Roman Context Research Articles

La hibridación cultural en los castros del entorno de Lucus Augusti (Lugo, Galicia) a través de la cerâmica común de Época Romana

This study focuses on the characterization of the common pottery productions present in Roman contexts from different deposits in the surroundings of the city of Lucus Augusti, with the main objective of interpretate the transformations that occurred in the zone after the integration of this territory in the Roman world. Through an approach that bets on the analysis of cultural exchange that gives rise to a hybrid culture that has its echo in the pottery, we studied the productions of the hill fort of Saa (A Pastoriza), Agra dos Castros (Lugo) and Viladonga (Castro de Rei). These are different places from each other, which are at different distances from the city and with occupations in periods between the s. I BC and the s. V AD, which has allowed to observe the different realities present in the territory

Their Cross Problem and Ours: Thoughts on the Aesthetic of Crucifixion

Contemporary Christian witness about the death of Jesus moves in a culture already saturated with an aesthetic or intuitive ethic of the crucifixion. That aesthetic has many features acquired though Christianity’s long social dominance. This essay focuses on one aspect, authentically derived from the distinctive understanding Christian faith attributed to the crucifixion. First, I describe the Roman context, and the natural “reading” of the image of a crucified person there, as the background to considering the absence of that image in early Christianity. This leads to exploration of the ways that early Christianity used a variety of typological images to weave a new frame of meaning around the crucifixion of Christ. Then, using Tom Holland’s recent historical synopsis of Christianity, I indicate how this new aesthetic of the cross lodged itself in shared cultural assumptions and perceptions. Finally, I consider the crucial American case of lynching, in which White Christian churches betrayed this distinctive meaning of the crucifixion, Black churches affirmed it, and the cultural aesthetic of crucifixion proved itself a key medium for resistance to lynching. Finally, I suggest some implications for church preaching and teaching in relation to the surrounding culture today.

The Superiority and Universality of the Torah in Philo's Life of Moses 2.12–24: The Significance of the Roman Context

The Superiority and Universality of the Torah in Philo's Life of Moses 2.12–24: The Significance of the Roman Context

Coping with Images of Initiations in the Mithras Cult

This paper starts with a preliminary reflection on the broader field of “mystery cults”, which are characterized by a ban on divulgation and the incommunicability of experience. The “mysteries” of Mithras present a further difficulty: their images, built within Roman contexts, lack the visual markers of the Greek “mystery cult” tradition. Moreover, the epigraphical evidence for the worshippers of Mithras does not mention “mysteries”. The second and longer section of the paper addresses the few frescoes that were interpreted as depictions of initiation rituals inside three mithraea and on an adorned krater. It first recalls the main approaches to the interpretation of these images (historiography, anthropological approach, semiotic reading), and then argues that these images intended to display to the viewers (insiders/initiates) a sense of grouping and of contrasted agencies within the groups, to different extents in each mithraeum. By focusing on a case-study from Caesarea Maritima, it proposes to identify the three different ways through which a religious group might give an image both of itself and to itself: a collective ritual (i.e. a procession), the initiation as a transmission (without a special terrifying ambiance), and a mythological narrative on the deity who protects the group.

The Melite Civitas Romana Project: The Case for a Modern Exploration of the Roman Domus, Malta

Abstract The Roman Domus in Mdina, Malta, has become an idealised example of the Roman presence in the Maltese Islands; the partial remains of a lavishly decorated domus that would have in its time been situated within the walls of the urbanised Roman city of Melite. The site, last excavated more than 100 years ago, is also home to the only museum in the Maltese Islands, which is solely dedicated to house and showcase a collection of artefacts that date from the Roman period in Maltese history. This site alone provides a unique perspective on Roman Malta, being our only substantial remnant from the Roman Maltese capital, and needs a refocused and renewed exploration. For a long time, the archaeology of Roman sites in Malta has suffered a distinct lack of priority, and it has only been in the last two decades that considerably more focus has been placed on understanding the Roman period. Most of the archaeological focus, in this respect, has centred on agricultural villas, and though this study has illuminated a better understanding of the Roman period, very little has been undertaken in the last century in piecing together the importance of urban Melite to the broader nature of life in the islands, as well as their place in the larger context of the central Roman Mediterranean. The Melite Civitas Romana Project offers the potential of new understanding of the domus and the surrounding archaeological environment through a modern exploration of the site and the promise of the first available assemblage of Roman material from an urban Roman context.

