Canal of Drusus

The Canals of Drusus were Roman canals constructed for military purposes by Nero Claudius Drusus around 12 BC. It is believed to have linked the Rhine delta with the Lake Flevo (today's IJsselmeer). They facilitated troop transport to the north, avoiding the need to cross the open North Sea. This was of strategic importance for attacks on the Germanic people living on the Frisian coasts and along the Elbe estuary in the German Bight. Drusus' son Germanicus used the canals dug by his father's army in a military campaign some decades later. The canals are mentioned by Roman historians who lived two centuries later. One of them is Suetonius, who refers to them in his Vita Divi Claudi The exact location of the canals is unknown, and it is a subject of debate among modern historians, archaeologists, and geologists. The canals might have been located inland along the valley of the river IJssel (not yet a distributary of the Rhine branch in Roman times).