Life in the Limes
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Life in the Limes

Studies of the people and objects of the Roman frontiers

Rob Collins, Frances McIntosh, Frances McIntosh

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eBook - ePub

Life in the Limes

Studies of the people and objects of the Roman frontiers

Rob Collins, Frances McIntosh, Frances McIntosh

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About This Book

Lindsay Allason-Jones has been at the forefront of small finds and Roman frontier research for 40 years in a career focussed on, but not exclusive to, the north of Britain, encompassing an enormous range of object types and subject areas. Divided into thematic sections the contributions presented here to celebrate her many achievements all represent at least one aspect of Lindsay's research interests. These encompass social and industrial aspects of northern frontier forts; new insights into inscribed and sculptural stones specific to military communities; religious, cultural and economic connotations of Roman armour finds; the economic and ideological penetration of romanitas in the frontiers as reflected by individual objects and classes of finds; evidence of trans-frontier interactions and invisible people; the role of John Clayton in the exploration and preservation of Hadrian's Wall and its material culture; the detailed consideration of individual objects of significant interest; and a discussion of the widespread occurrence of mice in Roman art.

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Publisher
Oxbow Books
Year
2014
ISBN
9781782972549
1
INTRODUCTION: A WALL FOR ALL
Rob Collins and Frances McIntosh
Lindsay Allason-Jones has been a ‘fixture’ (or perhaps a fitting?) of small finds and Roman frontier research for 40 years, ever since she completed her undergraduate degree in Newcastle in 1974. She immediately threw herself into research, first for the Classics Department at Newcastle, before a brief stint in a cemetery in Chelmsford with the Excavation Unit. She soon returned to her native Britannia Secunda, specifically to work for the Tyne and Wear Museums Service on the assemblage of small finds from the fort at South Shields.
Following the completion of the South Shields volume, Lindsay was employed at the Museum of Antiquities through the 1980s and ’90s, working closely with the collections of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, and managing the museum on the retirement of David Smith in 1988. In 1998, her role expanded to include the Shefton Museum of Greek Art and Archaeology as the Newcastle University Director of Museums. Lindsay held this position, managing a small but dedicated team until 2009, when the Newcastle University Museums closed and their collections joined those of the Hancock Museum in the ambitious Great North Museum project. While the majority of time was dedicated to working on material from Britannia, brief forays to North Africa and the Near East also led to important work exploring the archaeology of Roman frontiers at the opposite end of the empire.
The Museum of Antiquities, following the example provided by its parent organisation the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, always provided an ‘identification service’ for public finders of archaeological objects. With the growth of the metal-detecting hobby, the Museum and Lindsay became a regular port of call for detectorists. This willingness to speak with public finders was important, and has resulted in a number of discoveries in the North East of England that might otherwise have been unknown. It was her familiarity with the importance of outreach that led Lindsay to host and manage the local Portable Antiquities Scheme officer in the Museum of Antiquities from 2003.
While managing the Museum of Antiquities, Lindsay also maintained strong links with the Archaeology Department (now part of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology) at Newcastle University, teaching, training, and educating a generation of budding archaeologists as Reader in Roman Material Culture. From 2008 until her retirement in 2011, Lindsay was the Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Artefact Studies, a formal recognition of a career spent forging links with professionals and specialists outside the field of archaeology.
In addition to the numerous achievements gathered over the course of her career, Lindsay has also devoted considerable time and effort to a number of organisations and committees, regionally and nationally. While it would be impossible to name each position held, a brief list demonstrates Lindsay’s enduring commitment and enthusiasm. Lindsay has been a trustee and/or member of the Clayton Trustees, the Trustees of the Corbridge Excavation Fund, Hadrian’s Art Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund North East, the Marc Fitch Fund, the Royal Archaeological Institute, the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, the Sudan Archaeological Committee, and last but certainly not least, the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, which celebrates it bicentenary during her tenure as President. In addition, Lindsay has provided conspicuous leadership and support to three important traditions in Roman frontier studies – the decennial Hadrian’s Wall Pilgrimage, the International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies, and the Roman Military Equipment Conference. Further service has been rendered to an incalculable number of committees and organisations dedicated to Hadrian’s Wall and the World Heritage Site.