EPICTETO Y LA REVALORACIÓN DE LA DESVERGÜENZA CÍNICA

The way in which Epictetus received the cynical inheritance is particularly interesting, not merely because he is the only one of the Stoics whose extensive and famous discourse on Cynicism is preserved, but above all because of the complex device through which he succeeds in giving a fundamental place to Cynicism in the Stoic worldview, while at the same time placing rigid limits on its propagation and impact on the social body. This device works by hermeneutically remodeling the cynical character, which does not consist of softening him, of smoothing his asperities or ignoring his impudence, as some have argued, but rather in highlighting his radical exceptionality, his extreme singularity, which is precisely what allows him, and even demands of him, a behavior that would be unacceptable for the rest of mortals. The aim of this paper will be, precisely, to point out and explain these properly Epictetian strategies of reception of Cynicism and to understand its philosophical and ideological function in the Roman context.

Faunal assemblage from the manufacturing district at Spolverino: from the Roman Imperial period to Late Antiquity

This paper presents a zooarchaeological analysis from the site of Spolverino (southern Tuscany, Italy). Archaeological excavations have uncovered a complex stratigraphy dated from the Roman Imperial period to Late Antiquity (late 1st- early 6th centuries AD). The industrial function of the site in Imperial times is partially reflected in the nature of the faunal assemblage. In Late Antiquity, Spolverino lost its original manufacturing functions, as many of the workshops were abandoned; our evidence, however, suggests that some livestock was kept, probably managed by a restricted group of people still living in that area. Some hunting was practiced throughout the occupation but it increased in the later periods. Remarkable, in Late Antiquity, is the occurrence of the fallow deer, an introduced species, rare in Roman contexts.

A Roman Portrait of Abraham in Paul’s and Philo’s Later Exegesis

Abstract This article analyzes Bible exegesis as a key to understand the increasingly Roman orientation of Paul. Philo of Alexandria, Paul’s slightly older contemporary, is introduced as a point of comparison, as his move from the earlier Allegorical Commentary to the Life of Abraham clearly documents an intellectual journey towards Roman discourses, which is characteristic also of Paul. The argument is presented in three steps: initially the image of Abraham in Galatians is compared to that in Romans and the new discourse of exemplarity in the latter is highlighted. In the second section Philo’s image of Abraham is analyzed in its dramatic change from systematic Bible commentary to exemplary ethics. The third section deals with the Roman context. The latter is illuminated by looking at some passages in Philo’s later treatise Every Good Man is Free, which addresses Roman audiences on their own turf by discussing Greek and Roman heroes. It is shown that these Pagan portraits are animated by the same discourse of exemplarity as Philo’s and Paul’s Roman portrait of Abraham in their later exegesis. As the Pagan anecdotes have parallels in Roman literature, they provide a context for Paul’s and Philo’s exegesis in a Roman key.

Plautus goes USA: the adaptation ofRudensby the Ladies’ Literary Society of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1884

AbstractThis article investigates the first documented performance of a Plautine comedy in Latin in the USA. In 1884, The Ladies’ Literary Society of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, staged Plautus’ Rudens in Latin with an all-female cast. This performance offers a unique opportunity to analyse the Society’s understanding and interpretation of Plautus’ play as well as its adaptation for the nineteenth-century stage. Furthermore, the Society provided an English translation for its academic and especially its non-academic audience, evidence of how the Society dealt with the Plautine Latin text. Based on this translation and contemporary newspaper and journal articles, this article outlines the main characteristics of the Society’s adaptation. First, this production merits scrutiny in the historical context of staging ancient Greek and Roman plays in the USA during the late-nineteenth century, since the Society followed the trend, started by Harvard University’s staging of Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus in 1881, of presenting ancient plays ‘authentically’. Nevertheless, the Society seems to have staged this Roman comedy as a feminist response to Harvard’s production of a Greek tragedy. Secondly, the Society modernised Plautus’ comedy by adding strong melodramatic elements, and thirdly, it reflected the contemporary socio-cultural context by alluding to current American concerns.

