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For centuries, the remote site of Bāyir, far to the east in southeast Jordan, in an arid environment, was frequented by nomads watering their herds, thanks to its huge wells. Four Latin graffiti from Bāyir area are published or revised and republished here. They provide new evidence of the visits paid to the place by troops from the Roman army. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an analysis of the Feminine Sacrificial Attendant figure type on the Column of Trajan frieze in Rome. We first present a detailed study of the Column of Trajan examples, focusing on both composition and broader narrative context. We argue, based on this methodology, that the traditional identification of these figures as masculine must be abandoned, in favor of a more demonstrable identification as feminine. By analyzing these figures as materializations of a sacrificial role—that both referred to contemporary norms and participated in their construction—this article demonstrates that our feminine identification has wide implications beyond the frieze itself. In particular, this figure type broadens our understanding of the variety of players in the life of the Roman army and the rites of Roman state religion more generally. 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production and distribution of ceramic building materials (CBM) in the Roman period have long attracted the attention of archaeologists, as they provide clues to aspects of trade, identity, and technological and architectural traditions. However, there has been a notable scarcity of studies focusing on plain CBM in the southern Levant, particularly in the Mediterranean coastal region. This study concentrates on CBM (bricks, tubuli, drainage pipes, and roof tiles) from a Roman-period wealthy farmstead (Khirbat Khaur el-Bak) near the city of Ashqelon/Ascalon, apparently owned by a serving member of the military or a veteran. The petrographic analyses indicate that apart from the locally produced drainage pipes, the CBM were imported from overseas, namely Cilicia and Beirut. The results shed light on CBM trade in the Eastern Mediterranean, and on the complex nature of the population and material life in and around Roman Ashqelon, which included local and foreign elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1st-c. CE Roman siege system of Masada exhibits a high degree of preservation due to its remote location and the arid climate. However, unlike the thoroughly excavated Masada fortress, the siege system has not received due attention. This article is part of a research project aimed at advancing our understanding of the conflict landscape around Masada using contemporary archaeological methods. Following a comprehensive surface survey and photogrammetric 3D modelling, we show that the circumvallation wall stood to a height of 2–2.5 m and served several functions – as an obstacle, a means of psychological warfare, and a platform from which to mount counterattacks. Based on our measurements and workload estimations, we argue that the construction of the siege wall and the camps around Masada occurred fairly quickly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current article wishes to focus on receipts and reports from Roman Egypt in order to reconstruct the bureaucratic procedures in this region or, more precisely, the bureaucratic procedures of the Roman military logistical system, from the unit level and upwards. This examination will aid in understanding the complexity of the Roman system and the Roman mindset, while highlighting how the lack of modern technology was overcome to maintain a highly organised and vast Empire. This will strengthen and support the assumption that an office organising military supply and their records most probably existed at multiple levels; the nome, the province and Empire. Moreover, the article inspects whether the logistical system endured the many crises of the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. As there was no significant change during or after these events, this may indicate the resilience of the Roman system. It could also suggest that some of these crises were not deemed as such by the Romans, and/or that the military structure, especially its logistical-bureaucratic side, was not blamed for these military disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study introduces a new aspect in the discussions regarding military campaigns conducted over time in the western region of the Transylvania's Iron Gates. It pertains to a possible fortification discovered near Marga, CaraÈ™-Severin County, South of the Bistra River, situated approximately 260 meters south-southwest of the DN68 and DJ684A intersection. The identification was made through LiDAR scans, and it presents similarities to other legionary camps in the surrounding area. Its dimensions are typical for a legionary camp; about 23.8 hectares. The structure and typological analogies place this fortification among the legionary marching camps. Could this site at Marga be the last camp to the West of the Iron Gates of Transylvania - Tapae corridor? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the influential role of the Roman centurions in the provincial government of the Roman Empire by analyzing their judicial and administrative powers. The results of modern historiographical research show that the military institution was closely intertwined with the Roman “government without bureaucracy:” the provincial governors’ offices were mainly staffed by military personnel and headed by the first cohort’s centurions. However, their administrative functions, although crucial in governing the provinces, have been insufficiently studied. The judicial power of the centurions has been viewed by scholars in two different ways: either as detrimental to the central government due to possible abuse by military personnel or as exceptional because it was not needed in the Romanized and urbanized areas of the empire. Here, based on the epigraphic evidence and papyrus data, the judicial and administrative duties of the centurions, including those delegated by the Roman imperium’s holders, are considered. Their involvement in the work of the municipal authorities is discussed. The conclusion is made that it was quite common for the centurions to hold extra managerial powers. In many cases, this was deemed legitimate as it did not contradict Roman law and stemmed from the long-established Roman practices.