Throughout her career, Lindsay has been a prolific writer, and Emma Morris has kindly prepared a bibliography of Lindsay’s work up to the date of publication that can be found at the end of the volume. This bibliography amply demonstrates an impressive array of research interests: notes dedicated to specific artefacts; small finds reports accompanying site excavations; journal articles and papers in edited volumes on interpretive and theoretical issues; and last but not least a raft of single- and co-authored monographs and edited volumes. Whatever the scale of publication, Lindsay’s interest in Roman artefacts is apparent, but this appreciation for the small details has frequently been employed to address the big issues, drawing attention to women and children and emphasizing the human elements of living in the frontiers.
The contributions to this volume all represent at least one aspect of Lindsay’s research interests, but there are a number of cross-over themes between the papers. We start with a selection of papers that considers the frontiers and the people living within them. Bill Hanson’s paper revisits the debate on the intended function of Roman frontiers, while Bill Manning considers evidence for blacksmiths in the Roman army. Nick Hodgson critically questions where and when soldiers’ wives were provided with accommodation inside the fort walls, followed by Beth Greene discussing evidence for women and children from inside the early fort(s) at Vindolanda. Alex Croom rounds up this section with a consideration of the activities represented in the vicus at South Shields.
The next group of papers presents evidence specific to the military communities of Britain, Romania, and the Near East. Paul Bidwell, David Breeze, and Jon Coulston use the reliable inscribed and sculptural stones to present three thought-provoking ideas. In a site-specific study, Paul Bidwell considers the inscribed and written evidence for the name of the fort at South Shields prior to its association with Arbeia. David Breeze reminds us of the importance of antiquarian observations in regards to some rather unique sculpture from the Wall zone, hinting at monuments now lost to archaeologists. Jon Coulston argues for an insular tradition in military-figural stones, drawing on the excellent record of such stones in Britain. Mike Bishop takes us back into the realm of small finds, reconsidering the Corbridge Hoard in light of more recent discoveries of Roman armour, and reminding us of the value of reassessing established ‘understandings’. Ian Haynes takes us out of Britain to the site of Apulum, where intriguing evidence sheds light on religious practices involving soldiers, and Simon James provides us with a detailed discussion of a military helmet from the Near East, revealing tantalizing evidence of cultural and technological interplay between Rome and Persia.
Returning to Britannia, the next section looks at individual objects and classes of finds to emphasize the economic and ideological penetration of romanitas even in the frontiers. Iain Ferris provides us with a brief discussion of a pseudo-Venus figurine from Binchester and its significance, with Alex Meyer critically examining the Vindolanda ‘calendar’ and related pieces to give us some insight into Roman temporal constructs. A polychrome bead from Housesteads, dubbed by Hilary Cool as ‘Lindsay’s birthday bead’ or ‘LBB’ is another small but important indication of the late and possibly post-Roman material that is increasingly found in Roman forts sites in northern Britain. A seemingly simple decorative key handle from the Vale of Glamorgan is then revealed by Nina Crummy and Mark Lodwick to be an elaborate and subtle interweaving of a number of mythological and religious motifs. Rounding out this section are Martin Henig and Jenny Price, offering papers on some of the finer things to be found in the frontier, gemstones and mould-blown glass, respectively. While Henig reminds us that the military community could be highly literate and educated, Price considers the sources and implications of discoveries of mould-blown glass from military sites.
The tantalizing evidence of trans-frontier interactions and invisible people are addressed in the next group of papers. Fraser Hunter presents a detailed assessment of the jet and jet-like objects of Roman Scotland, suggesting important contributions from the peoples north of Hadrian’s Wall to the Romano-British fascination with shiny black things. Following this, Rob Collins looks at the data gathered by the Portable Antiquities Scheme to explore connections between the military communities and natives north of the Wall. Beccy Jones reminds us of the discrepancy between remains on the ground and the evidence for their occupants, hypothesizing on the nature and scale of life in the temporary camps that provide evidence for campaigning and the establishment of frontiers. The final paper in this section is provided by Tony Wilmott, who has captured a curiosity of historiography in the Housesteads amphitheatre.
