Roman Military Operations in Arid Environments (108 BC-AD 400)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Far from the Dragging Plough~
~FAR FROM THE DRAGGING PLOUGH~ VETERANS IN TRADE AND BUSINESS DURING THE ROMAN PRINCIPATE by Joseph Adam Hall School of Classics University of Wales, Trinity Saint David Dissertation submitted for MA degree in Ancient History and Classical Studies January 2013 Master’s Degrees by Examination and Dissertation Declaration Form. 1. This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed……………………………………………………………………………… Date ………………………………………………………………………………... 2. This dissertation is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA Ancient History and Classical Studies Signed……………………………………………………………………………… Date..…………………………………………………………………..…………... 3. This dissertation is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed candidate:………………………………………………………………… Date: …………………………………………………….………………………. 4. I hereby give consent for my dissertation, if accepted, to be available for photocopying, inter- library loan, and for deposit in the University’s digital repository Signed…………………………………………………………….……………… Date………………………………………………….…………….…………….. Supervisor’s Declaration. I am satisfied that this work is the result of the student’s own efforts. Signed…………………………………………………………………………….. Date……………………………………………………………………………….. ~SUMMARY~ In the study of the Roman world, few demographics receive scanter attention from modern scholarship than those time-served veterans who eschewed an agricultural life in favour of setting up in business for themselves. This study, then, is an examination of this class of men and the evidence we have for them. Modern scholarship’s apathy in this field of study is no doubt an effect of the lack of anything more than sparse one-dimensional references to veterans in the ancient literary sources, an aspect this paper will also examine. -
Synoptic-Scale Control Over Modern Rainfall and Flood Patterns in the Levant Drylands with Implications for Past Climates
JUNE 2018 ARMONETAL. 1077 Synoptic-Scale Control over Modern Rainfall and Flood Patterns in the Levant Drylands with Implications for Past Climates MOSHE ARMON Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram, Jerusalem, Israel ELAD DENTE Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram, and Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel JAMES A. SMITH Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey YEHOUDA ENZEL AND EFRAT MORIN Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram, Jerusalem, Israel (Manuscript received 23 January 2018, in final form 1 May 2018) ABSTRACT Rainfall in the Levant drylands is scarce but can potentially generate high-magnitude flash floods. Rainstorms are caused by distinct synoptic-scale circulation patterns: Mediterranean cyclone (MC), active Red Sea trough (ARST), and subtropical jet stream (STJ) disturbances, also termed tropical plumes (TPs). The unique spatiotemporal char- acteristics of rainstorms and floods for each circulation pattern were identified. Meteorological reanalyses, quantitative precipitation estimates from weather radars, hydrological data, and indicators of geomorphic changes from remote sensing imagery were used to characterize the chain of hydrometeorological processes leading to distinct flood patterns in the region. Significant differences in the hydrometeorology of these three flood-producing synoptic systems were identified: MC storms draw moisture from the Mediterranean and generate moderate rainfall in the northern part of the region. ARST and TP storms transfer large amounts of moisture from the south, which is converted to rainfall in the hyperarid southernmost parts of the Levant. -
Origin of the Sinai-Negev Erg, Egypt and Israel
Quaternary Science Reviews 69 (2013) 28e48 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Quaternary Science Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quascirev Origin of the SinaieNegev erg, Egypt and Israel: mineralogical and geochemical evidence for the importance of the Nile and sea level history Daniel R. Muhs a,*, Joel Roskin b, Haim Tsoar b, Gary Skipp a, James R. Budahn a, Amihai Sneh c, Naomi Porat c, Jean-Daniel Stanley d, Itzhak Katra b, Dan G. Blumberg b a U.S. Geological Survey, MS 980, Box 25046, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225, USA b Dept. of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel c Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel St., Jerusalem 95501, Israel d Geoarchaeology-Paleobiology Department, E-205 NMNH, MRC-121, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA article info abstract Article history: The SinaieNegev erg occupies an area of 13,000 km2 in the deserts of Egypt and Israel. Aeolian sand of Received 22 November 2012 this erg has been proposed to be derived from the Nile Delta, but empirical data supporting this view Received in revised form are lacking. An alternative source sediment is sand from the large Wadi El Arish drainage system in 12 February 2013 central and northern Sinai. Mineralogy of the Negev and Sinai dunes shows that they are high in quartz, Accepted 20 February 2013 with much smaller amounts of K-feldspar and plagioclase. Both Nile Delta sands and Sinai wadi sands, Available online 30 March 2013 upstream of the dunes, also have high amounts of quartz relative to K-feldspar and plagioclase. -
