The Nature and Genesis of the Peutinger Map

The place of the Peutinger map in the history of both ancient and medieval geography and cartography is controversial. Many basic questions as to its sources, dating and purpose remain unanswered. In the light of various pieces of new evidence these problems are reassessed. It is argued that the Peutinger map does derive from a Roman original but that, without precedent in Roman cartography or impact on later medieval cartography, the mapping of itinerary data onto a base map of the oecumene is likely to be a genuine innovation of the designer of the archetype. There is no need to suppose the map to be an officially state‐sponsored product. The sources relied upon were commonly available and would have been familiar to the public in late antiquity. The purpose of the map is more likely to have been ornamental than practical. It is impossible to determine a precise date or location for the creation of the archetype, but the cultural viewpoint embodied in the map is undoubtedly antique, Latin and western.     

The image of authority in Carolingian coinage: the image of a ruler and Roman imperial tradition

This article examines the influence of Roman imperial symbols of authority on Carolingian coinage. During the brief period of a specific &1squo;renewal' in Carolingian coinage in the 810s, there was an evident turn to the Roman tradition of demonstrating authority. As a result, the image of a peace-making emperor on Roman coins during the late third to early fourth century was employed on Carolingian coins for the purpose of legitimizing the new imperial authority of the Carolingians. This image, however, was not long-lived and gradually disappeared in the 820s to 830s.     

Frankish military duty and the fate of Roman taxation

Frankish kings exacted unpaid military service from their subjects in both Merovingian and Carolingian times. The basis for this right has long been uncertain. A study of the term ‘manse’ as a Carolingian measure of assets brings to light the ostensibly hidden property on whose basis Franks went to war. This military duty reached back to the origins of the Frankish kingdom, when a large share of Roman taxes was awarded in individual allotments to soldiers obligated to serve, otherwise unpaid, when summoned, and heavily fined if they did not. Both demesne and tributary manses – contributory units – were the main part of state resources applied to military costs. They cannot be simply envisaged as components of an agricultural scheme (grand domaine). A tax‐like military obligation was one among several institutions actively surviving from the fifth century to the ninth, and it suggests that Frankish government was more law‐based and administrative than is often allowed.     

ROMAN HISTORY,THEN AND NOW

The argument here is that despite the many similarities of writing the history of ancient Rome, whether the Republic or the Empire, there are stark and significant differences between Edward Gibbon and Mary Beard. In part this is a matter of style and literary genius. It is also evidence of a vast cultural difference, reflected in changing attitudes about writing history and its importance. Beard is impatient with Gibbon's oratorical formality and conceits. Her own writing is easy and unmannered. These literary habits are determined by audience as well as personality. Gibbon addresses the English ruling class and enlightened opinion. His concerns are politics, religion, and law—the interests of his readers who governed and shaped opinion. Beard is more interested in the private and personal, subjects that until recently had only a marginal place in historical writing. She relies heavily on sources that were unknown to Gibbon, and might not have interested him anyhow. Her style mirrors these concerns. She does not assume her readers have had a Classical education nor that they know the general outlines of Roman history. She has little or no tolerance for Gibbon's obsession with religion, and, at least in SPQR, slight interest in either paganism or the rise of Christianity. Her thousand‐year slice of history—Gibbon also tackled a millennium—stops well short of Gibbon's broad philosophical vision of Rome as the cradle of Europe. These contrasts in style, taste, sources, and personality are not offered in judgment, but as commentary on the continuing vitality of Roman history.     

