3rd Century AD Research Articles

Climate and natural risks of the settlement of Yuzhno-Ussuriysk fortress area

The paleogeographic study of one of the large Medieval settlements of the Jin Empire (1115–1234) in the Primorye was carried out in order to analyze the minor climatic rhythm during the settlement of a large river valley. New data on the chronology of the settlement were obtained using radiocarbon dating of charcoal and tephrostratigraphy. It was established that the territory began to be developed by the Krounovskaya culture (4th century BC to the 3rd century AD) under relatively dry conditions associated with a decrease in the summer monsoon intensity. In the 10th century the humidity increased sharply. The peak of warming occurred in the 11th century. At this time Medieval settlement appeared here, that existed before the construction of the fortress. The layers of this settlement lie under the ramparts. The study of pollen and diatoms in the cultural layers has allowed us to determine the characteristics of the environment during the Jurchen period (12th–13th centuries). Radiocarbon dating of the humus shows that the cultural layers contain redeposited organogenic material, which provides information on the pre-Jurchen environment. It has been established that significant changes in the natural steppe landscapes occurred in the early Middle Ages. Pollen data show signs of agriculture and other economic activities, including the plants’ cultivation, the development of ruderal plants and apophytes, as well as spores of pathogenic fungi. During the development of the territory in the Middle Ages, the main risks were associated with severe floods. Layers of loams found among the cultural layers indicate the repeated flooding of the fortress. Bioindicators of severe floods are allochthonous diatoms, represented by species that lived in the aquatic environment.

Braiding Fruits and Flowers as a Wish of Prosperity and Victory over Death in the Carved Festoons of Ancient Rome

Plant motifs had a significant role in ancient cultures, with decorative, artistic, and communicative values. However, little knowledge exists of the botanical composition of festoons, widely used in Greek-Roman art. We analysed 81 festoons, exclusively from sculpture artworks, collected from 13 museums and archaeological sites in Rome (1st century BC–3rd century AD). Using iconographic sources and previous data, we identified the represented species and analysed their abundance and composition using statistical methods (Cluster Analysis, Principal Components Analysis) and diversity indexes (Shannon and Evenness). We documented 3081 botanical elements, identifying 30 taxa, in which fruits with leaves (45%) or alone (10%) represented the most common ones. Laurus nobilis and Quercus cfr. robur were the most frequently depicted species, followed by “pomes” (Pyrus, Malus, Cydonia), Vitis vinifera, Punica granatum, and Ficus carica. Festoons with one or two species can be easily distinguished from those with multiple species, often arranged with figs or vine branches at the ends, with symbolic aims related to fertility, rebirth, and abundance values. A balanced botanical composition also exists, with flowers typically in the middle and a species distribution that is not casual. The results enriched our comprehension of ancient Roman society, considering funerary and celebrative events.

Zum aktuellen Stand der «raetischen Statuettenwerkstatt»

Robert Fleischer was the first, in 1963, to attribute a common workshop to a group of seven bronze statuettes of the late 2nd/early 3rd centuries AD, the majority of which had been found in the provinces of Raetia and Noricum, more exactly in the area of the Limes forts situated along the Danube (Straubing, Regensburg, Enns) and in their hinterland. What makes these statuettes so distinctive are their stylistic features characterised by a lack of artistic imagination and variation which results in a very schematic modelling of bodies and garments. This uniformity is due to the fact that the wax models were built up by using the same partial negative moulds. Meanwhile the number of bronzes to be attributed to this workshop has increased considerably; today we know of twenty-three statuettes and five single bases. As new types of deities Diana and Vulcan have been added. According to their findspots the statuettes were in demand primarily by civilians living in vici or villas in the densely populated area south of the Limes but there is evidence, too, for their use within military forts.