Ancient authors frequently refer to Roman victories as bloodless or as having been achieved without the loss of a single Roman soldier. Modern scholars have tended to dismiss such claims as propaganda or have not fully explored the history or consequences of such celebration. This article considers the history of Rome's promotion of bloodless victories, concern over war losses, and the consequences for Rome's army and imperial endeavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining the Roman military settlement at Vindolanda, this article explores the archaeology of the northern frontier of the Roman empire in a glocalization framework, investigating the site during a specific occupation period to understand how the material culture found there operated within its particular local context. The soldiers and the extended military communities of auxiliary settlements that dominated the imperial frontiers make a complicated and intriguing case study because of their origins as subaltern and conquered subjects of imperial rule, followed by incorporation into the Roman army. A close examination of the extramural settlement outside the fort at Vindolanda in the site's Period 4 (ca. 105--120 CE) allows the opportunity to apply a glocal lens to the architecture, foodways, literacy, and dress preserved in the material record. We are presented with a picture of adoption, adaptation, and retention that ultimately can be understood only as the result of ongoing change and creation in a multilayered imperial context. These spaces and their material culture are fully analyzed here, with careful consideration of the community present at Vindolanda, in order to tease out the unique and novel outcomes that this population created in their local context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Military History Chronicles is the property of Policy Studies Organization and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The rural milieu was an important source of recruitment for the Roman army from the second quarter of the 1st century AD until the reorganisation of the province under the Diocletian. This paper provides a synthesis on the mobility of soldiers recruited from this environment, following three research axes: direction of soldier's mobility, the cases of the veterans who return home and those of veterans who remained in the province where they performed their service. Another objective of the study is mapping the mobility directions in order to trace the routes taken by the Roman army and to highlight the links between the origin province and the service regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tributes to the enigmatic dea Dard (...) show a typically Roman political and religious intention to show respect for a local deity, within the framework of the control of isolated but strategic areas in the heart of the Illyrian region and the province of Moesia Superior. These acts of piety reflect the desire on the part of the Roman authorities to carry out diplomatic action with the local population, particularly in the vicinity of the stationes , often away from the legions and officia of which they were a detachment. In any case, these dedications cannot be considered irrefutable proof of the resistance of a Dardanian identity to the Roman order. They do, of course, suggest that the cult of these local and enigmatic deities had survived in the heart of the province of Moesia Superior. The paradox lies in the fact that we know more about the existence of these local deities thanks to the tributes of Roman soldiers, even if their names remain unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of this paper is a Roman cavalry sports helmet, or more specifically two halves of the same item, made out of copper alloy. It is part of a category of highly decorated military equipment, designed for parade or, more precisely, used in equestrian games/processions by cavalrymen of the Roman army. It was discovered in the area of the Islaz Roman fortifications, on the Olt River Roman frontier, the so-called limes Alutanus. The discovery in itself is spectacular. Both parts of the helmet were discovered almost in the same place, in two separate occasions, both accidental, by private citizens, in a time span of four months. The two fragments that form a whole helmet are well preserved and they present a strong point for the Roman presence at Islaz. The item in itself is a rare and beautiful find, this helmet in particular being the second of its kind (type) known to be found in the world. The helmet is from the Vechten Type, or pseudo-Phrygian type, named after its only analogy, the helmet from Vechten (Netherlands).

This is a short review of the latest results of the archaeological excavations and noninvasive investigations carried out in the Roman forts from the south-western part of Roman Dacia. We want to provide an up to date overview and the unified technical features of these forts. We consider the updating of the bibliographic informations and of the available images and cartographic data and useful tool for further researches or for developing new scientific and archaeological projects. This overview follows the same pattern as the peridiocally reports on different areas of the Roman Empire, published in the proceedings of the International Limes Congresses. After the report published by Doina Benea in the proceedings of the International Limes Congress from Zalău in 1999, updated in a book on the history of the Banat region during antiquity in 2016, Eduard Nemeth published several important synthesis.

