Settlement and Soldiers in the Roman Near East

Settlement and Soldiers in the Roman Near East

Author: David Kennedy

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-10-28

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1040234453

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The Roman Near East has been a source of fascination and exasperation - an immense area, a rich archaeological heritage as well as documents in several local languages, a region with a great depth of urbanisation and development ... yet relatively neglected by modern researchers and difficult to work on and in. Local archaeologists are often under-funded and the Roman period viewed as an earlier phase of western colonialism. Happily, the immense surge in archaeological and historical research on the Roman period everywhere has included the Roman Near East and there have been significant academic developments. This collection of studies on the Roman Near East represents Professor Kennedy’s academic assessment of the region, which began with his doctoral thesis on the contribution of Syria to the Roman army. Although the thesis was never published, several articles owe their genesis to work done then or soon after and are included here (VI, VII, IX, XII). Initial visits to military sites in Syria and Jordan swiftly brought out the presence in many cases of associated civil settlements and - though often now gone, the traces of ancient field systems. Hence, the two prominent sub-themes in this collection are the Roman military and various aspects of society and settlement - settlement types, farming, logistical underpinning and communications.


Geography, Urbanisation and Settlement Patterns in the Roman Near East

Geography, Urbanisation and Settlement Patterns in the Roman Near East

Author: Henry Innes MacAdam

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-11-01

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 1351728180

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This title was first published in 2002: This volume focuses on the Roman provinces of Syria and Arabia, above all the lands now within Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. The first articles look at questions of geography, cartography and toponymy, particularly in Strabo, Pliny and Ptolemy. The following sections are concerned with settlement patterns and urban development in the region. In the Roman and early Byzantine periods, the inland areas underwent a gradual transformation, from a semi-sedentary, lightly populated and predominantly rural region, to one of large cities and a network of prosperous, socially sophisticated villages, linked by a network of roads. That change is documented by a wealth of epigraphy from both the urban communities and their outlying settlements (the subject of several articles). By the 4th century, too, Christianity had become the dominant religion and remained such until the arrival of Islam.


Feeding the Roman Army

Feeding the Roman Army

Author: Richard Thomas

Publisher: Oxbow Books

Published: 2008-04-10

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 1782975268

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These ten papers from two Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (2007) sessions bring together a growing body of new archaeological evidence in an attempt to reconsider the way in which the Roman army was provisioned. Clearly, the adequate supply of food was essential to the success of the Roman military. But what was the nature of those supply networks? Did the army rely on imperial supply lines from the continent, as certainly appears to be the case for some commodities, or were provisions requisitioned from local agricultural communities? If the latter was the case, was unsustainable pressure placed on such resources and how did local communities respond? Alternatively, did the early stages of conquest include not only the development of a military infrastructure, but also an effective supply-chain network based on contracts? Beyond the initial stages of conquest, how were provisioning arrangements maintained in the longer term, did supply chains remain static or did they change over time and, if so, what precipitated those changes? Addressing such questions is critical if we are to understand the nature of Roman conquest and the extent of interaction between indigenous communities and the Roman army. Case studies come from Roman Britain (Alchester, Cheshire, Dorset), France, the Netherlands and the Rhine Delta, looking at evidence from animal products, military settlements, the size of cattle, horses, pottery and salt. The editors also provide a review of current research and suggest a future agenda for economic and environmental research.


The Roman Army in Jordan

The Roman Army in Jordan

Author: D. L. Kennedy

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13:

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This is an updated and revised second edition of a handbook originally prepared for the XVIIIth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies in Amman, Jordan in 2000 - a reflection of the growing importance of Roman studies in Jordan in recent years. In Part A, there are chapters on Roman Jordan, geography and environment, the Romans in Jordan and the Roman army there. In Part B there are 15 chapters surveying, region by region, the evidence of forts, towers, roads, literary texts, inscriptions and excavation, around the entire country and ending with a chapter on the immediately adjacent parts of Roman Arabia that now lie in Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel. The book is profusely illustrated throughout and has many aerial views including 20 full-page photographs in colour.


Camps, Campaigns, Colonies

Camps, Campaigns, Colonies

Author: Edward Dabrowa

Publisher: Harrassowitz

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 9783447113816

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Owing to the threat posed by the Parthian state, and later the Sasanid state, defence of the eastern border of the Roman Empire demanded the presence of considerable military forces. In this respect, Anatolia, Mesopotamia and the Near East were particularly significant in Rome's defensive policy. Numerous military camps were situated in this region, from which the Romans undertook military expeditions against their eastern neighbour. The outcomes of the long-term presence of a large number of Roman army units there included settlement of veterans in both the colonies and the cities of the region. The volume contains a selection of studies by Edward Dabrowa published over several decades concerning certain aspects of the presence of the Roman army in the East. These concern issues related to Roman military camps and campaigns as well as military colonisation in the post-Hadrian period in Mesopotamia, Syria and Judaea. The existence of this colonisation has long been questioned by many scholars. The studies in this book present arguments showing that such colonisation did take place, albeit on a limited scale. It was used on a larger scale mostly by emperors from the Severan dynasty, but also later ones, at least until the mid-third century CE, as a means of urbanisation of these areas.


