Editing Wiesbaden (section)

===Classical antiquity===
While evidence of settlement at present-day Wiesbaden dates back to the [[Neolithic]] era, historical records document continuous occupancy after the erection of a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] fort in 6&nbsp;AD which housed an auxiliary cavalry unit. The [[hot spring|thermal springs]] of Wiesbaden are first mentioned in [[Pliny the Elder]]'s ''[[Naturalis Historia]]''. They were famous for their recreation pools for Roman army horses and possibly as the source of a mineral used for red hair dye (which was very fashionable around the turn of BC/AD among women in Rome).<ref>Csysz, Walter: Wiesbaden in der Römerzeit. Aalen: Theiss editors, 2000; mentioned by Roman poet [[Martial]]: Epigrammata 14, 27.</ref>

The Roman settlement is first mentioned using the name ''Aquae Mattiacorum'' ([[Latin]] for "Waters of the Mattiaci") in 121. The [[Mattiaci]] were a [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribe]], possibly a branch of the neighboring [[Chatti]], who lived in the vicinity at that time. The town also appears as Mattiacum in [[Ptolemy]]'s [[Geographia]] (2.10). The Roman Empire built the [[Limes Germanicus]], which was a line of Roman frontier fortifications in the [[Taunus]]. Wiesbaden is just south of the Taunus.

The capital of the province of [[Germania Superior]], [[Roman Mogontiacum|Mogontiacum]] (present-day [[Mainz]]), base of 2 (at times 3) Roman legions, was just over the Rhine and connected by a bridge at the present-day borough of [[Mainz-Kastel]] (Roman "''castellum''"), a strongly fortified bridgehead.

The [[Alamanni]], a coalition of Germanic tribes from beyond the ''Limes'', captured the fort around 260. Later, in the 370s, when the Romans and Alamanni were allied, the Alemanni gained control of the Wiesbaden area and were in charge of its defense against other Germanic tribes.