The relevance of the research topic is due to the insufficient study of the role of the governors of the Senate provinces in the military command system of the early Roman Empire. Completion of this knowledge is necessary both for studying the military organization of Rome, and for revealing the essence of the Roman state-political system. The purpose of the study is to find the legal and ideological grounds for the military status of the governors of the senatorial provinces, which, in the author’s opinion, should be resolved primarily in the context of considering the issue of imperium militiae of such governors. In the absence of direct indications in this regard in the sources, the method of reconstruction was the analysis of specific material (including prosopographic), reflecting the military functions of the governors appointed by the Senate. The author made an attempt to find out the commander’s status of the governors by finding a full-fledged imperium militiae in them. The author’s conclusion: throughout the entire period of the early Empire, the governors of the senatorial provinces retained their imperium militiae, continuing to carry out the functions of a military leader, although to a much lesser extent than at the beginning of the period. Such governors remained an important element in the system of military command, especially in critical situations that regularly arose even in the «pacified» provinces.

In Mark, Herod Antipas orders John the Baptist's execution by a σπεκουλάτωρ. Thus, Mark becomes the first witness to the use of the word σπεκουλάτωρ in Greek. The Latin word speculator was used in the first century mainly in respect of the praetorian speculatores soldiers who acted as the emperor's personal guard in Rome and who were involved in the events of the civil war in the years 68–70 CE. Mark's use of the word σπεκουλάτωρ (along with other factors) points to the city of Rome as the gospel's origin, since the vast majority of attestations of the word speculator occur in the city of Rome, where these soldiers mainly carried out their duties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern scholarship uses the language of professionalism when referring to the armies of the Romans. The armies and their soldiers are seen to have become more professional from the mid-second century BCE. This paradigmatic view of Roman history invites the question as to whether "professionalism" is the appropriate language to apply to Rome's armies from 200 BCE to the battle of Actium in 31 BCE. The paper confines itself to the period 200 to 31 BCE but raises questions that can reasonably be asked of the use of the terms to describe Roman armies in the imperial period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the distribution and use of war booty in the Roman Republic. In spite of quite extensive historiography on this question, scholars as a rule focused their interest on the role of the commander in the process of dividing the loot, and the collective of citizens of the Roman state, which also claimed part of the loot, unreasonably remained without required attention. Therefore the article analyzes the parts of the Roman civitas, among which the spoils of war were distributed, namely, the commander, the soldiers and the treasury. Besides the desire of each of the parties to get their «legitimate» part of the loot inevitably led to a number of conflicts, which were later reflected in the literary tradition. Based on the information from narrative sources, author of the article highlights not the economic, but the political and ideological aspects of the problem – how the distribution of loot was carried out, what traditions were formed for this procedure, whether there was any law, what social contradictions were in the division of the loot, what ideas are associated with this process and what place civil community is occupied in the distribution of the spoils of war. Discussion of all these issues allows us to create an idea of the role that war booty played in the economy of the Roman Republic; in particular, the article reveals the issues of the relations between war booty and tax system. In addition, the article presents a number of important remarks on the interrelation of the commander, the army and the state treasury, which were the main players in the process of dividing the spoils of war. The article concludes that in Rome, until the end of the Republic, there was no universal norm of law which would regulate the processes of distribution of war booty; it is more likely to claim that there is some tradition which took into account the interests of all parties and changed with the development of Roman statehood.

The article discusses some aspects of the participation of the Roman nobility of the Principate period in providing the military command of the empire. This issue is being investigated in connection with the problem of the inertia of the aristocratic consciousness, which manifested itself in the desire of representatives of the Roman nobility for military glory. It is concluded that the military command in the early Roman Empire, having become an imperial prerogative, continued to be an expression of aristocratic identity. The reciprocal attitude to these searches on the part of the princeps was also largely due not only to the vitality of social practices inherited from the previous period, but also to a similar inertia of consciousness.

