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Trajan's Engineers and the Roman Fort at Al-Óumayma

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Trajan's Engineers and the Roman Fort at Al-Óumayma John Peter Oleson John Peter Oleson Department of Greek and Roman Studies University of Victoria Victoria B.C. Canada V8W 3P4 Trajan’s Engineers and the Roman Fort at al-Óumayma (Ancient Óawara, Jordan) As is well known, the Romans began to intervene the legionary fort at Bostra, the capital of the new directly in the Nabataean kingdom and Nabataean province, should date to this period (Parker 2000: sphere of interest during the 60s BC, in the course 124; Kennedy 2004: 217-18). So far, however, of Pompey’s reorganization of Syria and the sur- there has been little close analysis of the strategy rounding regions (Bowersock 1983: 28-44). Dur- followed by the presumably imported Roman engi- ing the reign of Augustus, the expedition of Aelius neers, the direct motivations for their activities, and Gallus also involved intervention in the kingdom, the procedures they followed in planning and con- according to Bowersock, perhaps even brief sup- structing the infrastructure of Roman occupation. pression of the kingship around 3BC. Some forces The Roman fort at al-Óumayma, Nabataean Ha- from the army of L. Vitellius may have entered the wara, Roman Óawara, is the earliest large Roman kingdom as well, before being recalled at the news fort in Jordan so far excavated and reliably dated, of Tiberius’s death in 37 (Bowersock 1983: 54- and one of the few surviving principate forts in the 58, 65-68). The final blow came after the death of entire region (FIGS. 1-2) (Oleson et al. 2003, 2008; Rabbel II in 106, when the emperor Trajan’s forces Parker 2000; Kennedy 2004: 193-98). Ceramic and annexed the kingdom as the Provincia Arabia. Al- numismatic evidence reveal that the fort was con- though the literary and numismatic evidence is am- structed immediately after the events of AD 106. A biguous about the conditions of this take-over, the gap in the coin record suggests the fort was aban- archaeological remains suggest that the occupation doned during Diocletian’s reworking of the mili- was accompanied by widespread violence (Ken- tary centres along the Via Nova Traiana, but it was nedy 1980; Freeman 1996; Schmid 1997, 2000: re-occupied, most likely by a military unit, under 139-46; Oleson 2004: 354-55). Various explana- Constantine. Final abandonment occurred late in tions have been proposed for this annexation, and the fourth century. The historical context makes it there were undoubtedly more than a few motives. likely that the fort was manned by a detachment In any case, for the first time, the Romans fortified from the Legio III Cyrenaica, and an inscription and extensively garrisoned the region of the former from a shrine in the vicus documents the presence kingdom and improved lines of communication by of members of that legion in the fort in the mid- constructing or rebuilding roads, in particular the third century (Oleson et al. 2002). It is also pos- Via Nova Traiana (Graf 1995, 1997). Much is still sible that a detachment of the Legio VI Ferrata was obscure about the transition from Nabataean to stationed at Óawara at some point (Kennedy 1980; Roman rule and the early years of the new prov- Freeman 1996). ince, but it is clear that teams of military engineers Although the fortification walls and interior must have been involved. The well known Papyrus structures were plundered for building materials Michigan 466, for example, a letter home by a new in the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, for the recruit stationed near Petra in March 107, mentions most part the plans of both the original structures quarrying undertaken for road work (Speidel 1977: and their later phases of use can be easily deter- 691-94). Some milestones and honorific building mined (FIG. 3). Excavations directed by Oleson inscriptions mentioning Trajan have been found since 1993 have documented the dimensions and (Bowersock 1983: 81-86; Graf 1995, 1997), and design of the fort and its interior road network, -535- JOHN PETER OLESON 1. Óawara/al-Al-Óumayma, Locator map. -536- TrAjAn’s EnginEErs And ThE romAn ForT AT Al-ÓumAymA (AnciEnT ÓAwArA, jordAn) 2. Óawara/al-Al-Óumayma, plan of settlement. along with the plans of the most important interior relating to the planning of fortifications. structures: principia, praetorium, horreum, bar- Location is always a major consideration in racks, workshops, and possibly a stable (Oleson et military architecture, and in strategic terms the al. 1995, 1999, 2003, 2008). A latrine has also been placement at Nabataean Óawara of the main mili- identified, along with a pressurized pipeline for wa- tary unit between Petra