Contiomagus was a Gallo-Roman vicus in the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. The location today is the site of the district of Pachten in the municipality of Dillingen, Saarland.
Origin
Contiomagus was founded during the colonization phase after Caesar's conquest of Gaul from 58 to 51 BC. The location on the intersecting trunk roads Trier-Straßburg and Metz-Mainz as well as the existence of a ford across the Saar (Saravus) and the proximity to the valleys of Prims and Nied favored the development of Contiomagus. Coin finds indicate that the settlement originated around 10 BC and lasted for 200 years.
The name of the place, "Contiomagus", consists of the Celtic word component "magus" (market) and the short form "Contio" for Condate/Confluentes (confluence). As a "confluence" one must assume the mouth of the Prims into the Saar, located in the immediate vicinity of Contiomagus. A similar name has the place Konz (Contionacum) at the mouth of the Saar into the Moselle.
The route of the Roman road from Metz (Divodurum) to Mainz (Mogontiacum) ran through the Nied valley and crossed the Saar at Contiomagus, continuing along the banks of the Prims and the Theel via Lebach and Tholey to the Rhine. In 244 AD, the crossing of the Saar was improved by the construction of a wooden bridge at Contiomagus. The road from Trier (Augusta Treverorum) to Straßburg (Argentoratum) divided at Zerf. The southern route led from Beckingen along the Saar Valley and went via Contiomagus and Saarbrücken (vicus Saravus) to Straßburg, while the northern route passed through Tholey and Schwarzenacker, then rejoined with the Saar valley route. Both routes were connected via the cross-connections Contiomagus-Tholey and Saarbrücken-Schwarzenacker.
Development
There were already settlements of the Celtic tribe of the Treveri in the vicinity of today's Dillingen, around the Limberg, on the Prims, and at the mouth of the Nied at the arrival of the Romans. A sword from the late La Tène was found in 1967 in Pachten (Leipziger Ring).
In the years 58–51 BC Caesar's troops conquered the area along the Saar. The region was located at the border between the Celtic tribes of the Treveri and the Mediomatrici. The names of the carvings of the "Pachtener Sitzsteine" (seating, presumably from a cult theater) suggest the settlement of both tribes in the Pachten area.
Contiomagus was primarily a trading town. According to the testimony of Ausonius, a court official of Emperor Valentinian I (r.364–375), there was merchant shipping on the Saar. The chief locations were the bridges in Sarrebourg (pons Saravi), Saarbrücken and Pachten (Contiomagus). In the 3rd century, Contiomagus was threatened by the Germans, and 275–276 it was destroyed by the Franks at the beginning of the Migration Period. During reconstruction, a fort was built.
In the Roman Empire, the Civitas of the Treveri, including Pachten, belonged to the province of Belgica Prima, with its provincial capital at Trier. The Treveri gradually assimilated Roman culture, the Celtic language maintained itself in the country well into the 4th century AD. Celtic religion mingled syncretistically with the Roman deities (the "Interpretatio Romana"). The custom of erecting votive stones to the gods was widespread. From Pachten two such stones have been preserved: the Contiomagus Stone and the Merkur Stone. The latter was found in 1847 on the first plowing of a marshy spot in the "Nachtweide". The inscription of the white sandstone sculpture (39 × 23 × 10 cm with a letter height of 3 cm) reads: DEO MERCVRIO C OLONI CRVTISIO NES FERVNT DE SVO PER DANN VM GIAMILLVM Translation: "The coloni of Crutisio had this [stone] erected to the god Mercury by Dannus Giamillus."
In the immediate vicinity lay the shards of urns, jugs and small consecration vessels. Coloni are tenant farmers who depend on a large landowner. From this it follows that at the time of the dedication of the stone a villa must have existed in Pachten or the immediate vicinity. The discovery of the sacred stone led to the assumption that the ancient name of today's Pachten was "Crutisio", but this assumption was refuted by the discovery of the Contiomagus stone.