Contemporary with speculations about an amphitheatre at Housesteads, John Clayton was purchasing vast tracts of land and exploring the archaeological remains of the Wall, establishing the collection that now bears his name. Frances McIntosh reminds us of the debt that we owe to Clayton and subsequently the Trustees of his collection. A unique museum piece, an Estrucan mirror in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne since the late nineteenth century, is explored by Andrew Parkin, who considers the significance of the Classical scene depicted.
The final three papers provide detailed consideration of objects of significant interest. Roger Tomlin presents a detailed discussion of a Greek amulet made of pewter from Roman London that indicates the dissemination of literate Greek culture into far-flung Britain. Closer to the skin, if not the heart, Carol van Driel-Murray examines the evidence of leather bikinis found from a handful of Roman sites, and considers the implications this has on our understanding of physical concerns such as body size and social concerns in the world of the Roman woman. Last, but certainly not least, Ralph Jackson provides a provoking discussion of the widespread occurrence of mice in Roman art, connecting the small finds with contemporary views of alternatively pesky and cute little critters.
Lindsay Allason-Jones (BA, MLitt, FSA, FSAScot, MIFA, FMA, FRSA), we humbly present this volume to you in the hope that you find it stimulating and entertaining. It is but a small token of the time and energy you have given to your colleagues, friends, and the discipline in general.
2
THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF ROMAN FRONTIERS REVISITED
W. S. Hanson
Some 25 years ago I attempted to summarise how and why frontiers came into being, their form, development and intended function (Hanson 1989). I still stand by much of that paper today. However, given the passage of time, with its inevitable new discoveries and re-assessments of evidence, the opportunity to make some revisions or further clarifications is timely.
One such new discovery of considerable significance is that of the Roman town of Augustan date at Waldgirmes to the east of the Rhine in the Lahn valley in Germany (von Schnurbein 2003). This very short-lived settlement clearly indicates Augustus’ intentions to occupy territory beyond the Rhine. It also provides strong archaeological confirmation of Dio’s much doubted remarks about the activities of Quintilius Varus as he set about the process of turning a newly conquered area into a Roman province (Dio 56.18). However, this all came to nothing as a result of the disastrous loss of three legions under his command in AD 9, which also effectively brought to an end any ambitions to extend direct Roman control as far as the river Elbe.
This event was clearly a turning point for Augustus and there can be little doubt that it influenced his deathbed advice to his successor, Tiberius, to restrict the empire within its limits at that time (Tac. Ann. I, 11). Nonetheless, that Augustus was basically an expansionist, very much in the tradition of the generals of the Later Republic, is clear both from his earlier actions and his own account of his achievements. Indeed, he boasts of extending ‘the borders of all the provinces of the Roman people which neighboured nations not subject to our rule’ (Res Gestae 26). I originally suggested that over the next two centuries or so certain emperors attempted to resurrect this traditional expansionist policy. I would now reverse that emphasis and assert that, with the notable exception of Hadrian, most emperors in that period harboured and, within the constraints of the circumstances that they faced, actively pursued that desire to expand the Empire. Thus, even emperors like Gaius and Nero, who are not normally associated with such attitudes, can be seen to fall into the same general mould and to have harboured expansionist tendencies. Gaius annexed the client kingdom of Mauretania and seriously contemplated an expedition to Britain (Barrett 1989, 116–20 and 129–32); while Nero annexed three small client kingdoms and planned an expedition against the Albanians (Kolendo 1982; Isaac 1990, 43–4). These views, with which I am pleased to note Whittaker now concurs (2004, 8), are elaborated more fully elsewhere (Hanson 2002).
Nonetheless, as the forward movement stalled, the definition of frontiers became inevitable and their character increased in complexity over time. The major European rivers continued to play an obvious role both as natural demarcators of territory and as simple geographical reference points. What is clearer now is that this formal recognition of their frontier role came earlier than had been thought. The discovery of several timber watchtowers of Claudian date along the lower Rhine, as for example at Valkenburg-Marktveld and Utrecht (Langeveld et al. 2010), indicates that control of movement along and across the river was a matter of early concern and brings forward by two decades or so the date of the appearance of such close control, which was previously seen as primarily a Flavian development. What is also becoming clearer, however, is that such developments were not necessarily synchronous across the empire.