and Ayla makes a great deal ter supply, and an extensive network of drains. This of sense (FIG. 1). This settlement, although small, paper discusses several issues raised by the loca- was the main population and market centre in the tion and plan of the fort, as a contribution to our Óismå, it was located on the main north-south understanding of the process of the occupation of route — renovated as the Via Nova Traiana — and the Provincia Arabia: first, the strategic and tacti- at the junction of tracks leading southeast towards cal reasons for the location of the fort; second, the the sanctuary in wådπ Ramm, and beyond into the planning procedures behind the overall layout of Óijaz. There were close connections between Ha- the fort; and, third, the design and execution of its wara and both Petra 80km to the north and Ayla individual interior structures. I will show that the 80km to the south, on the Red Sea. A Nabataean structures and their arrangement correspond for the aqueduct brought spring water to the settlement, most part to a modular system based on rational to- supplementing numerous cisterns storing run-off tals of Roman feet, and I will compare the archae- from precipitation, and the loessal soil within the ological data with Roman period literary sources run-off area allowed the production of grain. Ro- -537- JOHN PETER OLESON 3. Óawara/al-Al-Óumayma, plan of fort and excavated structures. -538- TrAjAn’s EnginEErs And ThE romAn ForT AT Al-ÓumAymA (AnciEnT ÓAwArA, jordAn) man control of this site was crucial to their occupa- probably passed by just outside the west gate. The tion of the southern portion of the kingdom, and the view directly to the north was blocked by a hill, but fort undoubted served as the regional administra- from the fort there was a clear view south to the tive centre (Oleson 2001; Isaac 1990: 205). castellum at Quweira and to the southeast nearly as In the local context, tactical considerations are far as wådπ Ramm. A detached, semicircular earth equally important. The fort was laid out on a gen- mound — in Latin titulum — outside the north gate tle, southern-facing slope above and 100m north- reinforced it against assault from the level plain on east of the Nabataean settlement (FIG. 4). The site that side (Oleson et al. 2003: 53). Evidence is less has no natural defences, but it was close enough clear for the presence of titula at the other three to the Nabataean aqueduct to draw water from it gates, but geophysical survey recently revealed the by means of a branch channel, and the Via Nova presence of a ditch (fossa) 5m outside the walls, ca. 4. Óawara/al-Al-Óumayma, aerial view of fort from south (Photo: D. Ken- nedy, with permission). -539- JOHN PETER OLESON 1m deep and 3m across, with a V-shaped cross-sec- tion (Oleson et al. 2008) (FIG. 5). Spoil from the ditch was probably used along with rubble as fill in the stout, block-faced fortification wall. In addition to the 24 projecting towers, there were platforms at several points inside the wall for artillery (FIG. 6). The 4.7m drop from the north gate to the south gate allowed for the controlled removal of runoff through a system of drains below the main roads, and for the internal distribution of water through a system of terracotta pipes fed by the reservoir at the high, northwest corner of the fort. The fort domi- nated the civilian settlement visually, a permanent reminder to both local inhabitants and passing trav- ellers of the iron fist of Roman occupation. 6. Óawara/al-Al-Óumayma, ballista platform against fort Roman architects, particularly military archi- wall. tects, paid careful attention to design, materials, and construction procedures, and the fort at Óawara was the fort in Roman feet: width 500 RF, length 700 no exception. The general plan of the fort clearly RF; walls 10 RF thick; 4 corner towers 20 RF on was laid out in multiples of the Roman pes mon- a side, projecting 6 RF out from the wall, and 20 etalis, 0.296m in length, and it was oriented within intermediate wall towers also 20 RF wide project- a few degrees of true north. Throughout this paper, ing 6 RF; the east and west gates are 400 RF south when I refer to “feet” I intend this Roman foot (ab- of the north wall and are 15 RF wide. The interior breviated as “RF”), rather than the English foot of of the reservoir measures 50 by 100 RF, and 10 RF 0.3048m (FIG. 3). Here are the main dimensions of deep. The main north-south road (via praetoria) 5. Óawara/al-Al-Óumayma, GPR definition of ditch around fort, looking south. -540- TrAjAn’s EnginEErs And ThE romAn ForT AT Al-ÓumAymA (AnciEnT ÓAwArA, jordAn) and the peripheral road inside the fort (the inter- this amount of high quality pasturage) (Shirley vallum) were both 27 RF wide.
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