Updates are provided on this epigraphic plaque, as a result of its restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Araucaria is the property of Araucaria-Revista Iberoamericana de Filosofia, Politica y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The first years of Constantine's reign in Britain and Gaul were largely a continuation of the mode of government established by Emperor Diocletian. The son of Constantius I had to ensure that his person was accepted in the Roman provinces where his father ruled. Therefore, it was a priority for Constantine to build lasting ties with the soldiers and civilian inhabitants of the land over which he had succeeded in taking power since 306 A.D. An important role in the process of his propaganda self-creation - in its initial phase at least - would be played by the issuance of coins that featured Virtus. The intention of the author of this text, in relation to the title problem, is therefore to show the context of the creation and practical use of the minted at Constantine's initiative of his first mint issues, on which this ancient Roman military idea was immortalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tangled tale of military resistance and reform (342 bce) includes a new rule that a man not be a centurion after being a military tribune, inspired, Livy notes, by soldiers' dislike of P. Salonius, who moved between those ranks. This article examines this episode as evidence for the development of Rome's military and the increasingly separate orientation of centurions and military tribunes therein. The framing of the story adds to our knowledge of the transmission of historical information at Rome, while its analysis allows us to view more critically the homogenizing representation of Roman soldiers as civic-minded agrarian small-holders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gerion: Revista de Historia Antigua is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article questions the relevance of the modern concepts of “extreme violence” and “massacre” to analyse the violence suffered collectively by Roman armies during military disasters. Through the example of the wars waged in the Iberian Peninsula between 219 and 133 BC, it analyses the historiographical treatment of episodes of carnage between the 3rd century BC and the beginning of the 5th century AD. The study shows that the Romans had an expanded perception of the concept of disaster for which they used the same vocabulary as for the notion of massacre, but also that episodes that fall into this category have been integrated into the historiography in an idealized topical form which reveals the Roman resilience processes. Finally, it shows, in a diachronic perspective, how the ancient historians’ manner of integrating the Roman defeats into the overall narrative of the Hispanic wars testifies to the evolution of the stakes of their remembrance between the end of the Republic and the end of the Empire.

The purpose of this study is to make known the recent research results, but especially to highlight the importance of these results both scientifically and in a broader context, determined by the submission for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List (Frontiers of the Roman Empire), as well as the project and commencement of works for the A 1 highway, Sibiu-Pitești, segment 2 (Boița-Cornetu). The paper provides the basis necessary to justify the nomination to the World Heritage List, as well as the technical support required for preservation and enhancement actions by the highway constructor. We will briefly outline the results of the recent documentation carried out within the framework of the National LIMES Programme in the Racovița and Copăceni forts, together with the associated roman civil settlements and other archaeological features.

This study aims to explore the connection between religious and military spheres in Constantinian propaganda. The extensive use of propaganda and the notorious public discourse which involves the dynamics of power during Late Antiquity show how religion and the military played a key role. This principle reaches a singular meaning in the case of emperor Constantine I. To this extent, this paper considers several kinds of sources, which include legal, literary, and numismatic, among others. An analysis of the political uses of imperial constitutions by the emperor (especially CTh 7.20.2) can be of particular interest in order to address the ideas of self-representation and the politics of legitimation. Ultimately, the paper highlights the importance of imperial propaganda in Later Roman society, as well as the transformations in Constantine's public discourse, where the connection between army and religion shows an evolution from the previous ways of understanding imperial power and where the bond of the ruler with a supreme divinity is a central issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legionary base at Legio (Legion II Trajana and Legion VI Ferrata) is the first fullscale legionary base of the Principate excavated in the Eastern Empire. The 2015-2019 excavation seasons of the Jezreel Valley Regional Project focused on the