Forum Hadriani

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Forum Hadriani (modern: Voorburg) was the most northern Roman city on the European continent, and the second oldest city of The Netherlands.^[1] It was located in the Roman province Germania Inferior and is mentioned on the Tabula Peutingeriana, a Roman roadmap.

The site Forum Hadriani formed the nucleus of the civitas of the Cananefates, who lived west of the Batavians. It was situated along the Fossa Corbulonis or Corbulo-canal. This waterway was established about 47 C.E. by the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, forming an important shortcut between the rivers Rhine and Meuse. After the Batavian Rebellion, in which they participated, the Cananefates became loyal allies of the Romans.

In 121 emperor Hadrian made a long voyage along the northwestern border of the empire, during which he visited the Cananefate town. He gave the town his own name, Forum Hadriani (Hadrian’s Market). An alternate name, maybe the only official name, was Municipium Aelium Cananefatium (Aelius being the familyname of Hadrian). The shortened version of this name, MAC, has been found engraved in a couple of Roman milestones found in the neighbourhood.

About 270 C.E., after several plagues and attacks by Saxon pirates, the Romans abandonded Forum Hadriani

The first excavations at the site of Forum Hadriani were carried out by Caspar Reuvens, between 1827-1833. Reuvens held the first professorship Archaeology ever, worldwide.