The Fossa Corbulonis between the Rhine and Meuse estuaries in the Western Netherlands Jan-Willem de Kort • Yannick Raczynski-Henk Received: 29 January 2013 / Accepted: 22 January 2014 / Published online: 5 March 2014 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 Abstract A few classical sources mention the construction of a canal by the Roman general Corbulo between the estuaries of the rivers Rhine and Meuse in the Netherlands around 50 AD; the Fossa Corbulonis. The location of this feature has been subject to speculation for a long time, but in recent years, various archaeological investigations have established the presence of a canal just behind the beach barrier, roughly between the current towns of Leiden and Naaldwijk. Furthermore, dendrochronological and C14 dates support the identification of this canal as the canal dug under orders of general Corbulo. The various research campaigns have shown that the canal is only partially artificial. Certain parts of its course have been established by connecting existing waterways, thus negating the need for manual labour. Roughly in the middle of the trajectory, indirect evidence for the presence of a dam and a possible portage have been found, indicating an understanding of water management on the part of the Romans. Keywords Roman limes Á Canals Á Transport Á Water management Introduction When the Romans ventured into the northwest of Europe under the leadership of Julius Caesar and his successors, they must have been taken aback by the landscape they faced upon entering the lands of the Chauci and the Frisians in what are now the Netherlands. The enormous morass, crisscrossed by a staggering number of streams, will have put the J.-W. de Kort (&) Cultural Heritage Agency, Smallepad 5, 3811 MG Amersfoort, The Netherlands e-mail: J.de.Kort@cultureelerfgoed.nl Y. Raczynski-Henk (&) Ex-Situ Silex, Vrijheidslaan 646, 2321 DV Leiden, The Netherlands e-mail: y.raczynskihenk@ex-situ.nl 123 Water Hist (2014) 6:51–71 DOI 10.1007/s12685-014-0097-3