Archaeology and Urban Settlement in Late Roman and Byzantine Anatolia

Archaeology and Urban Settlement in Late Roman and Byzantine Anatolia

Author: John Haldon

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-11-22

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 1316998002

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The site of medieval Euchaïta, on the northern edge of the central Anatolian plateau, was the centre of the cult of St Theodore Tiro ('the Recruit'). Unlike most excavated or surveyed urban centres of the Byzantine period, Euchaïta was never a major metropolis, cultural centre or extensive urban site, although it had a military function from the seventh to ninth centuries. Its significance lies precisely in the fact that as a small provincial town, something of a backwater, it was probably more typical of the 'average' provincial Anatolian urban settlement, yet almost nothing is known about such sites. This volume represents the results of a collaborative project that integrates archaeological survey work with other disciplines in a unified approach to the region both to enhance understanding of the history of Byzantine provincial society and to illustrate the application of innovative approaches to field survey.


Roman Architecture and Urbanism

Roman Architecture and Urbanism

Author: Fikret Yegül

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-07-31

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 1108577067

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Since antiquity, Roman architecture and planning have inspired architects and designers. In this volume, Diane Favro and Fikret Yegül offer a comprehensive history and analysis of the Roman built environment, emphasizing design and planning aspects of buildings and streetscapes. They explore the dynamic evolution and dissemination of architectural ideas, showing how local influences and technologies were incorporated across the vast Roman territory. They also consider how Roman construction and engineering expertise, as well as logistical proficiency, contributed to the making of bold and exceptional spaces and forms. Based on decades of first-hand examinations of ancient sites throughout the Roman world, from Britain to Syria, the authors give close accounts of many sites no longer extant or accessible. Written in a lively and accessible manner, Roman Architecture and Urbanism affirms the enduring attractions of Roman buildings and environments and their relevance to a global view of architecture. It will appeal to readers interested in the classical world and the history of architecture and urban design, as well as wide range of academic fields. With 835 illustrations including numerous new plans and drawings as well as digital renderings.


The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan

The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan

Author: Samuel Thomas Parker

Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 538

ISBN-13:

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Until the 1980s, the Roman frontier in modern Jordan was among the least studied of the empire's far-flung border regions. From 1980 until 1989, the Limes Arabicus Project investigated the frontier east of the Dead Sea. Excavation focused on the late Roman legionary fortress of el-Lejjun as well as soundings of four smaller but contemporaneous forts. The project's regional survey recorded over five hundred other archaeological sites in the area, dating from the Paleolithic to the Late Islamic periods. This report presents detailed results from the excavated forts, a broad range of material cultural evidence from animal bones to bedouin burials, and provides a synthesis of the history of this frontier, which witnessed the first confrontation between the Byzantine Empire and the forces of Islam.


A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East

A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East

Author: Ted Kaizer

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2022-01-06

Total Pages: 580

ISBN-13: 1444339826

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Discover a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary handbook exploring several sub-regions and key themes perfect for a new generation of students A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East delivers the first complete handbook in the area of Hellenistic and Roman Near Eastern history. The book is divided into sections dealing with interdisciplinary source material, each with a great deal of regional variety and engaging with several key themes. It integrates discussions of the classical Near East with the typical undergraduate teaching syllabus in the Anglo-Saxon world. All contributors in this edited volume are leading scholars in their field, with a combination of established researchers and academics, and emerging voices. Contributors hail from countries across several continents, and work in various disciplines, including Ancient History, Archaeology, Art History, Epigraphy, Numismatics, and Oriental Studies. In addition to furthering the integration of the Levantine lands in the classical periods into the teaching canon, the book offers readers: The first comprehensively structured Companion and edited handbook on the Hellenistic and Roman Near East Extensive regional and sub-regional variety in the cross-disciplinary source material A way to compensate for the recent destruction of monuments in the region and the new generation of researchers’ inability to examine these historical stages in person An integration of the study of the Hellenistic and Roman Near East with traditional undergraduate teaching syllabi in the Anglo-Saxon world Perfect for undergraduate history and classics students studying the Near East, A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East will also earn a place in the libraries of graduate students and scholars working within Near Eastern studies, as well as interested members of the public with a passion for history.