Niederbieber was one of the biggest Roman forts in the German frontier country, and it sits on the edge of the modern town of Neuwied, on the river Wied, a few kilometres from where it flows into the Rhine. The fort was built in the second century as a base for a cavalry unit and later a larger garrison, and a large civilian town, the vicus, grew up around it. In the early third century it was rebuilt and expanded, and it had stone walls, towers and a commander's residence, with a large bathhouse and shops outside.
The end of this fort is a dramatic story. In about 260, the Alamanni, a federation of Germanic peoples, broke through the Limes, and the Romans abandoned the whole region east of the Rhine. Niederbieber was left empty, and many of the inhabitants may have fled with whatever they could carry. Archaeologists found coins and hoards of metalwork that were hidden and never recovered, which tells of fear and haste.
The place is on the list of UNESCO's Upper German-Raetian Limes, which recognised the frontier in 2005. Most of the fort lies under fields and housing, but excavations have mapped its layout, and a small museum and information boards in the area explain the story. The finds from the site are shown in the Roman museum in the Rhineland region, and you can see weapons, jewellery and pottery that were found in the vicus.
Neuwied, a town of about sixty-seven thousand people on the Rhine, has fuel, food and rooms, and Melsbach is a small village close to the fort. The riding here is gentle, with the Rhine valley to the south and the Westerwald hills to the east. Quiet roads wind through orchards and fields, and the Wied valley is pretty, with old mills and pleasant stretches of woodland. The Rhine itself is a busy waterway, with long barges and cruise ships. Spring and autumn are lovely, and summer weekends are busy.