Roman imperial period
In our region, the Roman Empire lasted from the birth of Christ until 260 A.D. Since the conquest of Gaul by Gaius Julius Caesar, the Rhine formed the border to Free Germania. Initially, the advances of later generals did nothing to change this. Under Emperor Vespasian (69-79 AD), the Lower Main region was successfully occupied.
The province of Germania Superior, with Mainz as its capital, was founded in 85 AD. The final establishment of the North Main Limes after Emperor Domitian's wars against the Germanic tribe of the Chatti (83-84 AD) forced the Romans to organize the borderland militarily and economically in order to create secure connections between the forts and ensure supplies for the border troops.
The land was systematically built up, with straight roads often linking forts, villages, towns and isolated estates. The latter, the "villae rusticae", were often managed by former members of the army who came from all parts of the Roman Empire.
It was not until the Alemannic invasions of 259-260 AD, after which the area on the right bank of the Rhine was abandoned again, that 150 years of land expansion and economic boom under Roman rule came to an end.
Three sites have been discovered in Offenbach so far: A Roman estate was probably located on the Buchhügel hill. Shards and graves from the 3rd century were found here. In addition to a Roman villa, a small cremation burial ground was discovered on the "Steinäckern" in the Bieber district, whereby the most important Roman settlement on Offenbach territory was found in Bürgel. The Main riverbank road from Mainz crossed the river at this point. The remains of the bridge - a row of piles - were discovered north of Bildstockstraße in 1887.