Reading Josephus’ “Prophetic” Inspiration in the Cave of Jotapata (J.W. 3.351–354) in a Roman Context

Abstract This article offers a literary analysis of the famous episode in Judean War 3.351–354, in which Josephus suddenly recalls his “nightly dreams.” It takes up the question of how Josephus characterizes himself in this episode in consideration of an elite audience located in Rome steeped in Greco-Roman learning. In explaining this episode, scholars have put special emphasis on parallels with discourses of Judean prophecy and biblical prophets, such as Jeremiah and Daniel. The hypothesis that Josephus consciously presents himself as a prophet has found widespread acceptance and grown to become almost undisputable since the 1970s. In addition to challenging the view that Josephus explicitly and deliberately presents himself as a biblical prophet, the present contribution develops an interpretation that considers the historiographical outlook of the whole War as a military-political composition imbued with classicizing features.

Representing England in Rome: Sermons from the Early Modern English College to Popes and Cardinals

ABSTRACT This article explores how preaching at the English College in Rome, c.1580–1603, can illuminate questions of national identity, Anglo-Italian exchanges, inter-confessional conflict and the symbiotic relationship of religious and national identities for English Catholics. It investigates in detail texts from a hitherto little-studied manuscript at the English College, Rome, whose large collection of homiletic and other rhetorical texts offers an unequalled insight into preaching at the College and adds valuably to our knowledge of preaching in Counter-Reformation Rome. The article looks at how English College preachers dealt with subjects such as persecution and martyrdom, England's ‘apostasy’, England's history and relations with Rome, and their place in the international Church. It reveals how the College and its members positioned themselves in both their English and their Roman contexts.

Revelation by Sigve K. Tonstad

Reviewed by: Revelation by Sigve K. Tonstad Thomas B. Slater sigve k. tonstad, Revelation (Paideia; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2019). Pp. xvii + 415. Paper $35. Tonstad has written an apologetic, historical, and traditional interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Three issues drive this commentary: (1) ascertaining the nature of violence; (2) understanding the role of imperial Rome; and (3) discerning the nature of John’s Apocalypse as a revelation. He argues that John wrote from a cosmic perspective. Having a cosmic perspective, Revelation focuses on Jesus as a victim of violence (Rev 5:6). “This feature ensures that Jesus is represented just as he is in the other books in the NT” (p. 5). Violence reflects the cosmic battle between God and Satan, not one between Christians and Rome. Reading the book aloud “might put an end to the idea that the God of Revelation has retribution on his mind” (pp. 7–8; quotation from p. 8). Tonstad warns against those who “uncritically assign the calamities . . . to divine agency” (p. 39) as well as “the Left Behind stampede” (p. 7) which embraces violence. This is a sound critique. From a cosmic perspective, the Roman Empire is not the problem. Rather, the book reflects God’s plans for the future of humanity. Focusing on the Roman context risks not perceiving “the theological aspirations of the book” (p. xii). This also means that the OT informs the book more than Rome (see Rev 12:9; 20:2). Readers must possess an outstanding knowledge of the OT background in order to interpret the book correctly. Only a “re-reader” (which T. does not define) can correctly interpret the book (pp. 35–39). With regard to John’s Apocalypse as a revelation, the book comes from God and is not a historical document, again reflecting its cosmic perspective (pp. xii–xiii). It is [End Page 349] apocalyptic with epistolary and prophetic features, but it is not an apocalypse. It defies generic classification. A revelation is “the notion of revealing what another party might wish to hide” (p. 20). Additionally, an apokalypsis is “a disclosure policy to which God is deeply committed” (p. 26). Echoing Richard Bauckham, T. writes that Revelation is the culmination of OT prophecy (pp. 20, 35). Revelation is not crisis literature but reflects a cosmic battle between God and Satan. Unsurprisingly, T. affirms traditional positions with regard to author, date, and language. The apostle John is the author of both the Gospel and the Apocalypse. Both works see Jesus as a revealer and emphasize the need for a faithful witness. Further, T. argues that the Domitianic date is correct: “Nero’s influence was imprinted upon Domitian” (p. 35). The dating also coheres with a “theological priority” and is consistent with Irenaeus’s testimony (p. 35). Furthermore, John knew the rules of Greek grammar but intentionally used classical Hebrew as a model for writing (p. 35). The commentary has an extensive bibliography, makes astute use of photographs in order to make Revelation more relevant, and has many insightful reader-friendly sidebars. Tonstad correctly recognizes that Jesus was a victim of violence, making the book less violent than many perceive. T. also provides insightful comments on the connections between the canonical Protestant OT and Revelation (e.g., the garments made white through the blood of the Lamb [pp. 135–36]; the woman, the baby, and the dragon [pp. 176–79]; the Great Supper [pp. 279–80]; the New Earth [pp. 303–10]). There are, however, some concerns. First, to say that commentators have “uncritically” assigned calamities to God ignores the contributions of G. K. Beale, Brian K. Blount, Steven J. Friesen, Adela Yarbro Collins, Stephen Pattemore, David A. deSilva, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, J. C. Thomas, and Frank D. Macchia, to name a few. In addition, reading the book aloud probably will not change how most people understand it. Social location has much more influence on readers and “re-readers.” Second, the emphasis on the OT almost to the exclusion of Rome is unfortunate, given that one of the goals of the series is to elucidate the cultural context (pp. ix–x). Price, Friesen and many others have shown that Rome cannot be...

