East of Asia Minor Rome's Hidden Frontier

by Mitford, Timothy Bruce

• ISBN13: 9780198725176
• ISBN10: 0198725175
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2018-02-14
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The north-eastern frontier of the Roman Empire - one of the great gaps in modern knowledge of the ancient world - has long eluded research. It has defied systematic exploration and been insulated against all but passing survey by wars, instability, political sensitivities, language, and the region's wild, remote mountains, mostly accessible only on horseback or on foot. Its path lay across eastern Turkey, following the Euphrates valley northwards from Syria, through gorges and across great ranges, and passing over the Pontic Alps to reach the further shores of the Black Sea. Vespasian established Rome's frontier against Armenia half a century before Hadrian's Wall. Five times as long, and climbing seven times as high, it was garrisoned ultimately by four legions and a large auxiliary army, stationed in intermediate forts linked by military roads.

The two volumes of East of Asia Minor: Rome's Hidden Frontier - based on research, field work conducted largely on foot, and new discoveries - document the topography, monuments, inscriptions, and sighted coins of the frontier, looking in detail at strategic roads, bridges, forts, watch and signalling systems, and navigation of the Euphrates itself. Study of the terrain provides a foundation for interpreting the literary and epigraphic evidence for the frontier and its garrisons. Military activity, which extended to the Caucasus and the Caspian, is placed in the context of climate, geography, and inter-regional trade routes. 28 colour maps and over 350 photographs, plans, and travellers' sketches not only document the history of eastern Turkey as a frontier region of the Roman empire, but also reveal an ancient way of life, still preserved during the 1960s and 1970s, but now almost obliterated by the developments of the modern world.

Author Biography

Timothy Bruce Mitford, Associate Member, Corpus Christi College Centre for the Study of Greek and Roman Antiquity, University of Oxford

Timothy Bruce Mitford is an Associate Member of the Corpus Christi College Centre for the Study of Greek and Roman Antiquity at the University of Oxford and Commander, Royal Navy.

Table of Contents

VOLUME I
Foreword
Preface
List of Maps, Plates, and Figures
Ancient Sources
Chapter I: The Geography and Climate of the Frontier and Adjacent Areas
Chapter II: Historical Outline
Chapter III: The Course of the Limes
Commagene
III.1. Samasota
Cappadocia
III.2. The Taurus
III.3. The Taurus Gorge
III.4. East of Melitene: The Euphrates Crossing
III.5. Melitene
III.6. North of Melitene: Ciaca
III.7. The Basin of the Arabkir Çay: Dascusa
III.8. The Southern Approaches to the Antitaurus: Sabus
III.9. The Antitaurus
III.10. The Antitaurus Gorge
Armenia Minor
III.11. From the Çalti Çay to the Karabudak: Zimara
III.12. The Road System of Armenia Minor
III.13. Per Ripam to Satala
III.14. From the Euphrates to Nicopolis
III.15. Nicopolis and the Support Roads to Satala
III.16. Across the Mountains to Satala
III.17. Satala
Pontus
III.18. The Pontic Mountains
III.19. Trapezus
III.20. The Pontic Coast
VOLUME II
Chapter IV: The Garrison
VI.1. The Legionary Garrison
VI.1.1. XII Fulminata
VI.1.2. XVI Flavia Firma
VI.1.3. XV Apollinaris
VI.1.4. I Pontica
VI.2. The Auxilia
VI.2.1. Alae
VI.2.2. Cohorts
Chapter V: Coin Finds
Chapter VI: Inscriptions
Appendix 1: Ancient Geographical Sources
Appendix 2: Notitia Dignitatum: Dux Armeniae (Oriens 38)
Appendix 3: Turkish Place-names, Maps, and Meanings
Appendix 4: Notes on Provisions, Transport, and Population in Late Ottoman Times
Appendix 5: Beyond the Euphrates: Some Points of Topography
Journals and Book Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index 1: Epigraphic
Index 2: Topographical
Index 3: General