Infectious diseases and eating habits at Herculaneum (1st century AD,southern Italy)

This paper shows that many food remains excavated from Herculaneum were microbiologically contaminated, and that the Romans probably had continuous exposure to gastrointestinal diseases. However, palaeopathological analysis of skeletal remains from Herculaneum shows a low prevalence of non‐specific bone inflammation. Pomegranates and figs, consumed by the population, were mainly dried and invariably contaminated by Streptomyces, a bacterium that produces natural tetracycline, an antibiotic. Histological analysis of the human remains demonstrates fluorescence typical of this substance. The tetracycline‐labelled human remains show that the Roman inhabitants of Herculaneum ate food contaminated by Streptomyces, and this may explain the rarity of inflammatory bone diseases at the site due to non‐specific infection in the living population. This interpretation fits with therapeutic indications suggested by Roman physicians that preserved fruits were used to cure some inflammatory diseases. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An aspect of the question of continuity between antiquity and middle ages: the origin of the Flemish cities between the North Sea and the Scheldt

Most historians of the Flemish cities have argued that there was no significant Roman habitation north of the civitates of Belgica secunda. Urban development in Flanders was thus seen essentially as a creation of the Carolingian period and after. But recent archaeological excavations have shown a substantial Roman presence at six cites which later were towns of medium or considerable importance. Although the buildings were evidently abandoned in the fifth century, settlement and political and ecclesiastical organization developed around them in the Merovingian age. The Roman background thus had a considerable effect on the development of town life in medieval Flanders.     

Fragments of Boats from the Canale Anfora of Aquileia,Italy, and Comparison of Sewn‐Plank Ships in the Roman Era

Fragments of Roman sewn‐plank boats have been found, during rescue excavations, in the Canale Anfora, an artificial channel used by Roman ships to enter the Roman city of Aquileia. Remains were found in both 1988 and 2005 at the same site. Elements of what were probably two boats are analysed and compared to other finds of Roman sewn boats found along the coast of the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions. They are evidence of the use of this technique, instead of the more widespread mortise‐and‐tenon system, in the quite limited area of the Northern Adriatic. These boats were used both for inland and for maritime navigation.     

An aspect of the question of continuity between antiquity and middle ages: the origin of the Flemish cities between the North Sea and the Scheldt

Most historians of the Flemish cities have argued that there was no significant Roman habitation north of the civitates of Belgica secunda. Urban development in Flanders was thus seen essentially as a creation of the Carolingian period and after. But recent archaeological excavations have shown a substantial Roman presence at six cites which later were towns of medium or considerable importance. Although the buildings were evidently abandoned in the fifth century, settlement and political and ecclesiastical organization developed around them in the Merovingian age. The Roman background thus had a considerable effect on the development of town life in medieval Flanders.     

After Gundovald,before Pseudo‐Isidore: episcopal jurisdiction,clerical privilege and the uses of Roman law in the Frankish kingdoms

The article focuses on the mobilization and reconfiguration of Roman law in the Merovingian kingdoms. It pays particular attention to a collection of legal texts first compiled in the late sixth century, in preparation for the Second synod of Mâcon in 585. Drawing heavily on an extraordinary collection of late Roman imperial laws, the so‐called Sirmondian Constitutions, the bishops sought to declare themselves untouchably sacrosanct. A close analysis of the synodal canons shows that the bishops adapted these imperial rulings to legitimate their position in ways that had no basis in the original laws themselves. The study closes by linking the synod of Mâcon with a debate over episcopal privilege as reflected in the writings of Gregory of Tours, and with a brief look at the further history of the debate in the Carolingian period.     

Roman Navigation in Venice Lagoon: the Results of Underwater Research

Venice lagoon formed part of a network of inland waterways used for navigation in the northern Adriatic, an almost continuous system of lakes, river‐mouths and canals, at least partly pre‐Roman in origin. The fossae which cross the present lagoon are the continuation of a complex system of natural watercourses and artificial canals between Ravenna and Aquileia. Two Roman buildings discovered on the present San Felice canal could be interpreted as providing navigational assistance at points linking the sea and inland routes. © 2009 The Authors     

Trace element fingerprinting of ceramic building material from Carpow and York Roman fortresses manufactured by the VI Legion

