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Soldiers and Society in Late Roman Belgica

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Soldiers and Society in Late Roman Belgica The University of Manchester Research Soldiers and Society in Late Roman Belgica Link to publication record in Manchester Research Explorer Citation for published version (APA): Hern, A. (2013). Soldiers and Society in Late Roman Belgica. University of Manchester. Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on Manchester Research Explorer is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Proof version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Explorer are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Takedown policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please refer to the University of Manchester’s Takedown Procedures [http://man.ac.uk/04Y6Bo] or contact [email protected] providing relevant details, so we can investigate your claim. Download date:05. Oct. 2021 Soldiers and Society in Late Roman Belgica A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Master of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2013 Ashley R T Hern School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Table of Contents Abstract 3 Author’s Declaration 4 Copyright Statement 5 Acknowledgements 6 Map of Belgica II 7 Introduction 8 Chapter 1: Military identities in the 4 th and 5 th centuries 39 Chapter 2: Archaeology & the material evidence for the late Roman Army 66 Chapter 3: Belgica II Case Study 89 Section 1: Military structures and identity in Belgica II during the late Empire 89 Section 2: Forts in Belgica II 109 Section 3: Soldiers and cities in Belgica II 131 Section 4: The militarization of the countryside in Belgica II 155 Section 5: The Fifth Century 173 Chapter 4: Conclusions 186 Bibliography 190 Appendix 1: Forts in Belgica II 217 Appendix 2: Cities in Belgica II 226 Appendix 3: Epigraphy of Belgica II 246 Word Count: 50,190 (without footnotes); 82,990 (with footnotes) 2 ABSTRACT This thesis explores military identity in late Roman Belgica II. It examines the central idea of a gradual blurring of lines between soldiers and civilians which is often identified as as a distinctive feature of the late Empire. This is mediated through two scholary paradigms: integration and militarisation. According to these, late Roman society was dominated by the military in cultural terms as well as through domination of the social and economic networks of ordinary life: i.e. the cities and countryside. This study seeks to refine this view through an examination of the province of Belgica II. This province would appear to be an extreme example of the militarisation process, but a closer study will reveal a more nuanced picture. This study uses the idea of identity and the sociological concepts of constructed and complex identities to explore the dynamic nature of military identity and argue that the late Roman period should be taken on its own terms, rather than being compared with an idealised past. The study uses archaeological and historical material, but adopts a post- processualist approach, where relevant, with the material evidence in an attempt to get away from older scholary ideas such as, “Germanisation,” which often obscures our understanding. A survey of the literary record from Gaul on military identity is followed by an examination of military identities in Belgica II through the remnants of its soldiers, forts, cities, countryside and finally a brief survey of the changing world of the 5th century. Cemetery evidence is used occasionally to deepen the analysis, where appropriate. It is concluded that the terms of the debate are probably too crude and underplay the importance of the long-term changes in northern Gaul as drivers of social and economic change. 3 Declaration The author declares that no portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. 4 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses 5 Acknowledgements Profoundest thanks go to Andrew Fear and Paul Fouracre for their patience and good humour over the years. It was their persistence that ensured something of the work over the last few years saw the light of day. If ever a hagiography needed to be written it would to them. Thanks also go to Alain Jacques, Didier Bayard, Frédéric Lemaire, Raymond Brulet and Sophie Vanhoutte for help with queries on the intricacies of Gallic archaeology. Cathy King at the Ashmolean Museum provided some valuable help on 3 rd century coinage of Amandus. Thanks must also go to Manchester Grammar School for financial support and to my colleagues in the History Department, past and present, for their toleration of the time I have dedicated to a topic they mostly found peversely arcane. Given that I spend some of my professional life dealing with the soldiers who lie in the well maintained cemeteries in northern France, casualties of the war fought a century ago, there is some perspective to be gained spending time studying their professional ancestors. Many thanks go to Rachel Hatton for proof reading; to Thomas Hern and Paul Hern for their help with bibliography. James Hern, Linda Hern and Rachel Hern should also be thanked for their help. Most of my gratitude goes to my wife, Anne, and our sons Felix and Rufus, who have suffered the most from this whole process through my absences in the library. 6 Belgica in the Late Roman Period 1 1.Civitas capital 2. Fortified Vicus 3. Frontier Fort 4. Interior fort 5. Rural valley fortification 6. Rural hillfort 7. Refuge 8. Praefecti Laetorum 9. Fleet 10. Arms Factory Key sites mentioned in text Urban sites Forts Rural sites 11 Bavay 47 Aardenburg A Seclin 12 Famars 48 Oudenburg B Berry-au-Bac 13 Courtrai 65 Liberchies C Conde-sur-Aisne 66 Givry D Saint Pierre-sur-Vence 67 Morlanwelz E Chatel Chéhéry 70 Revelles F Omont E Zoufaques 1 Adapated from R. Brulet , La Gaule Septentrionale au Bas-Empire (Trier, 1990) 7 Introduction The traditional narrative of the Roman Empire draws a sharp contrast between how it functioned during the 2 nd and 4 th centuries. 2 From the narrow perspective of this study, a crucial quality often identified about the earlier period of the Roman Empire was its ability to maintain a clear distinction between the military and civilian spheres of society, most dramatically in the Augustan military marriage prohibitions. 3 Not only were there legal and social distinctions but, as milites were generally stationed on the frontiers during the 1 st century AD onwards, there was a geographical separation too. In the face of the subsequent existential threats to its security during the so-called ‘3rd century crisis’ the provinces, in both their urban and rural aspects, became increasingly dominated by military concerns which saw an increased role of the army both in terms of direct management of the physical resources of the Empire, but also by having a more direct impact on élite culture and the values of the leading social groups found in the provinces. 4 This study will attempt to assess the merits of this view for the soldiers serving in the province of Belgica II during the late 2 This has its roots, of course, in the English speaking world to E. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (London, 1776 – 1789) and followed by most subsequent historical traditions which distinguish between the early and late Roman periods e.g. early Empire/late Empire; Haut-Empire/Bas-Empire ; Frühe und hohe Römische Kaiserzeit/Spätantike etc. This difference has been reflected in most modern textbooks treating the early and late Roman periods as separate topics, though with interesting differences in chronological range e.g. A. H. M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire 284 - 602 (Oxford, 1964); S.
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