headquarters compound, the principia. While many components of the compound are typical of those of permanent legionary bases throughout the Empire, several unique features of the principia at Legio offer new research avenues concerning the function of these buildings within the Roman army administrative system and community life. This paper summarizes the results of the 2015-2019 seasons of excavation and remote sensing within the principia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decimation is a notorious punishment inflicted by the Roman army. One tenth of a unit accused of cowardice or gross dereliction of duty was chosen by lot and beaten to death (fustuarium) by the rest of the legion. It is traditionally viewed as a method of instilling discipline through fear, but in practice rarely occurred. This paper reexamines decimation using modern “primary group” theory. It concludes that decimation was not a destructive force but a healing one. It reintegrated offending units through collective acceptance of both guilt and the necessity for punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Euphrates contact zone has been a watershed between microsystems for thousands of years. Here several syncretic religious systems, confessions and heretical movements has been formed. The military settlers played a role of the main ground for most of them: stratiotes, members of their families and their closest environment. It is not a coincidence that from this limitrophic environment most of the warriors confessors came out. Especially famous among them is Centurion Longinus, who pierced Christ’s body with a spear in order to make sure that he died on the cross. The next soldier who believed in Christ was Cornelius the Centurion, the first pagan who did not see Christ. Both centurions were from Cappadocia. The spread of Christianity, thanks to the preaching among the soldiers, took place almost along the entire perimeter of the Roman Empire. Missionary preaching was most actively conducted in Cappadocia, Galatia and Sebastia. Hagiographic tradition mentions many cases of persecution of Christians among the border guards, especially among officers. A typical example is the story of the forty martyrs of Sebaste; at the same time, Gordius, a centurion from Caesarea, suffered for his faith. During the reign of Emperor Maximian, another major Christian military commander, Andrew Stratelates, suffered for his faith in the south of Great Armenia, in the Taurus Mountains, and also, according to Armenian church tradition, another military commander, Sargis the General (Sergius Stratelates), who served in the Roman border units in the Gamerek region (Cappadocia). The most famous warrior confessor was another Cappadocian – George the Victorious. It is noteworthy that there is an external similarity between George the Victorious and the other holy warriors fighting with dragons – Theodore Stratelates and Theodore Tiron. It was the Euphrates frontier that became the locus of the active formation of a new faith. Images of warriors confessors from the Euphrates contact zone became central in Byzantine and Armenian iconography. The article is an introduction to the topic of semiotic interpretation of the iconography of holy warriors in Eastern Christianity. Евфратская контактная зона в течение тысячелетий была водоразделом между миросистемами. Именно здесь сформировались несколько синкретических религиозных систем, конфессий и еретических течений. Основной питательной средой для большинства из них были военные поселенцы – стратиоты, члены их семей и их ближайшее окружение. Неслучайно, что именно из этой лимитрофной среды вышло больше всего воинов-исповедников. Особо известен среди них центурион Лонгин, пронзивший копьём бок Христа, дабы убедиться, что тот умер на кресте. Следующим уверовавшим воином был центурион Корнелиус (Корнилий), первый язычник, не видевший Христа. Оба сотника были родом из Каппадокии. Распространение христианства, благодаря проповеди среди солдат, происходило почти по всему периметру Римской империи. Наиболее активно велись проповеди в Каппадокии, Малатии и Себастии. Агиографическая традиция упоминает много случаев гонений на христиан именно среди порубежников, особенно среди офицеров. Характерный пример – история сорока Севастийских мучеников; тогда же пострадал за веру и сотник из Кесарии Гордий. В правление императора Максимиана пострадал за веру другой крупный христианский военачальник Андрей Стратилат на юге Великой Армении, в горах Тавра, а также, согласно армянскому церковному преданию, другой военачальник – Сергиос¬-Саргис, служивший в римских пограничных частях в области Гамерек (Каппадокия). Самым знаменитым воином-исповедником стал другой каппадокиец – Георгий Победоносец. Примечательно внешнее сходство между Георгием Победоносцем и другими святыми воинами-змееборцами – Феодором Стратилатом и Феодором Тироном. Именно приевфратский фронтир стал локусом активного формирования новой веры. Образы воинов-исповедников из приевфратской контактной зоны стали центральными в византийской и армянской иконографии. Статья является введением в тему семиотической интерпретации иконографии святых воинов в восточном христианстве.