Kolapijani / Colapiani

After conquering the Iapodean center Metulum in 35 BC, Octavian (soon to be Emperor Augustus) set forth towards Segesta with his legions “through the land of the Paeonians not yet conquered by the Romans” (App. Illyr. IV, 22). Appian’s Paeonians were actually the Pannonians, and this paper aims to show that this community was also known as the Colapiani. The land of the Pannonians was located between Octavian’s two main strategic goals (Metulum and Segesta) and it’s reasonable to assume that Octavian wanted to put this land under Roman control as well. According to Appian, Octavian first hoped for a peaceful surrender, but the land of the Pannonians, in the end, had to be conquered by means of armed conflict. The territory of the Pannonians (Appian’s Paeonians) is outlined by ancient written sources and yet insufficient archaeological explorations. Octavian’s legions could have reached Segesta from Metulum following two directions: the valleys of the Mrežnica and Kupa rivers (northern direction 125 km long) or the valley of the Glina river (eastern direction 100 km long). This other direction is more probable because it’s shorter and suitable for army march. The rivers Mrežnica, Korana, and Glina belong to the basin of the Kupa river which revealed evidence of the Colapiani whose name literally means “those who live by the Kupa river.” The majority of historical resources that directly or indirectly mention Octavian’s military campaign in 35 BC (Tibullus, Ovid, Livy, Strabo) are contemporaries with the war and reflect a contemporary perception of the ethnic situation in the Pannonian Interfluve, an area between the Drava and Sava rivers. Florus and Appian are about 150 years younger, but the first authored the summary of Livy’s History, whereas the latter mostly rewrote from Octavian’s memoirs. All of these sources mention the Pannonians and the Segestani, the inhabitants of the Pannonian center of Segesta. Cassius Dio also mentions the Pannonians, but from the perspective of his own time (2nd/3rd century) when that term stands for “the inhabitants of the Roman province of Pannonia.” Pliny the Elder and Claudius Ptolemy are the only ones mentioning the Colapiani in the context of the already organized Roman province. The Colapiani were also mentioned on several Roman inscriptions in an entirely Roman context (as members of Roman auxiliary units). This paper aims to establish whether the Pannonian name referred to the entire Interfluve ever since the first known mention of the Pannonians by Polybius in the 2nd century BC (Polyb. frg. 64) or it extended from the western part after Octavian’s conquest. The author believes that the name Colapiani, attested in an entirely Roman context (members of one of civitates peregrinae), was locally used even before the Roman conquest and that was taken over by Rome from the indigenous population, and author’s question is how to interpret the relationship between the Pannonians and the Colapiani. One possibility is that the Pannonians mentioned by historical sources refers to some sort of military and political alliance in the Interfluve, and that the Colapiani (probably the leading community in the western part of the Interfluve) are one of these communities. It is possible that this community was named Pannonians, but that the name Colapiani was descriptive in the already mentioned context – “those by the Kupa river.”