Trace element compositions of raw clay, fired clay and Roman ceramic building material (CBM) from Carpow Roman fortress, Newburgh, Scotland and the city of York, England have been determined through the use of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICPMS). It is confirmed that the firing of clay does not disturb any of the sample’s trace element composition and that trace element protolith identification is an applicable tool for fingerprinting the source of material used in CBM construction. It is also demonstrated through the particular proportions of LREE/HREE; Th/Co; La/Sc; La/Lu; Eu/Sm values on CBM from Carpow that these material were likely manufactured from clay used in the York Roman tile manufacturing industry, therefore suggesting importation. The transport of CBM from York to Carpow provides a useful addition to known examples of the long-distance shipping of CBM. It is postulated that similar analysis to that conducted here could be used to identify important trade networks within the Roman Empire.     

The Marausa Wreck,Sicily: interim report on a boat built in the Western Imperial Roman tradition

In 1991, the wreck of a late 3rd–early 4th century AD Roman merchant vessel was discovered on the west coast of Sicily that had carried North African amphora, tubuli, and other ceramics. The hull was dismantled and raised in 2011, including a keel hook‐scarfed to stem and sternposts, 39 pegged mortise‐and‐tenon joined planks, 43 frames with an irregular pattern of floor‐timbers, half‐timbers, and futtocks fastened to the planking with treenails and copper nails, sister‐keelsons and evidence of two stringers, 36 ceiling strakes, and the base of a bilge pump. Many repairs are indicated. The fairly flat bottom and round bilges, mortise‐and‐tenons, sister‐keelsons and lack of a coherent framing pattern, place the boat in the Western Imperial tradition.     

Archaeology and roman society: Integrating textual and archaeological data

Although the collection of new data and the development of an enduring interest in theoretical concerns characterize much current work in Roman archaeology, the field continues to experience, tension between traditional classical archaeological approaches and practices borrowed from other branches of archaeology. This tension is most clearly visible with the integration of textual and archaeological data. How the dynamic between these provenances plays out in Roman archaeology can be seen in theoretical and methodological applications, the use of field survey, and the adoption of an Annaliste perspective by some Roman archaeologists. Text and archaeology are crucial contributors to the the study of early Rome and its origins, investigations in the capital for all periods, the study of Pompeii, and attempts to illuminate the chief characteristics of the Roman economy. Many advances in Roman archaeology have occurred largely as a result of a conscious attempt on the part of Roman archaeologists to properly contextualize textual data in light of the archaeological data, thereby providing a better balance between the two sets of information and liberating archeeology from being the “handmaid of history.”     

Time and identity in Stephen of Rouen's Draco Normannicus

The Draco Normannicus, written by Stephen of Rouen, a monk of Bec, in 1167–9, recounts the history of the Normans from mythic origins to 1169 using an idiosyncratic style and structure that works to undo chronological strictures and strengthen the identity of the Norman dynasty against their Capetian enemies. Juxtaposing ancient and contemporary events, the non-linear narrative historicises the conflict between Henry II and Louis VII and presents contemporary events in the same epic style as Roman and Carolingian history. The Empress Matilda emerges as a focal point for the narrative as well as for Stephen's conception of Norman dynastic and historical identity. Instances of direct address allow Stephen to raise and debate competing understandings of the Norman past while arguing for his preferred vision. Understood in this way, the Draco expands our ideas of historical writing and the perception of the past in the Anglo-Norman world.     

A Late Roman Quay in the River Meuse near Cuijk,Netherlands

The detection of the waterlogged remains of massive oak foundation piles in the river Meuse near the Dutch city of Cuijk led to the discovery of a unique Late Roman site. The piles, driven into the river‐bed, had protected vast layers of organic material containing all kind of artefacts against erosion by the river. Increased erosion during recent decades has uncovered much of the structure and artefacts, which have been meticulously recorded and collected by divers of the Dutch foundation Mergor in Mosam. Analysis of all data retrieved over the past 20 years has provided much information about the environment and life in Ceuclum, the Roman city of Cuijk.     