Nonetheless, the earliest examples of such dispositions which define entirely ‘artificial’ frontier lines still fall in the Flavian period, assuming that the Roman road along the Gask Ridge in Scotland, with its associated forts, fortlets and regular system of watchtowers, continues to be accepted as a frontier rather than a protected supply line (contra Dobat 2009). Traditionally this system has been seen to fit into a phased withdrawal from Scotland (Breeze 1982, 61–5), a view still espoused by some (e.g. Hodgson 2000, 19). But this dating is difficult to sustain if all the forts north of the Forth-Clyde isthmus were abandoned at the same time in the late 80s AD, as seems to be indicated by the coin evidence, with a terminus post quem for both Inchtuthil and Strageath provided by coins of AD 86 (Hobley 1989). Alternatively, recent attempts to push the date earlier than the campaigns of Agricola simply cannot be substantiated (Hanson 2009, contra Woolliscroft 2009). Rather, the logical chronological context for the Gask system, as I have argued elsewhere (Hanson 1991, 1765–7), is the halt on the Forth-Clyde isthmus in Agricola’s fourth campaign (Tac. Ag.23). Thus, it may be no coincidence that the dispositions mirror precisely those demarcating the limit of Roman direct control in the Antonine period when the Forth-Clyde isthmus was again the focus of Roman military attention and outpost forts extended the Roman presence as far as the Tay.
The second example of an early artificial, open frontier system, the Taunus and Wetterau frontier in Germany, is now thought to have a much more complicated history than was understood 25 years ago. Though some garrisons were established beyond the Rhine under Domitian as a result of his successful war against the Chatti, the sequence of forts and fortlets in the Taunus Mountains and the northern Wetterau appears to date to the Trajanic period on numismatic grounds (Kortüm 1998). Indeed, there are now suggestions of phases of its development in the pre-Hadrianic period, with an inner line between Ober-Florstadt and Hanau-Salisberg a few kilometres to the west of what subsequently became the established frontier line from Altenstadt to Gross-Krotzenburg (Hodgson 2000, 13–16; Reuter 2004). There do not, however, appear to be any watchtowers associated with the inner line, only with the outer (though see below for a possible turf rampart associated with the former). A broadly similar layout, but less complex chronology of development, is attested along the Oldenwald limes between the lower courses of the Main and the Neckar to the south (Thiel 2009a). Such arrangements emphasize the more ad hoc character of developments along frontiers linked to the different tactical and strategic demands of different regions. They need not show the regularity and consistent planning that all too often we assume in our desire to understand the logic of the overall system.
Closing these artificial frontiers completely with the construction of a linear barrier is a logical progression, serving to demarcate and define boundaries more precisely in areas which lacked natural features to fulfill that function. Thus, linear barriers should be regarded as broadly the equivalent of rivers, for the two are never found in use together except as complementary parts of the same system. This is strikingly illustrated by the relationship between the upper German limes (through the Taunus, Wetterau and Odenwald) and the rivers Rhine, Main and Neckar, for the palisade is constructed only where the line of the river is not being followed. This fact has long been recognized, but integrating rivers and linear barriers in this way emphasises that the two served similar functions in relation to the operation of the Roman frontier, a principle whose significance is considered further below. For the most intensively studied frontiers, this final evolutionary stage can be seen to be a gradual development from what had gone before. Thus, on Hadrian’s Wall, the curtain Wall with its fortlets and towers, traditionally if confusingly referred to as milecastles and turrets, was originally constructed to augment the previous open frontier based on the Stanegate, the east-west Roman road with its standard auxiliary garrisons and occasional smaller forts or fortlets and possible watchtowers (Breeze and Dobson 2000, 16–28 and 148–49; Hodgson 2000). So too along the upper German limes in the Taunus, Wetterau and Odenwald we see the addition of a timber palisade immediately in front of the pre-existing line of timber towers, behind which a series of forts and fortlets had already been variously established (Baatz 2000, 46–7; Thiel 2008, 83–5).
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