Recycle, repair and reuse in Roman Napoca

The archaeological rescue excavations carried out between 1992 and 2001 and again in 2012 in Roman Napoca (Cluj-Napoca, Romania), on the site from Victor Deleu Street revealed important information regarding the life of the ancient town and its residential areas. One of the most interesting discoveries is represented by an assemblage of twelve metal objects: a statue, a statuette, three fragmentary metal vessels, four pieces belonging to lighting equipment (candlesticks and a lamp base), a pair of scissors fragmentarily preserved and two decorated bronze plates. They were identified on the floor of an annex belonging to a private residence, in a context which can be dated during the fourth–fifth decades of the 3rd century AD. The paper is a preliminary analysis of the assemblage. The objects are all high-quality imports and most of them present traces of repair or were recomposed from different parts coming from other objects. They attest the existence of a ‘antiquarian-restorer’ in Roman Napoca and reveal a clear concern for selecting, collecting, recycling, repairing and refunctioning good quality objects.

NOMINA OF MARRIED WOMEN IN CUM MANU MARRIAGES IN THE ROMAN REPUBLIC AND PRINCIPATE ERAS

Generally, a daughter in parental power in Roman family in the Republic and the Principate did not have personal name, but bore her father’s name in the feminine. A woman kept her father’s family name in marriage, but if she came under her husband’s lawful authority and became a member of his clan, her father’s family name became her personal name and her husband’s family name was added in the nominative or genitive case. In modern historical and legal science is traditionally considered that this custom was strictly observed in Republican Rome. But in the 2nd – 1st centuries BC this custom disappeared with the gradual withering away of cum manu marriage (confarreatio, coemptio, usus). The author, basing on the position of Theodor Mommsen about the family name of married women, analyses the sources of classical Roman law of the 1st – 3rd centuries AD and concludes that the marriages confarreatio and coemtio and the husband’s power over the wife continued throughout the Principate. In addition, the author hypotheses that the tradition of attaching the husband’s name to the father’s family name of the married woman also continued throughout the classical period of Roman law.

Pottery and Social Practice: Between Home and Abroad

This article aims to explore the uses of material culture and their relevance to identity formation. The premise is applied specifically to the moving auxilia, in order to observe the effects of movement and transfers on the selection and consumption of material culture within the military environment. It is common knowledge that pottery supply and use within the Roman military were to an extent governed by specific state-controlled supply routes and contracts, meaning that the same pottery styles could have been observed at different forts from different regions. Nonetheless, the cultural side of demand should not be overlooked as it may have tailored supply differently to various regions depending on the preferences in the area. Similarly, auxiliary units transferred from home may have preserved some of their familiar pottery styles and reproduce them upon arrival to the new territory. This article will explore the ways pottery was employed at locations associated with Batavian auxilia in order to capture their image construction between home and abroad. Once removed from their core territory and placed in a new environment with new norms in terms of material culture and even dressing and addressing one another, how did their consumption adapt to the area and to which extent did it keep a unique character? The main case-study explored in this paper is Războieni in order to assess the pottery consumption patterns of Batavian auxilia abroad in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.

Population at Callatis and Odessus: The Roman Soldiers

This paper focuses on the military personnel epigraphically attested at Callatis and Odessus up to the 3rd century AD. Considering the status of the two cities as civitates peregrinae, the presence of soldiers is exceptional, and mostly temporary, consequently, it is interesting to see what are the epigraphic traces that soldiers leave here, and in what context.

Religio castrensis: A Case Study of Potaissa (Dacia)

There was a standard religious observance in the Roman army, attributed to the reforms of the age of Augustus, but not documented until the time of Severus Alexander, through famous religious calendars on papyrus discovered at Dura Europos, known as Feriale Duranum. The document contains the dates of the religious year, the days being divided into three main groups: imperial anniversaries, certain common holidays (Kalendae Ianuariae, natalis Martis patris Victoris, Quinquatria, natalis Urbis Romae aeternae, Vestalia, Neptunalia) and only three proper military celebrations (honesta missio on January 7 and two Rosaliae signorum on May 10 and 31). How are these common celebrations reflected in the votive activity that leaves material traces on a legionary camp like that of Potaissa? Archaeological research of the principia (1974–1989) and the courtyard of this building (atrium) (2008–2011) led to the discovery of six bases of statues and a plinth, which it should be associated with the marble slabs, fragments of which were discovered scattered throughout the basilica principiorum, in the courtyard (atrium) as well as in the side porticoes. According to the reading of these six inscriptions in the principia of Potaissa, in the cases where the emperors could be identified, there was in the 3rd century AD statues dedicated to Septimius Severus, Caracalla and Julia Domna (two inscriptions), possibly also for Elagabalus associated with Julia Maesa and Julia Soemias, Gordian III and Sabina Tranquillina and Philip the Arab and his son. Thus, one can imagine the celebrations evoked by Feriale Duranum (natales and dies imperii of these emperors of the Severian dynasty, respectively of the barrack emperors) which took place in front of the statues dedicated by the officers and optiones of the legion.

