Eck 2004: 159), and its name changed toColonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium(after
Claudius’ wife, who was born there). Cologne became the capital of Germania Infe-
rior under Domitian and developed into the most important commercial center in the
Roman northwest.
The cultural identity displayed by the people of Roman Cologne and its environs is,
however, far from straightforward. On the one hand, it was the most “Roman” city in the
northwest, with the most sophisticated urban culture (Carroll 2001; Eck 2004). It also
stands out as the only northwestern city in which the majority of both men and women
wore Roman dress in their grave portraits (Rothe 2009, Appendix II, Tables 9–10). Even
more interestingly, it is the only place in which Roman dress is worn not only by the
elite, but across a wide demographic spectrum: for example, veterans (Rothe 2009, U1,
U5, U9–10), a trader (U11), ascolasticus(U25), a stone merchant (U35), and perhaps
a slave dealer (U3). Of course, a large number of those in Roman dress will actually
have been from Italy, especially in the first century, as Cologne, unlike the Treveran and
Batavian areas, experienced a high level of immigration by Roman officials, merchants,
and retired military personnel (see, e.g., the pillar monument for Lucius Poblicius, a
legionary veteran from northern Italy: Precht 1975).
On the other hand, the Ubii clung to some pre-Roman traditions: the Ubian women
are the only ones on gravestones in the northwest to retain their tribal dress well into the
third century AD (see, e.g., the late third century votive scene from Pesch: Espérandieu 8,
6364). It consisted of a large, semi-circular cloak pinned at the stomach with a brooch,
and a large, spherical bonnet (Wild 1968; Rothe 2009: 37–9; Figure 33.3). The reli-
gious milieu in this region is also characterized by what appear to be ancient ethnic
components: theMatronae, mother deities found throughout the Celtic sphere but par-
ticularly popular in the Ubian area, were the recipients of countless votive monuments,