North American Deserts Chihuahuan - Great Basin Desert - Sonoran – Mojave
North American Deserts Chihuahuan - Great Basin Desert - Sonoran – Mojave http://www.desertusa.com/desert.html In most modern classifications, the deserts of the United States and northern Mexico are grouped into four distinct categories. These distinctions are made on the basis of floristic composition and distribution -- the species of plants growing in a particular desert region. Plant communities, in turn, are determined by the geologic history of a region, the soil and mineral conditions, the elevation and the patterns of precipitation. Three of these deserts -- the Chihuahuan, the Sonoran and the Mojave -- are called "hot deserts," because of their high temperatures during the long summer and because the evolutionary affinities of their plant life are largely with the subtropical plant communities to the south. The Great Basin Desert is called a "cold desert" because it is generally cooler and its dominant plant life is not subtropical in origin. Chihuahuan Desert: A small area of southeastern New Mexico and extreme western Texas, extending south into a vast area of Mexico. Great Basin Desert: The northern three-quarters of Nevada, western and southern Utah, to the southern third of Idaho and the southeastern corner of Oregon. According to some, it also includes small portions of western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming. Bordered on the south by the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Mojave Desert: A portion of southern Nevada, extreme southwestern Utah and of eastern California, north of the Sonoran Desert. Sonoran Desert: A relatively small region of extreme south-central California and most of the southern half of Arizona, east to almost the New Mexico line. -
The Corrosive Well Waters of Egypt's Western Desert
The Corrosive Well Waters of Egypt's Western Desert GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1757-O Prepared in cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development The Corrosive Well Waters of Egypt's Western Desert By FRANK E. CLARKE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF AFRICA AND THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1757-O Prepared in Cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1979 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR CECIL D. ANDRUS, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY H. William Menard, Director Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Clarke, Frank Eldridge, 1913 The corrosive well waters of Egypt's western desert. (Contributions to the hydrology of Africa and the Mediterranean region) (Geological Survey water-supply paper; 1757-0) "Prepared in cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt, under the aus pices of the United States Agency for International Development." Bibliography: p. Includes index Supt. of Docs. no. : I 19.16 : 1757-0 1. Corrosion resistant materials. 2. Water, Underground Egypt. 3. Water quality Egypt. 4. Wells Egypt Corrosion. 5. Pumping machinery Cor rosion. I. United States. Agency for International Development. II. Title. III. Series. IV. Series: United States. Geological Survey. Water-supply paper; 1757-0. TA418.75.C58 627'.52 79-607011 For sale by Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government -
Western Desert, Egypt): Evolution to a Post-Eocene Continental Event
The uppermost deposits of the stratigraphic succession of the Farafra Depression (Western Desert, Egypt): Evolution to a Post-Eocene continental event ⇑ M.E. Sanz-Montero a, , H. Wanas b, M.B. Muñoz-García c,1, L. González-Acebrón c,1, M.V. López d,2 a Dpto. Petrología y Geoquímica, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), C/José Antonio Novais 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain b Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Shebin El-Kom, Egypt c Dpto. Estratigrafía, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), C/José Antonio Novais 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain d Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC, UCM), C/José Antonio Novais 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain Abstract This paper gives insight into continental sedimentary deposits that occur at the uppermost part of the stratigraphic succession present in the north-eastern sector of the Farafra Depression (Western Desert, Egypt). Using space imagery to complete the field work, the geology of the area has been mapped and the presence of a N–S oriented fault system is documented. The analysis of the morphotectonic features related to this fault system allows reconstructing the structural and sedimentological evolution of the area. The study indicates that the continental deposits were accumulated in alluvial systems that uncon-formably overlie shale and evaporitic rocks attributable to the Paleocene–Eocene Esna Formation. The deposits of the Esna Formation show soft-sediment deformation features, which include slump associ- ated to dish and pillar sedimentary structures and provide evidence of syndepositional tectonic activity during the sedimentation of this unit. The outcrops are preserved in two areas on separated fault-bounded blocks. -
Uvic Thesis Template