Some texts and images of the cornicines (as military musicians) and their role within the strategy of war or in times of peace are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the recruitment procedure used, Roman soldiers could be uoluntarii, lecti and uicarii. This seems to be deduced from the reply given by the Emperor Trajan to a query sent by Pliny the Younger (Epist., X, 29-30) during his period of rule over the provinces of Bithynia and Pontus (109-111 BC). While it is true that the Roman army was largely composed of volunteer soldiers, there were times when compulsory conscriptions were necessary, which were much more common and unpopular than traditional historiography had assumed. However, faced with the use of various subterfuges to fraudulently evade forced military service (intentional mutilations, bribes, etc.), there was the legal possibility --i.e. recognised by the military authorities-- of presenting substitutes (uicarii) to take the place of who had been called up (lectus). The uicarius had, however, to fulfil all the formal requirements demanded of any recruit (tiro). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquila Legionis volumes 24-25 (2021-2022) were a special issue publishing the Database of Military Inscriptions and Papyri of Early Roman Palestine, collecting 406 different inscriptions and papyri from or relating to Palestine in the period 63 BCE-130 CE. One of the more exciting things about the study of antiquity is discoveries that cast new light upon existing theories. There is a plan to annually collect relevant discoveries and any corrigenda in the latest issue of Aquila Legionis. This is the first such supplement to DMIPERP. There is a more concerted effort to adhere to the standards of the Leiden conventions henceforth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jewish religion, especially its dietary laws, has been seen as an obstacle to Jewish military service in the armies of the Roman Empire and, thus, is used as a main argument by scholars who deny that Jews served in the Roman army in any considerable numbers. The current essay is the first to examine this claim. Its first part shows that Jews would not have been unique among ethnic army recruits in having dietary restrictions, while the second part presents the diet of the Roman soldier. The third part uses the Jewish soldier as a case study of the capability of any serviceman, no matter his faith or ethnicity, to serve in the army while keeping his customs and traditions with regard to food. Lastly, the article raises the possibility that the Roman logistical system was purposefully structured to ease the service of soldiers from different cultures and ethnicities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study deals with the mature period of a Roman hilltop fortress (3rd-6th centuries AD) established at Zerzevan which is part of Upper Mesopotamia, now lying in Diyarbakır Province, Southeast Turkey. The site of Zerzevan was constructed according to predetermined rules and principles, with certain standards. It is possible that the Roman army, which specialized in organizing its frontiers with robust fortifications, hosted legionaries from different regions here. The main method of research is based on a combination of field evidence and textual data, giving priority to preliminary results of the excavations carried out on the site since 2014. Theories about the characterization of the site corresponding to the typical requirements of a border garrison approach the idea of an Auxilia/ Tactical Fortress, usually built by the legionaries (instead of an above-standard size Castrum Romanum) which could have been customized according to various factors arising from the geo-political conditions of the region. In this context, it must have been built as a local line of defense utilized in the outer boundaries of the Roman Empire, to meet the minimum requirements of a standard size base and/or outpost. The integrity of the site supports the hypothesis that it could have been ranked as a secondary order castrum in the operational chain of command and order of the Roman army. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Illyrica / Godišnjak Udruženja BATHINVS ACTA ILLYRICA is the property of Association for the Study & Promotion of Illyrian Heritage, Ancient & Classical Civilizations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The focus of this study is Novae (in Moesia Inferior) and the Thracians in local military, administrative and civilian structures. My interest was provoked by the success of Roman provincialism, which led a particular person, their family or a group of people in a settlement to call themselves "Romans" or "Greeks". The processes known as Romanization and Hellenization depended on a number of factors, such as the presence of Roman legionary and auxiliary units, administration and urbanization, production and trade, etc. To these factors can be added the military-political aspirations of the emperor, the central and provincial authorities, as well as the geographical features of an area. In this case, the legionary headquarters of legio I Italica is one such specific point. With its location -- between the "civilized" society of the Balkan south and barbaricum in the north, between the highly Latinized West and the Hellenic πιαι in the East -- it is one of the most important links in the provincial system along the Lower Danube. It is at such a dynamic point that it is interesting to trace the Thracian population and clarify its participation in the local landscape, its motivation for this and the methods of realization in the structures created by the authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the evidences of epigraphic texts mentioning the rural territories of Moesia Inferior as a source of recruitment. We try to explain the high frequency of the mentions in the territory of Nicopolis ad Istrum, without neglecting the other rural milieus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verse inscriptions spread along the Roman limes mainly with the Roman army, but in each province this happens with specific dynamics and at a different pace. A specific trait which distinguishes Moesia inferior from the other provinces is that Latin verse inscriptions appear only at the end of the second / beginning of the third century. This paper provides an overview of the production of Latin verse inscriptions in the settlements on the limes as well as in the immediate hinterland of the province, and studies the factors and forces that contribute to the spread of an epigraphic poetic habit. The use of different rhythms and meters are analysed along with the most common themes, which are treated in the poems. Among these, the address to the wayfarer seems to be very popular, especially among the veterans in the hinterland. The distribution of the verse inscriptions and their metres and topics is not casual but follows the specific patterns of the settlements. This allows us to identify specific fingerprints in defined micro-contexts. Two factors in particular seem to have favoured the diffusion of verse inscriptions in this region: the new cultural habits of the veterans who had served in Rome and the strong cultural influence of Tomis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]