CUŸK
N Brabant, Netherlands.
Vicus on the
Meuse mentioned in the
Peutinger Table as Ceuclum, on
the road from Noviomagus (Nijmegen) to Atua(tu)ca
(Tongeren in Belgium). Traces of the Roman bridge
have been discovered. Occupation began, probably on
uninhabited soil, during the reign of Claudius (41-54):
an auxiliary fort of wood and earth was built, surrounded
by two ditches, to guard the river crossing. It lasted until
ca. A.D. 100, and a vicus developed nearby. Several buildings have come to light on both sides of the Roman
road, among them two (possibly three) temples of the
Romano-Celtic type. In the 2d and 3d c. there was probably a statio of a beneficiarius consularis in or near the vicus.
In the 4th c. another fort was built, again surrounded
by two ditches. There are reasons to suppose that in the
last century of Roman occupation the limes in Holland
was moved from the Rhine to the Waal and the crossing
at Cuÿk again became strategically important. Work on
the fort was probably begun under Constantine. The
walls, 4-5 m thick, were constructed of wood, earth, and
sod. Later, probably during the reign of Valentinianus I
(364-75), a stone wall 1.5-1.9 m thick was built against
the outer face of the earthen wall; semicircular towers
and several buildings were constructed against the stone
wall after the old one had been removed. This fort was
probably a square of ca. 110 m; the E side was later
destroyed by the Meuse. The end of the fort came ca.
A.D. 400, in the reign of Honorius; the latest coins found
are of Arcadius and Honorius, 383-402.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. W. Byvanck,
Excerpta Romana III
(1947) 70-72; J. E. Bogaers, “Opgravingen te Cuyk,
1964-1966,”
Niewsbull. Kon. Ned. Oud. Bond (1966)
67-72; (1967) 9-10; id., “Enige opmerkingen over het
Nederlandse gedeelte van de limes van Germania Inferior
(Germania Secunda),”
Ber. Rijksdienst Oud. Bod. 17
(1967) 99-114.
B. H. STOLTE