Granaries and the Grain Supply of Roman Frontier Forts: Case Studies in Local Grain Production from Hauarra (Jordan), Vindolanda (Britain), and Vindonissa (Switzerland) by Kelsey Marie Koon B.A., Queen’s University, 2010 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Greek and Roman Studies Kelsey Marie Koon, University of Victoria 2012 All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Granaries and the Grain Supply of Roman Frontier Forts: Case Studies in Local Grain Production from Hauarra (Jordan), Vindolanda (Britain), and Vindonissa (Switzerland) by Kelsey Marie Koon B.A., Queen’s University, 2010 Supervisory Committee Dr. John P. Oleson (Department of Greek and Roman Studies) Supervisor Dr. J. Geoffrey Kron (Department of Greek and Roman Studies) Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. John P. Oleson, Department of Greek and Roman Studies Supervisor Dr. J. Geoffrey Kron, Department of Greek and Roman Studies Departmental Member This thesis addresses the question of whether Roman military garrisons on the frontiers of the Empire could sustain their annual supplies of grain from the local countryside; and if they could, to what extent. The paper examines first the general diet of a Roman soldier and the administrative and logistical system by which the military was supplied with its required foodstuffs. Three case studies of specific forts: Hauarra in present-day Jordan, Vindolanda in present-day Britain, and Vindonissa in present-day Switzerland, based on the surviving granary structures of the forts and on the theoretical grain yields of the area, show that it was possible for these forts to supply themselves with their annual requirements of grain from the local area, without recourse to costly importation. -
A COMPANION to the ROMAN ARMY Edited By
ACTA01 8/12/06 11:10 AM Page iii A COMPANION TO THE ROMAN ARMY Edited by Paul Erdkamp ACTA01 8/12/06 11:10 AM Page i A COMPANION TO THE ROMAN ARMY ACTA01 8/12/06 11:10 AM Page ii BLACKWELL COMPANIONS TO THE ANCIENT WORLD This series provides sophisticated and authoritative overviews of periods of ancient history, genres of classical lit- erature, and the most important themes in ancient culture. Each volume comprises between twenty-five and forty concise essays written by individual scholars within their area of specialization. The essays are written in a clear, provocative, and lively manner, designed for an international audience of scholars, students, and general readers. Ancient History Published A Companion to the Roman Army A Companion to the Classical Greek World Edited by Paul Erdkamp Edited by Konrad H. Kinzl A Companion to the Roman Republic A Companion to the Ancient Near East Edited by Nathan Rosenstein and Edited by Daniel C. Snell Robert Morstein-Marx A Companion to the Hellenistic World A Companion to the Roman Empire Edited by Andrew Erskine Edited by David S. Potter In preparation A Companion to Ancient History A Companion to Late Antiquity Edited by Andrew Erskine Edited by Philip Rousseau A Companion to Archaic Greece A Companion to Byzantium Edited by Kurt A. Raaflaub and Hans van Wees Edited by Elizabeth James A Companion to Julius Caesar Edited by Miriam Griffin Literature and Culture Published A Companion to Catullus A Companion to Greek Rhetoric Edited by Marilyn B. Skinner Edited by Ian Worthington A Companion to Greek Religion A Companion to Ancient Epic Edited by Daniel Ogden Edited by John Miles Foley A Companion to Classical Tradition A Companion to Greek Tragedy Edited by Craig W. -
Roman Soldier Germanic Warrior Lindsay Ppowellowell
1st Century AD Roman Soldier VERSUS Germanic Warrior Lindsay Powell © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com 1st Century ad Roman Soldier Germanic Warrior Lindsay PowellPowell © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com INTRODUCTION 4 THE OPPOSING SIDES 10 Recruitment and motivation t Morale and logistics t Training, doctrine and tactics Leadership and communications t Use of allies and auxiliaries TEUTOBURG PASS 28 Summer AD 9 IDISTAVISO 41 Summer AD 16 THE ANGRIVARIAN WALL 57 Summer AD 16 ANALYSIS 71 Leadership t Mission objectives and strategies t Planning and preparation Tactics, combat doctrine and weapons AFTERMATH 76 BIBLIOGRAPHY 78 INDEX 80 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com Introduction ‘Who would leave Asia, or Africa, or Italia for Germania, with its wild country, its inclement skies, its sullen manners and aspect, unless indeed it were his home?’ (Tacitus, Germania 2). This negative perception of Germania – the modern Netherlands and Germany – lay behind the reluctance of Rome’s great military commanders to tame its immense wilderness. Caius Iulius Caesar famously threw a wooden pontoon bridge across the River Rhine (Rhenus) in just ten days, not once but twice, in 55 and 53 bc. The next Roman general to do so was Marcus Agrippa, in 39/38 bc or 19/18 bc. However, none of these missions was for conquest, but in response to pleas for assistance from an ally of the Romans, the Germanic nation of the Ubii. It was not until the reign of Caesar Augustus that a serious attempt was made to annex the land beyond the wide river and transform it into a province fit for Romans to live in. -
Votive Altar of Lucius Petronius Timachus
