Theme:
2. From Limes to regions: the archaeology of borders, connections and roads
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
CANCELLED The Roman Limes as Military, Political, Economic and Cultural Decisive Factor on the Barbarian Territories
Content:
The relation between the Roman Empire as a superpower and the Barbarian lands beyond its borders can be considered a dynamic phenomenon, being in constant transformation in both a chronological and a geographical sense. It represents the interaction between two structurally very different worlds.
The Roman military, economic and cultural influences reaching beyond the limes have been for a long time a focal point of the archaeological research of the Barbaricum. However, the interpretation of this complex web of relations may be limited based on the frequently quoted written sources as well as the spectacular Roman luxury items, articles of attire and weapons found in Barbarian context.
Several, conventionally cited phenomena and artefact types can represent different levels of contacts between the one-time communities. The interpretation of these cannot be uniform: their role is defined by the exact setting. Thus, it is not only essential to outline the archaeological legacy of the community in relation to which the interaction took place, but also to phrase precise questions on the social, economic and cultural context of the same phenomenon.
The session will concentrate on the limes as an indicator of influences between different communities. We will survey the possibilities of interpreting various political, economic and cultural phenomena. What kind of influences could the presence of Roman luxury items, military artefacts, pieces of attire, technologies or stylistic features signal from the Romans', or on the contrary, the Barbarians' point of view? How are these levels of contacts related to each other socially in a certain cultural context? How can they be distinguished and interpreted in the archaeological material? What kind of new research methods may help us (eg. spatial analyses, mathematical statistical and natural scientific surveys) and how do these affect the research directions of the topic?
Keywords:
Trade and Exchange Networks, Conflict, Representation of Power, Social and Technological Changes
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Eszter Soós (Hungary) 1
Co-organisers:
Balázs Komoróczy (Czech Republic) 2
Affiliations:
1. University of Pécs, Department of Archaeology
2. Head of Research Centre for the Roman Period and the Migration Period Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno
THIS SESSION CAN NOT BE SELECTED AT THIS MOMENT