The Germani and the German Provinces of Rome

Author(s):  
Claus von Carnap-Bornheim

This chapter focuses on the Germani and the German provinces of the Roman Empire. It first considers the so-called ‘ethnic interpretation’ of the archaeological data in the lands between Danube, Rhine, and Elbe before discussing Germanic settlement and building structures among the German populations of the borderlands in the immediate contact zone of the limes. It then examines the significance of Roman imports into Germanic Barbaricum, along with the rise of Germanic elites under the influence of, in conjunction with, and sometimes dependent on Rome. It also considers the development of the military within western Germanic Barbaricum, with emphasis on patterns in the Germanic context as a driving force of military development up to the Late Roman period; and the exchange of goods as the basis of economic interaction between Rome and Germany. Finally, the chapter describes the militarization of Germanic society and the transition from asymmetric to symmetric warfare.

1978 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 26-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Harries

Lists of provinces and cities of the Roman Empire were compiled and used for administrative or juridical purposes from as early as the time of Augustus, whose survey of Italy and the provinces formed the basis of the Elder Pliny's description of the Empire. The late Roman period is especially rich in such survivals, the proliferation of which can be ascribed to two tendencies prevalent in the fourth century. The first was the increasing bureaucratization of the Empire, reflected in the most famous and comprehensive of all official lists, the Notitia Dignitatum. The second was the urge to store information on a wide variety of topics in an economical and accessible form. Many lists, which may originally have had an official purpose, survive in literary forms alien to their inception, and which are the work of private individuals.


2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 603-647
Author(s):  
John Haldon

This paper summarises some archaeological and documentary evidence for the changes seen in the East Roman empire between the 6th and the 9th c., and suggests how this evidence may be placed within a broader theoretical framework relating to pre-modern social systems. Whilst archaeological evidence for the latter part of the period remains very limited, that for the 6th and 7th c. reveals a marked retreat from urban life towards more defensible sites, and a decline in inter-regional exchange. However, combined with the archaeological data, documentary sources suggest the survival of a society of some complexity, producing sufficient surplus to sustain the military and bureaucratic systems that evolved between the later 7th and 9th c. It is suggested that Byzantine society should not be viewed as a ‘logical’ hierarchical entity reminiscent of modern western administrative structures, but rather as the result of a multiplicity of interacting relationships and social structures.


1969 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 144-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Schönberger

My intention is to base the present summary on the discoveries which have been made in the field during the past twenty years, but obviously within the limits of the space at my disposal I can only indicate the main outlines. My main concern is with the provinces of Germania Superior and Raetia, but I shall also refer from time to time to the results of recent research in Germania Inferior. The main Map B (opposite p. 176) is supplemented by Map A (fig. 16), which shows the military sites of the Augustan-Tiberian period, and by Map C (fig. 23), which indicates the sites of the late-Roman period. Each map is supported by its own bibliographical list; these should be consulted when specific footnote-references are lacking in the text. These lists and footnotes, wherever possible, give references only to the most recent literature and have been reduced to a minimum. For the General Works to be consulted, and for the Abbreviations used, see lists below (pp. 196 ff.).


2004 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
DORON BAR

This paper outlines the centrality of the Late Roman period in the settlement history of Palestine, and the marginal contribution of the Christian establishment to the development of the land. Settlement momentum during these periods resulted from the fact that Palestine was part of the Roman Empire. The historical trends in Palestine should be regarded as part of a broader political settlement drive that characterized the eastern parts of the Roman realm during the period under discussion. The argument that the process of expansion was unique and stemmed from Palestine's holiness in the eyes of the Christian world is unfounded.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jan Willem Drijvers