SOFIJA PETKOVI], Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade BOJANA ILIJI], Museum of Knja`evac, Knja`evac VOTIVE ALTAR OF LUCIUS PETRONIUS TIMACHUS UDC: 904:726.82"652"(497.11) ; 904:725.182.025.3"652"(497.11) e-mail: [email protected] DOI: 10.2298/STA1363053P Received: November 11, 2012 Original research article Accepted: April 23, 2013 Abstract. – During the systematic archaeological excavations in the fortress of Timacum Minus in Ravna near Knja`evac in 1991, a votive altar of Jupiter Paternus, dedicated by Lucius Petronius Timachus, a veteran of the legion VII Claudia, was discovered. The name (cognomen) Timachus was noted for the first time on this monument. It was developed from the ethnonime Timachi, or the hydronime Timachus, known from the historical resources of the Roman period. Timacum Maius and Timacum Minus, the fortifications and settlements in Upper Moesia, were named after the river Timachus (modern Timok), as was, probably, the whole region of the Basin of Timok. The votive altar of Jupiter Paternus was in secondary use as a construction material in the reconstruction of the horreum in the last phase of life in Timacim Minus, in the first half of 5th century A.D. The analysis of the archaeological context of the votive and funeral monuments from Ravna, used as spolia, have distinguished the three periods of their use from the last third of the 3rd century to the middle of the 5th century A.D. Key words. – Timacum Minus, Ravna, Eastern Serbia, votive altar, Iuppiter Paternus, Timachus, legio VII Claudia, Moesia Superior, Timok. -
On the Way: a Poetics of Roman Transportation
On the Way: a Poetics of Roman Transportation by Jared McCabe Hudson A dissertation in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Ellen Oliensis, chair Professor Maurizio Bettini Professor Dylan Sailor Professor Carlos Noreña Spring 2013 On the Way: a Poetics of Roman Transportation © 2013 by Jared McCabe Hudson Abstract On the Way: a Poetics of Roman Transportation By Jared McCabe Hudson Doctor of Philosophy in Classics University of California, Berkeley Professor Ellen Oliensis, Chair The first chapter examines the role played by the litter (lectica) and sedan chair (sella) in Roman literature and culture. The portrait of the wealthy freedman, lounging in his deluxe octaphoros (litter carried by eight imported slaves), is one which appears repeatedly, taking shape in the late Republic and reaching a climax of frequency in the satires of Juvenal and the epigrams of Martial, in the late first century CE. While by this stage the conveyance undeniably functions as a satirical symbol, the origins and constructedness of its role as such have been surprisingly under-examined by modern scholars. In order to excavate the litter’s developing identity, I first unravel Roman accounts of the vehicle’s origins. The lectica was repeatedly framed by Roman authors such as Cicero as an exotic import from the near east (Bithynia, in particular), only available to Romans upon their exposure, through the process of imperial expansion, to eastern softness. However, such a projection involved carefully distinguishing this “decadent” litter from already existing, sanctioned litter use: thus the lectica also encompasses a category closer to our “stretcher.” Indeed, the litter’s status as a newfangled import is belied by coexisting narratives of republican-era patriarchs riding in the lectica, usually because of injury, old age, or disability. -
The Development of Roman Mailed Cavalry
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ROMAN MAILED CAVALRY By JOHN W. EADIE (Plates IX-XI) The willingness of the Romans to adopt foreign military practices and to modify, and hereby strengthen, legionary organization, equipment, and tactics is well-documented and thas been discussed frequently by modern scholars. One manifestation of this pragmatic approach, however, has not received the attention it deserves-viz. their attempts during the Empire to develop an effective cavalry. In this effort the Romans employed a variety of cavalrymen and cavalry tactics, but one of the most interesting and certainly one of the most enduring products was the mailed cavalry. The origin, development and success of this force-which became a prominent branch of the Roman army after the first century A.D.-cannot be analysed without some reference to earlier experiments with cavalry equipment and tactics in the Mediterranean area. The Romans did not invent the heavy- armoured horseman : on the contrary, the innovators were the Assyrians, whose monuments uniquely illustrate the evolution of cavalry technique in antiquity.l Delineation of the Assyrian development is instructive, for they were required to solve many of the technical and tactical problems which later confronted the Romans. Moreover, the tactics employed and the cavalry types created by the Assyrians are remarkably similar to the later Roman. To facilitate comparison of the Assyrian and Roman experience, in the following assessment the equivalent Greek and Latin terminology has been supplied for each phase in the Assyrian development. The introduction of regular cavalry into the Assyrian army was effected by the middle of the ninth century B.c., for sculptures at Nimrud from the reign of ASSur-nasir-apli I1 (883-859) depict unarmoured Assyrian mounted archers, equipped with bow and sword, attacking enemy mounted archers2 The appearance of the enemy mounted archers in the reliefs suggests that the Assyrian light cavalry may have been created primarily to combat nomadic invaders4.e.