Strong Roman Research Articles

Black Catholicism

Black Catholicism

Ground‐penetrating Radar and Electromagnetic Archaeogeophysical Investigations at the Roman Legionary Camp at Legio, Israel

ABSTRACTHistorical sources indicate that the Roman Sixth Legion Ferrata established a permanent camp in the Jezreel Valley (Israel) in the vicinity of the archaeological site currently known as Legio (el‐Lajjun) near a historical Roman road junction to the south of Tel Megiddo. While archaeological surveys have demonstrated that indeed there was a strong Roman presence at the site, the precise location of the legionary camp has not been demonstrated conclusively. One of the authors (Tepper) has made a topographical and archaeological argument that the low hill, known locally as el‐Manach, on the eastern edge of the site is, indeed, the location of the camp. To test this hypothesis, we conducted ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic (EM) archaeogeophysical surveys at the site. In particular, we studied the hypothetical northern corner of the camp in an effort to confirm the presence of archaeological features consistent with Roman military construction. Data from both studies were combined and compared with evidence proffered by Tepper's historical and geographical research. This study provides strong evidence for architectural remains on the hill of el‐Manach, and concludes that it is highly likely that such remains relate to the Roman camp of the Sixth Legion. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Die ländliche Besiedlung im mittleren Donauraum von der Spätantike bis zum Frühmittelalter

The most typical settlements in the middle Danube region during the Migration Period were those located on hilltops, on fluvial terraces or atop small elevations alongside rivers and streams. Compared to the preceding Roman period the area was less densely populated. The most characteristic element of the region’s settlements was the pit-house, now with a new, slightly changed post arrangement. A fireplace found in one of the pit-houses proves that they were not used as workshops alone, but also as dwellings. The concurrent existence of Migration Period and Roman-type pit-houses reflects the continuous settlement of the region since the Roman period. During the 5th century AD different groups of settlements can be defined in the middle Danube region. The settlements in the area around Oberleiserberg, for example, are characterized by houses with Romanized architecture and furnishings. Another settlement group is restricted to the left bank of the Danube, usually near bridgeheads. Late Antique-type pottery was produced in these settlements, probably to supply the inhabitants of Roman cities and settlements along the Danube limes, as well the market north of the Danube. From the end of the 4th century AD onwards features and pottery complexes typical of non-Roman settlements appear in settlements of the Roman Provinces, evidence perhaps for different groups of Suebic or Herulic settlers, or Romanized settlers from beyond the Danube River. The emergence of hilltop settlements is another very typical feature of the middle Danube region during the first half of the 5th century AD. Hilltop sites of this period are usually interpreted either as central seats of local holders of power, military strongpoints, or as places of refuge for the local population. The hilltop settlement at Oberleiserberg near Ernstbrunn appears to have been a late-Suebian stronghold of the 4th and 5th century AD. The Oberleiserberg pottery finds and features reflect a strong Roman influence. Roman military and other Roman-style architecture, together with Late Antique upper-class villas served as models for the construction of the principal, most substantial building and the adjoining houses.

The Northern Palace at Masada — Herod's Ship of the Desert?

In Volumes III and V of the Masada Final Reports, Ehud Netzer and Gideon Foerster highlighted the striking differences between the Northern and Western Palaces built by Herod at the site. Whereas the Western Palace is a hybrid of ancient Middle Eastern and east Greek architectural elements, the Northern Palace bears the stamp of Rome, and shows strong affinities with palatial edifices built for Augustus and Marcus Agrippa. This paper endeavours to show that the Northern Palace was consciously modelled on a pleasure boat, probably inspired by the construction of Herod's city of Caesarea with its magnificent artificial harbour. It should then be re-dated to between about 20 and 15 BCE. This would be consistent with the assigning by Netzer of Herod's Third Winter Palace at Jericho, which likewise displays strong Roman characteristics, to c. 15–14 BCE. An analysis is presented of the plan of the Northern Palace, which explains how it was conceived as a unitary scheme and highlights both the principles and specific proportions that were employed in its design.