Philology of the Flesh

Philology of the Flesh

The Roman Context of Early Islam

AbstractThe article tries to contribute to a more concrete embedding of early Islam into the context of late antique, in particular late Roman history. It takes its starting point in a description of the phenomenon of liturgification as an overarching process of religious permeation and internalization that swept across Eastern Roman society since the second half of the sixth century and saved society from collapse. During the early seventh century, when the Romans suffered from immense territorial losses to the Persians, liturgification contributed to the survival of the Empire as well. Liturgification, however, radiated out into the territory of the immediate neighbors of the Romans, and thus also reached Arabia by various ways, not least via trade and military contacts, but probably above all through the mediation of the Ǧafnids, who energetically supported Christianization in their area of influence, which extended deep into the Arabian Peninsula. In this way, liturgification itself created the enabling space in which Islam could come into being. Therestitutio crucisby Heraclius in Jerusalem, March 21, 630, then lent these developments concrete reference points and impetus. It should be viewed as the culmination of a process that was driven in turn by liturgification and characterized especially by the grave threats that the Eastern Roman-Byzantine Empire faced in its war against the Persians in the early decades of the seventh century. It led to a reconceptualization of the imperial monarchy, which now attributed a messianic quality to the emperor in a highly eschatologically charged context. The emperor, in turn, first effectively tapped the representational potential of this quality in the act of restoring the relics of the True Cross in Jerusalem in 630. This brought about a situation of messianic rivalry, since the rise of the Prophet Muhammad – which was made possible in turn by the penetration of liturgification into Arabian territory – was based on claims similar to those that Heraclius had claimed for himself. The first attacks on Byzantine outposts in the years 629/30 may have been a direct response to the emperor’s self-representation in Jerusalem. They were the beginning of the Muslim armies’ excursions beyond the Arabian Peninsula and thus the beginning of the great Muslim-Arabian Empire that would come into being in the ensuing century. Against this background, therestitutio crucisproves to be vitally important as a turning point in developments both within the Byzantine Empire and beyond its borders.

The Pantomime of War: Thoughts About the Horse Games of the Roman Army and the Origins of Imperial Mask Helmets

This paper explores the origins of the horse games (hippika gymnasia) of the Roman imperial army. It argues that the equestrian displays lengthily described by Arrian in his tactical treatise were borrowed from the Gallic and Iberian Celts, who formed the most important part of the Roman auxiliary cavalry at the end of the Republic and at the beginning of the Principate. Mask helmets were worn by the most renowned horsemen during these games. The first examples of such masks in Roman context can be found on triumphal representations celebrating victories over Celtiberian or Gallic foes. The evidence suggests that they were initially made of organic materials, like the over-modelled or plastered skull masks that could adorn public monuments in pre-Roman Gaul. From the end of the 1st century BC onward, they began to adopt the form of full metal helmets and were progressively adapted to the Greco-Roman taste. The idea that the hippika gymnasia were borrowed from the Roman equestrian parade called the lusus Troiae and that mask helmets were part of an old Italic tradition should, therefore, be abandoned.

Rome, a Policy without Politics: The Participatory Process for a Metropolitan Scale Food Policy.

In light of the challenges that all cities face today, food is offered as a prism through which to read and intervene on various areas that affect the quality of life of the population: circular economy, urban metabolism, social relations, economies, and food quality. In the Roman context, in recent years, numerous initiatives have revitalized the debate on food and brought the discussion to the center of the interest of an ever-increasing number of citizens. However, these experiences appear unrelated and there is a lack of coordination and political coherence. Faced with this evidence, starting from a territorial analysis, this contribution analyzes the process that led a local group of stakeholders to formulate a proposal for a food policy for the city of Rome. The proposal contains a series of possible actions that aim, on the one hand, to recompose the relations between the city and its territory, with a view to re-localization and re-territorialization of agro-food productions and, on the other hand, to reconnect the economic and social relations that the industrialization of food chains has compromised. The network analysis of the bottom-up process, which mainly investigates networking and negotiation skills between various interests, is carried out and related to a careful analysis of the food system in the Roman context. Furthermore, an overview of the state of the art of urban food policies in Italy has been provided to better contextualize the study case. The findings show actors and topics involved in the process, identifying further development towards a more comprehensive participatory process for a systemic food strategy at the metropolitan level.