Common ware production at Thamusida: dating and characterisation of Roman and Islamic pottery

Twenty-one samples of likely Roman, likely Islamic and unknown common ware from the archaeological site of Thamusida (Rabat, Morocco) were analysed in order to anchor selected types of pottery to a limited time span and, possibly, to a production area and technology. Analytical techniques were thermoluminescence, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence. The results arising from this research are definitely useful for the study of the site of Thamusida as well as for all researchers involved in archaeological and archaeometrical research in Morocco. Chronologies proposed on a typological base have been denied twice: a likely Islamic cup dates back to the second century a.d.; vice versa, a stewpot, framed into the Roman period, resulted to be an eighth century a.d. production. Moreover, the identification of an eighteenth century ceramic production is of outstanding importance, as it characterises a completely unknown production. Regarding the production area, four samples of both Roman and Islamic periods have been recognised as local productions of Thamusida.     

Overlooked Husbands: The Paradox of Unfree Marriage in the Carolingian World

Unfree people in the Roman world could not legally marry, while they could in the Middle Ages. This paper explores the marriage of the unfree in the Carolingian empire (750–900 CE), a society with an intense moral concern about marriage. Carolingian churchmen wrote extensively about marriage, using a strongly gendered discourse focusing on how men should approach marriage and behave as husbands. However, these moral and legal texts rarely discussed unfree marriage, even though the practice was common. It is argued that this silence reflects the persistence of late antique class-based gender models, in which masculinity was reserved for married property holders. Although legal prohibitions on unfree marriages had ended, Carolingian moralists continued to be influenced by patristic assumptions that these were not valid relationships. These assumptions, combined with Frankish social practices that largely excluded unfree men from other key male roles, such as arms-bearing, meant that unfree husbands were not conceptualised as sufficiently ‘manly’ to have their marriages discussed. It is only from the tenth century onwards, when images of masculinity began to fragment more along lines of social status, that authors began explicitly to state that the Christian ideas of marriage applied to all, free and unfree.     

“The Roman Giant”: Overgrowth Syndrome in Skeletal Remains from the Imperial Age

A very tall skeleton was found during archaeological excavations in the territory of Fidenae, an administrative centre of the Roman territorial organization, situated along the Via Salaria about 7 km north of Rome (Italy). The individual was a young male, dated back to the Imperial Age (3^rd century AD), presenting a very tall but normally proportioned stature, estimated around 202 cm. The long bones showed incomplete epiphyseal union; therefore, the stature would probably have been taller, if he had lived longer. In this work, the metric data are compared with those from the Roman Imperial Age population, and differential diagnosis is discussed. The skeletal evidence is characteristic of a form of gigantism, a rare growth disease that may be linked to different syndromes. The most common etiology is associated with a dysfunction of the pituitary gland, which causes overproduction of the growth hormone (hGH) during childhood. This endocrine disorder stimulates cartilaginous activity at the growth plate, delaying epiphyseal fusion and resulting in increased bone length. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Archaeological Mortars from the Town of Ammaia in the Roman Province of Lusitania (Portugal)

The Roman town of Ammaia (in Marvão Region) is considered one of the most important recent findings of the Roman presence in Portuguese territory. It was settled in Republican times and abandoned in the seventh century. In this research, 17 masonry mortars and renders from the West Tower (South Gate), the residential area near the West Tower, the macellum, the peristylium, the public bath building, the podium of the temple and the portico of the forum were analysed. The methodology of chemical, mineralogical and microstructural characterization has involved several complementary techniques, including stereomicroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, thermal analysis and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. The results indicate that the mortars from the beginning of the town's edification were mainly composed of soil (clays). Later, during the main Roman building period, mortars were composed using a calcitic binder and the mortar composition varied according to their use and function. The samples from a period subsequent to the Roman occupation are based on a dolomitic binder. From the present study, relevant information has been acquired about the technological evolution of Roman construction in Ammaia, the historical context of the archaeological structures and guidelines for the conservation and restoration of mortars.