The Introduction offers a survey of the primary non-Christian and Christian sources available for a reconstruction of the short reign of Jovian. The most important source obviously is Book 25 of Res Gestae of the pagan Ammianus Marcellinus. He presents a gloomy picture of the person and reign of Jovian in order to save the image of his hero and Jovian’s predecessor, Julian (the Apostate). From Edward Gibbon onward, modern scholarship has adopted this unfavorable image that presents Jovian’s reign as a meaningless period between the emperorship of Julian (361–363) and the rule of the Valentinians (364–378). However, Jovian’s rule was vital for the sustenance of imperial leadership after Julian’s disastrous Persian military campaign and religious policies, both of which caused considerable upheaval. Jovian’s reign was a return to the norms of the pre-Julianic period and brought back stability to the Roman empire. For an emperor who ruled such a short time, the Christian Jovian had an unexpected and surprising afterlife. The second part of the book discusses Jovian’s “Nachleben” in the so-called Syriac Julian Romance, a text of historical fiction that has rarely been studied and is largely unknown to historians of the late Roman period.


Author(s):  
Arsen Karapeti Shahinyan ◽  

This paper states that E. A. Mekhamadiev’s book is a fundamental study on the military organization of the Late Rome Empire and Early Byzantium, with particular emphasis on epigraphy and papyrology. The use of the said data allowed the author to reconstruct the history of individual military units, their territorial movements, participation in various military campaigns, and changes of their ranks. Chronologically, the book studies the Late Roman Period from 253 to 305 AD. The researcher has examined the internal (organizational) structure of all regional armies in the age of Emperor Constantine I the Great (306–337) and his sons, not restricting himself to the study of individual and narrow plots related to the history of a particular province. He has analyzed the data relating to both the eastern and western regions of the Empire, uncovered their close relations, and revealed the permanent movements of the military units from the west to the east and in the opposite direction, depending on the geopolitical and domestic political situation.


Vox Patrum ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 393-402
Author(s):  
Ilona Skupińska-Løvset

Dura Europos, or as proposed today Europos Dura, was a fortified settlement on the border between the Roman Empire and the East. The archeological dis­coveries reflected the character of the settlement – the fortified agglomeration grouped at the military camp. After its fall Europos Dura was covered by desert sand only to be discovered in the XXth century. Archaeological research has dis­closed documentation of its multicultural character. This paper points to the fact of coexistence of various religions in late antiquity Europos Dura. Paintings and sculptures discovered in situ indicate that scene of offering was a favorite subject in the sacral art of Europos Dura, independent of religion. The ceremony of in­cense burning constitutes the dominant form of offering regarding visualizations of this important ceremony.


Author(s):  
Grigory L. Zemtsov ◽  
◽  
Dmitry V. Sarychev ◽  
Vladimir O. Goncharov ◽  
Ekaterina V. Fabritsius ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 60-73
Author(s):  
Dmitriy M. Abramov ◽  

Historical sources and evidence of the eyewitnesses of the 4th crusade in many respects reflect the complexity and sharpness of the contradictions between the Western and Eastern Christendom at the turn of the 12th – 13th centuries. The evidence and narrations proceed from the most direct participants in the military events, broke out on the shore of the Bosporus in 1203–1204. The authors of those materials belonged to the two opposing camps, and therefore the analysis of those sources represents a sufficiently complete and detailed picture of the occurred tragedy. A thorough analysis of the sources makes it possible to at least partially see and comprehend the causes of the military confrontation between the Western and Eastern Christians, who represented – just a while ago, in the first half of the 11th century – the united Ecumenical Church. The sources vividly reflect the mood that prevailed in the crusaders’ encampment in April, 1204, hesitation and doubt of the bulk of the Cross Warriors who were not sure of the rightness of their actions in the preparation for the assault of Constantinople. Many of them understood that they would have to raise the sword against their fellow believers – the Christians of the East. But the most tragic outcome of the 1202–1204 Crusade was the crushing defeat of Constantinople by the Cross Warriors. For the Romans (Byzantines) that became the reason for the disintegration of the Roman Empire. For all Eastern Christians it indicated the demise of the capital of the Orthodox Christendom.


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