Roman Religion in the Danubian Provinces: Space Sacralisation and Religious Communication During the Principate (1st–3rd Century AD). By C. Szabó. Oxbow, Oxford & Philadelphia, 2022. Pp. xiii + 298, illus. Price £38. isbn 9781789257830; 9781789257847 (eBook).

Roman Religion in the Danubian Provinces: Space Sacralisation and Religious Communication During the Principate (1st–3rd Century AD). By C. Szabó. Oxbow, Oxford &amp; Philadelphia, 2022. Pp. xiii + 298, illus. Price £38. <scp>isbn</scp> 9781789257830; 9781789257847 (eBook).

Rock Sanctuaries of Apollo in Southern Pisidia: Traditional and “Author’s”

Most rock sanctuaries founded in the mountains of Taurus in the 1st – 3rd century AD had a votive character. These sanctuaries belonged to different deities. In southern Pisidia, three traditional rock sanctuaries of Apollo are known: in Perminus, near the city of Pednelissos, and near the ancient city, whose ruins are located near Kocaaliler. The iconography of Apollo in these sanctuaries differs from the image of a naked god familiar to the Greeks. On the votive stelae from Perminus, Apollo is represented as a rider-god, and in two other sanctuaries the image of the god reproduces the basic principles of the idea of the local god of the Pamphylian city of Side, the so-called Apollo Sidetes. But in the 2nd half of the 2nd century AD, a resident of the city of Adada named Leontianos founded near the road in Yazılı kanyon his “author’s” sanctuary. Based on the traditional votive principle, Leontianos carved on the rock his own verses containing hortations in Stoic philosophy and presented his walking stick as a gift to Apollo. This walking stick symbolized the rejection of reliance on everything material and the achievement of inner freedom, which was taught by Epictetus. The author provides a comparative description of these sanctuaries and points out how the idea of erecting an “author’s” sanctuary arose from the tradition of founding votive sanctuaries and how this new sanctuary differed from the traditional ones.

Roman Amphorae from Gonio (Apsaros), 1st–3rd Centuries AD

Roman Amphorae from Gonio (Apsaros), 1st–3rd Centuries AD

‘Problems’ at School: Mathematical Testimonies from the Fayum in the Roman Period

Abstract The common association between the teaching of numbers and basic arithmetical operations, on the one hand, and the earliest levels of linguistic-literary education, on the other, is a datum on which interpreters of Greek papyrological sources are now essentially agreed. A more controversial and less often considered question is whether, in these same ‘scholastic courses’, this basic knowledge also encompassed geometrical and metrological calculations in the form of ‘problems’ (which are typical of the papyrological mathematical tradition). Only a few witnesses to the latter type of texts in Greek have characteristics that would most likely associate them with instructional contexts. The four oldest of these date between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD and are of proven or hypothetical Fayumic provenance. Although they are few in number, these witnesses attest to certain practices in the teaching of mathematics, at least in this historical-geographical context, which are worthy of note.

Polemika medzi cisárom Hadriánom a filozofom Epiktétom

The work, Dialogue between the Emperor Hadrian and Epictetus the Philosopher, is a fictional dialogue consisting of seventy-three questions and answers, probably written in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. It features the Roman emperor Hadrian as the questioning pupil and the Stoic philosopher Epictetus as the responding teacher. Most of the questions can be divided into two main categories. The smaller part is written in the form of riddles. The others are definitions. The questions deal with a variety of topics: things to do with death (e.g. gravedigger, funeral pyre), definitions of various metals (gold, silver, iron), useful things (e.g. letter, picture, sword), relationships and emotional terms (e.g. friendship, hope, love), celestial objects (sun, moon, sky, stars, earth), and realities related to seafaring (sea, ship, sailor), nightlife (sleep, night, pillow) or religion (god, sacrifice). This work was particularly influential in the development of medieval dialogue. The most famous adaptation is the Enfant Sage, which originated in the 13th century somewhere in the region of Provence.