Легенда о Тутеле в контексте римской религиозной традиции

Легенда о Тутеле в контексте римской религиозной традиции

Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT Use

Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT Use Christopher T. Begg and Ian K. Boxall 1641. [Josephus; Paul] F. B. A. Asiedu, Josephus, Paul, and the Fate of Early Christianity: History and Silence in the First Century (Lanham, MD/Boulder, CO/New York/London: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2019). Pp. xi + 349. $120, £80. ISBN 978-1-9787-0132-8. Flavius Josephus, the priest from Jerusalem who was affiliated with the Pharisees, is the most important source for the history of Jewish life in the 1st cent. His notice about the death of James, the brother of Jesus, suggests that Josephus knew about the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem and Judaea. In Rome, where Josephus lived the remainder of his life after the Jewish War, a group of Christians appeared to have flourished during the same period, if 1 Clement is any indication. Josephus, however, says extremely little about the Christians in Judaea and nothing about those in Rome. He also does not reference Paul the apostle, a former Pharisee, who was a contemporary of Josephus's father in Jerusalem, even though according to Acts, Paul and his activities were known by two successive Roman governors (procurators) of Judaea, Marcus Antonius Felix and Porcius Festus, and to King Herod Agrippa II and his sisters Berenice and Drusilla. The knowledge of Paul on the part of the Herodians in particular puts Josephus's silence about Paul in an interesting light, suggesting that it may have been deliberate. Josephus's writings likewise make very little reference to other contemporaries of his in Rome, so much so that if we were dependent on Josephus alone we might conclude that many of those historical characters either did not exist or had little to no impact in the first century. Against this background, A. comments both on the state of life in Rome during the reign of the Emperor Domitian and the ways Josephus and the Christians who [End Page 574] produced 1 Clement coped with the regime, even as their "pagan" contemporaries like Martial, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and others did. Specifically, A. argues that most of Josephus's contemporaries at Rome practiced different kinds of silences in their references to the world around them. Consequently, the absence of references to Jews or Christians by Roman writers of the last three decades of the first century, including Josephus, should not be taken as proof of their nonexistence in Flavian Rome. [Adapted from published abstract]. The volume's five component chapters are titled respectively: (1) Josephus, Paul, and the Early Christians: Before and after 62 c.e.; (2) Reading Josephus's Silences: Writing Paul Out of the Jewish Archives of the First Century; (3) Josephus and Martial in Flavian Rome: The Rhetoric of Silence and the Language of Derision; (4) Martial, Tacitus, Pliny, and Friends: On Fear, Suspicion, Exile, and Death in Domitian's Rome; and (5) Paul, the Jewish Past, and the Roman Contexts of First Clement. 1642. [Apocalyptic Banquets] Claudia D. Bergmann, Festmahl ohne Ende. Apokalyptische Vorstellungen vom Speisen in der Kommenden Welt im antiken Judentum und ihre biblischen Wurzeln (BWANT 222; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2019). Pp. 310. €69. ISBN 978-3-17-036134-8. B. sets out to decipher the ritual code of food and eating as encoded in visionary meals designed by Jewish authors who developed ideas about a world to come in their apocalyptic scenarios. She starts with terminological and methodological clarifications in chap. 1. Then she describes the food at the imagined meals in the world to come: Leviathan and Behemoth, the tree of life, Manna, beverages (chap. 2). In chap. 3, B. reflects on suggested places for the meal in the world to come in the materials in question: the garden, paradise, and the mountain of God. Next, B. deals with the participants at this meal and the underlying idea that a meal constitutes social relationships (chap. 4). The participants are the faithful ones who observe God's ethical commandments and who belong to Israel, the Anointed One (Messiah), the fathers of the past (Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the leaders of the Exodus). Chap. 5 focuses on the structures of the meal and the structuring function of the meal. A...

Chelonian use in Portugal: Evidence from Castelo Velho de Safara

Chelonian remains in Portuguese archaeological sites are relatively common, but they frequently occur in low abundance within zooarchaeological assemblages. Turtle and tortoise remains appear in Palaeolithic contexts through Modern times. However, there is a clear lack of representation of these reptiles within Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman contexts. Castelo Velho de Safara is now the first Portuguese site showing an anthropogenic use of chelonians, namely the Mediterranean Pond Turtle/Spanish Terrapin (Mauremys leprosa, Schoepff in Schweigger 1812), in a Roman Republican occupation. Skeletal part representation coupled with a detailed taphonomic analysis of the terrapin remains demonstrate that Mauremys leprosa was part of the subsistence strategy of the population living on site. Terrapins were gathered nearby, likely during random encounters in the environment as an opportunistic capture, since they do not seem to have been specifically targeted or intensively consumed. Nonetheless, their presence within the faunal assemblage reinforces research suggested by a preliminary study of the mammal remains, highlighting that this Romanized population had a relevant consumption of wild resources, even though domesticates are also present on site.