Melanchthon's Role in the Reformation of the University of Tübingen

When Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg, regained his ducal throne in May of 1534, he immediately took steps to institute the Reformation in Württmberg. Probably because of his own divided loyalties, he asked both Lutherans and Swiss-Reformed Protestants to come to Württemberg. From the outset, however, their mutual opposition, combined with determined Roman Catholic resistance in some areas, led to difficulties beyond Ulrich's expectations. The ducal commissioners for the Reformation in the southern half of Württemberg was Ambrosius Blarer, the reformer of Constance and a firm ally of both Martin Bucer and Zurich. Part of his responsibility was the University of Tübingen, a center of particularly strong Roman Catholic opposition to the Reformation. Blarer appealed to Duke Ulrich for assistance, asking for the Basel Greek scholar Simon Grynaeus, another Swiss partisan. Ulrich, however, took far more dramatic steps to reform the University of Tübingen. Under instructions from Ulrich, Chancellor Knoder and Erhard Schnepff, Blarer's counterpart in northern Württemberg, wrote to Philip Melanchthon, requesting that he return to his homeland to teach in the University of Tübingen, his alma mater.

The Idea of Revenge in Lombard Society in the Eighth and Tenth Centuries: The Cases of Paul the Deacon and Liudprand of Cremona

BOTH Paul the Deacon and Liudprand of Cremona belonged to Lombard society, separated by a little over a century and a half. Both lived in turbulent times and witnessed the overthrow of native kings by transalpine invaders; moreover, both participated in the intellectual and administrative life of north Italy before and after invasions from the north. Paul and Liudprand wrote of the events which in their minds formed their respective contemporary worlds. Their inttrests in human history provide modern historians with significant records both of the Lombards and of north Italy on the eve of two crucial turning points. Our purpose here is to examine the conception of revenge and retribution in the histories of Liudprand of Cremona and Paul the Deacon. Since there is a sharp difference between their thoughts on the subject, we have an opportunity to reflect on the differing ways in which two medieval Lombard writers approached revenge and retribution. While it is presumptuous to claim their views embody contemporary legal values or give us a complete picture of vengeance in Lombard Law, it is possible that the different approaches in their accounts reflect the impact of social change during the years which separated them. Paul the Deacon lived in the last half of the eighth century. He witnessed the final consolidation of the Lombard position in northern Italy, on the eve of the invasion of Charlemagne (774). The Lombards had migrated to northern Italy during the sixth century and gradually gained control over the north and center; they achieved their point of greatest penetration when King Aistulf took Ravenna (751) from the Byzantine Empire. During those years a weak monarchy and traditional ducal power had kept the kingdom from consolidating. However, during the eighth century, as the territorial ambitions reached their limits, a series of ambitious kings reversed the particularism and developed forceful, central rule over north Italy. The territories under the control of these kings and their magnates, and the lands further south that were dominated by independent Lombard dukes, experienced the hegemony of Germanic custom. Yet the Roman-Italians remained the majority population and preserved strong Roman traditions, including elements of town life. Even before Paul's day the two worlds had begun the slow process of fusion.

Religious Changes in Liverpool in the Nineteenth Century

The study of local history can contribute much to the understanding of religious changes in the nineteenth century, for, as Professor Asa Briggs has shown, each provincial city of Victorian England had its own distinguishing class structure and manner of life. Nonconformity was strong in Birmingham and Sheffield, towns of the steel and iron industry which was largely in the hands of small masters; Manchester with its cotton mills, its large proletariat and Irish immigrants, its wealthy employers and cosmopolitan merchants, was a very different society, marked not only by a dominant Dissent but also by a strong Roman Catholicism. Although Liverpool resembled Manchester in its wide class differences and its large number of Irish poor, it was a commercial rather than an industrial city. Moreover, unlike Manchester, it was an ancient incorporated borough and the activity of the town council in building churches in the eighteenth century during a period of great population growth (from about 10,000 in 1700 to 77,000 in 1801) appears to have been one factor in stemming the tide of Dissent, which was noticeably weaker in Liverpool than in the other three cities referred to above. In the nineteenth century the main religious issue at Liverpool was not Dissent versus the Establishment, but conflict between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. Chartism, so powerful in other cities, appears to have taken second place to the sectarian conflict at Liverpool.