The Terminology of Soft Furnishings in Ancient Babylonia, Greece, and Rome: A Comparative Approach

Various kinds of textiles were used to furnish domestic spaces in Antiquity, such as curtains, covers, hangings, pillows, cushions, mattresses, rugs, tapestries, tablecloths, and towels. These objects have practical and everyday functions, they embellish and add to daily comfort in the house and speak to the owner’s prosperity. Being made of perishable materials, furnishings have, on the whole, not survived in ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. Apart from a few excavated pieces of textiles found in tombs, our information comes primarily from written testimonia and iconography. It is thus essential to consider soft furnishings in their own right, in order to better identify their vocabulary in the literary sources. In the private context, furnishings offer glimpses of the domestic life rarely documented in texts. In the religious context, furnishings provide clues for the interior sacred space, the cultic furniture, the various ceremonies that took place (opening and closing the curtains in front of the divine statue, arranging dishes on a nape, washing, and wiping hands during ablution rituals, etc.), and their luxurious production. Furthermore, the terminology of soft furnishings gives information about their material appearance, method of manufacture, and decoration, and should therefore be fully included in the economic and technical history of textile crafts in antiquity. This article examines the terminologies of soft furnishings in three contexts: Babylonia in the 1st millennium BC, ancient Greece (5th–1st centuries BC) and the Roman world (3rd BC–3rd centuries AD). The observation of the vocabulary of soft furnishings in three different contexts and periods of the ancient world reveals common points, evolutions, circulation of objects, and uses.

Soldiers of Hispanic Origin on the Danubian Border: a Study Through Epigraphic Documentation

In this paper we study the inscriptions of soldiers of Hispanic origin who did their military service on the Danube frontier. Geographically, our study covers the provinces of Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia, Moesia(e) and Dacia; chronologically, we will move between the 1st and the beginning of the 3rd century AD. The basis of this work is an epigraphic corpus of 19 inscriptions mentioning 27 military men. From these inscriptions, we will analyse the communities of origin of the Hispanic soldiers stationed in the Danubian limes, their period and units of service, their social and family relations and, in the case of the veterani, their return to civilian life.

Georgian Traces in the History of the Chuvash

The paper deals with the Transcaucasian prehistoric period in the history of the ancestors of the Chuvash people. Goals. The study aims to identify and analyse the sources and literature on the topic relating to events of the 7th to 1st centuries BC. Materials and methods. The work employs a complex approach to the examination of the material, which made it possible to analyse the sources and the thoughts of predecessors consistently and systematically. The study focuses on works of historians, ethnographers and linguists about the ethnic groups that previously inhabited and now inhabit the areas to the south of the Greater Caucasus. The sources that proved important include the works by such historians as Herodotus (5th century BC), Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd c. BC), Pseudo-Orpheus (4th c. AD), Priscus Panionensis (5th c.), Menander Protector and Stephanus of Byzantium (both 6th c.). The paper also makes use of some pronouncements by such remarkable researchers as Andrey Golovnev, Sergey Arutyunov, Alikber Alikberov, Nicholas Berdzenishvili, Vera Budanova, Murtazali Gadzhiev, and David Muskhelishvili. Results. Impartial investigation shows that the ethnonym of the Chuvash has undergone a lengthy course of transformation through history in the form of Savir (Saspir/Sapir, Savar, Sabir) → Suvar (Suvas, Suvan) → Suvash → T’šăvaš (Chuvash). As far back as the 7th century BC, to the southeast of Colchis a large confederation of tribes headed by the Saspirs came into being. The study reveals and confirms traces in the pre-history of the distant ancestors of the Chuvash that are shared with the peoples of Georgia. In the period under examination, the historical forerunners of the Chuvash lived in a territory between Media and Colchis, between the Medes and the Colchians. In the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD, they were recorded to inhabit the Chorokh River valley. Alongside historical events, the publication traces ethnographic parallels with the ancient Georgian peoples and some shared elements of vocabulary.

Roman Religion in the Danubian Provinces: Space Sacralisation and Religious Communication during the Principate (1st–3rd Century AD). By Csaba Szabó.

