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Issue 1. Spring 2011 The Issue No. 1 The newsletter• of the Spring 2011 ByzantinistOxford Byzantine Society A Message from the Editor t gives me inestimable pleasure to would be able to gain new insights into the live on through the OBS website and will, present to you the first issue of The subject. In addition to five scholarly articles, in time, be joined by others. This project Byzantinist. This newsletter is the the newsletter also includes a fascinating would not have got off the ground without Ilatest in the Oxford Byzantine Society’s interview with James Howard-Johnston the enthusiastic participation of the con- ongoing endeavour to represent the inter- about his new book and an opportunity to tributors and the encouragement of senior ests of graduate students of Late Antique read about the personal and academic tra- members of the Interfaculty Committee of and Byzantine Studies at Oxford, to provide jectory that has brought one of our new Late Antique and Byzantine Studies. The them with platforms for the sharing of ideas graduate students to us this year. present form of the newsletter could not and information, and to showcase their Finally, as current students consider their have been realised without the design skills exciting and varied academic output. The futures after the degree, one hopes that the of Jesse Simon and the eagle editorial eye of unique and world-renowned reputation of newsletter shall, in times to come, provide Sean Leatherbury. All that remains for me the University of Oxford as a hub of research an indication of the possible career paths in to say is that it is a singular privilege for me into Late Antiquity and Byzantium attracts their chosen field. We have made a start in to present to you the combined efforts of some of the brightest and most motivated this issue, with a profile of a recent graduate your colleagues and students. graduate students from across the globe. and news from four more graduates who have It is entirely fitting that this newsletter is recently completed their doctorates. Every Prerona Prasad President being launched in a year in which a record future issue of the newsletter can build on Oxford Byzantine Society number of students have commenced grad- this, providing current students and students uate studies in Late Antique and Byzantine to come with news from the growing ranks Studies at Oxford. Three of the five articles of alumni. As we grapple with an unprec- THE BYZANTINIST in this inaugural issue have been submitted edented crisis in higher education, building • is published by • by first-year Master of Studies students. networks that link current and former stu- The Oxford Byzantine Society Apart from harnessing new talent, this dents can only have a positive impact on newsletter also attempts to represent the academic and professional outcomes. The Prerona Prasad broad spectrum of disciplines and time Oxford Byzantine Society has always consid- President periods that inform graduate research at the ered the publicising of funding and academic Sean Leatherbury university. The late antique, middle and late opportunities an issue of absolute primacy Secretary periods are all represented, as are the fields and has addressed this through our regular Design and Layout by of art and architecture, archaeology, history emails and website updates. The experiences Jesse Simon and literature. The brief to all contributors of former students are a welcome addition to for Nouvellevague of articles was to discuss a small, contained this corpus of resources. The texts and photographs printed herein are © 2011 by the Authors and may not be aspect of their research in such a way that After its modest print run is distributed, reproduced without permission. the non-expert (though academic) reader an electronic version of the newsletter will Contents Ammianus and the elephants An interview with James Howard-Johnston 12 by Michael Stawpert 2 Book Reviews 14 Echoes of the Fourth-century Apostoleion by John Lansdowne 4 Alumni Profile 16 You cannot deny that you are my son this time, Alexander Graduate Profile 16 by Caterina Franchi 6 Alumni News 17 The Battle of Beroia by Maximilian Lau 8 Recent Publications 18 It was predicted by Annika Asp 10 back cover: Fresco in the Karanlık Kilise, Göreme, Cappadocia Ammianus and the elephants ROMAN-PERSIAN SIEGE WARFARE IN THE FOURTH CENTURY Michael Stawpert St John’s College mmianus Marcellinus provides investment of strongholds during the fourth- much shattering of heads under the crush- the most enthralling account of century wars between Rome and Persia, and ing weight of stones hurled by our engines.’ military affairs available for the what part was played by that seldom men- (XIX.19.4). Siege towers and rams were by far Afourth century. His narrative covers the tioned weapon of the age, the elephant. the most common methods of approaching crucial battles and campaigns during the fortifications, and against these Ammianus What I have just said suggests I should, as reigns of the emperors from Constantius I to shows many successful defences – the use briefly as my modest ability permits, give a Valens and the disaster of Adrianople in 378. of scorpions and onagers by defenders to concise description of engines of this kind Though Ammianus provides more descrip- bring down towers, hand-thrown projectiles for those who are unacquainted with them. tions of the pitched battles of the period, against rams as well as methods to ignite (XXIII.4.1) sieges are events of major significance; the the siege engines. The relationship between strategic importance of each site, the terror At the time of Ammianus, siege technol- artillery and the regular army, however, of the civilian population, the tactical inge- ogy was not significantly different to that was radically different in Late Antiquity nuity needed to unlock the defences and of the late classical period. Rams, hurling compared to the principate. Traditionally, the heroic deeds of the defenders, heighten machines, mobile towers were still the artillery detachments were assigned to each the drama and tension of a siege in the set dominant weapons available to a besieging legion, providing firepower for the march- piece events of Ammianus’s account. The army. Ammianus’ digression on the siege ing camps or garrisoned positions. By Late truly epic description of the siege of Amida weapons of his day gives an insight into the Antiquity, a specialised artillery corps provides one of the most memorable and approaches taken for reducing fortified posi- existed for the Roman army, which, like detailed description in the account, told by tions on the Roman-Persian border. What is engineers, performed a specific function for a narrator who combines the roles of an eye telling in the account Ammianus provides, the garrisoned troops of the empire. Rather witness and a military expert. In most schol- however, is that these weapons, especially than viewing this as evidence for the dimin- arly works dealing with Ammianus and his the ever present onager, were not used to ished role of artillery, as its presence was no military accounts, the ability of Roman and attack the walls of cities or bring down for- longer ubiquitous, this should perhaps be Persian forces to capture fortified strong- tifications, but to attack the personnel inside seen as a recognition of the crucial and spe- holds receives at least some attention, the defences. Equally, weapons we would cialised role for war machines in late antique concentrating mostly upon technology, lit- identify as siege machines such as the onager warfare, which is attested by the role of the erary features of Ammianus or the narrative were used by defenders to foil the schemes Gallic legions at Amida, who were ‘admira- history of the period. In this paper I wish to of the enemy to take the walls, as well as anti- bly suited to fighting in open country, but briefly examine how much of a part tech- personnel weaponry, which appears to have quite useless, indeed a positive nuisance, nological capabilities really played in the been devastatingly effective – ‘There was in the kind of warfare to which we were 2 | The Byzantinist restricted. They were no help in working the frontier of the Sassanian world. What is conventional methods have been employed. artillery or constructing defensive works.’ most significant about Ammianus’ report However, Amida was clearly an exceptional (XIX.5.4) It is worth mentioning, however, of the use of elephants in war, however, are case, housing three legions and being an that the Romans enjoyed no advantage in the armies of which they are a feature. In the integral part of the Roman frontier. The defensive technology; the Persians appear two instances in which Ammianus reports campaign which brought the Persians to equally armed when defending their for- the use of war elephants – once in siege at Amida was one in which Roman towns by tresses as at Pirisabora during the Persian Amida and once in the field against Julian and large paid off the invaders for security, campaign. (XXIV.2) – they are part of the royal army, under the and in which the Persians were more than personal command of the Shah. Clearly happy to accept payment and move on to The greatest danger for defenders seems these beasts, slow moving and ill tempered maximise the profits of the season. The ease to have been the chance that the enemy as they are known to be, carried significant of the Persian advance and the readiness of might construct a tower higher than the prestige; not only for their exotic image the Roman populace to pay off the invaders walls, from which fire could be directed (one need only imagine the feelings of a may be better understood if the accompany- against the defenders on the walls; this is Gallic legionary when confronted by a full ing elephants were put in their role as ‘the a feature of several of the most dramatic armoured war elephant, Ammianus’s views most frightful objects the human mind can sieges in Ammianus’ narrative, and in one can be seen above) but for the conspicu- conceive’ (XIX.7.3).
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