Roman Religion in the Danubian Provinces: Space Sacralisation and Religious Communication during the Principate (1st–3rd Century AD). By Csaba Szabó.

Limonite deposit at the Mikniškiai settlement site (South Lithuania)

A cemented limonite deposit and sunken features recorded at the Mikniškiai settlement site (mid-1st century BC – early 3rd century AD) have been interpreted as potential signs of shallow opencast ore mining. Inhabitants of this area of Lithuania maintained close relations with the Bogaczewo culture, through which knowledge of iron metallurgy spread. However, the archaeometallurgical investigation revealed that the tested samples represent natural bog ore that was insufficiently Fe-enriched material for iron smelting. There were no attempts to increase the iron content by proper pre-processing of the ore. Moreover, the archaeological investigation revealed no traces of ore roasting and not a single piece of iron slag was found at the site. This implies that to assume the occurrence of ore-rich sediments in the vicinity of Iron Age settlements as an indication of iron bloomery might be premature and the circumstances of their discovery allow more than one alternative interpretation.

Roman Lamps Discovered at Romula (I)

"This article presents a batch of lamps discovered, in 2022, in the central area of the Roman city of Romula. Import lamps of the type Loeschcke VIII/Ivanyi VII, Loeschcke X with the marks FORTIS, IANVARI and OCTAVI, respectively Loeschcke VIII/Bailey Type K. They circulated from the second quarter of the 2nd century AD to the middle of the third century, with greater frequency from the second half of the 2nd century to the first third of the 3rd century AD. Lamps of local production are of the type Loeschcke VIII, similar to Ivanyi VII, Loeschke X with the mark FAOR, IANVARI, respectively modelled to Alicu XXI type wheel. They have been discovered in archaeological contexts dated from the second half of the 2nd century to the penultimate decade of the 2nd century AD, one lamp of Loeschcke X type with FAOR mark, another with the same mark being dated to the last decade of the 2nd century AD, and the first third of the 3rd century AD. Loeschcke VIII lamps were dated, similar to Ivanyi VII/Bayley O-Q/Ponsich III B/Deneauve VIIA, Loeschcke X with IANVARI stamp, respectively Alicu XXI type lamps. In conclusion, there are more numerous occurences of imported lamps between the second quarter of the 2nd century AD, and the first third of the 3rd century AD., with a higher frequency in the second half of the 2nd century AD. Lamps of local production begin to circulate in the second half of the 2nd century AD, until the middle of the 2nd century AD, with greater frequency from the last decade of the 2nd century AD, to the middle of the 3rd century AD."

Палеоэкологические условия финала сарматской эпохи и их влияния на общества скотоводов и земледельцев Восточной Европы и Западной Сибири

The paper make an attempt to consider the cultural and historical events marking the final stage of the Sarmatian epoch from the point of view of climate dynamics in Eastern Europe. It has been confirmed that the Late Sarmatian period in the Lower Volga region coincided with increasing climate humidity and was characterized by high precipitation during the cold season. This occurred in conditions of the Siberian High weakening, resulted to penetration of the Atlantic and Mediterranean cyclones into the inland regions of Eastern Europe and the western areas of Western Siberia. This led to high snow cover formation and provoked a series of other unfavorable factors that triggered migrations and population decline in nomadic or semi-nomadic societies whose economic basis was cattle herding. We suppose that this climate change scenario was not limited to the Lower Volga region. In the article we analyze paleoclimatic, cultural and historical events of the 3rd – 4th centuries AD which occured in the adjacent regions. We found that during this period the Sargat culture, whose economy was based on semi-nomadic cattle breeding, was declining in most of the forest-steppe east of the Urals. The population in the Southern Urals almost completely disappeared by the last decades 3rd century AD. The area of the Late Sarmatian culture from the Lower Volga region is reduced to the Astrakhan Right Bank of the Volga. Only the Lower Don and the Sal-Manych steppes remained inhabited, which is probably due to the regional resource base specifics. Therefore, in most part of Eastern Europe and the western regions of Western Siberia, the population was declining or disappearing long before the Huns invasion, and increase in climate humidity was among the contributing factors. At the same time, the humid climate of the 3rd – 4th centuries AD had a beneficial impact on the crop production. A high winter precipitation provided the flourish of agricultural societies.