Theme:
2. From Limes to regions: the archaeology of borders, connections and roads
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Christianity at the Frontiers
Content:
There is an old myth, still recounted in some of the historiography on Late Antiquity, according to which the Roman army was somewhat involved in the spread of Christianity, usually shortly after the conversion of Constantine. Proponents of that position generally rely on two points: 1- the testimony of the Church Fathers, who are constantly insisting on the receptivity of the soldiers to Christianity; 2- the fact that the Roman army promoted the spread of all kinds of oriental cults, which also implies Christianity.
By this logic, we should be able to observe a degree of Christianisation in the provinces of the Empire which would be proportional to their level of militarisation. The “limes” being theoretically the most militarised area in Late Antiquity, it should then be the most Christianised. Should we therefore see evidence of the military outposts as units of Christian propaganda around the Empire?
It is true that most of the episcopal sees of this part of the Roman world were founded in military camps. Compared to the importance of the militarisation of these territories, the episcopal network was, however, very modest even up to the middle/end of the 6th century, so that the contribution of the army to the spread of Christianity does not seem as obvious is sometimes assumed.
In order to propose elements of answers to that research question, presentations on all archaeological of Christianity on the border areas of the Roman Empire are welcome in this session. These papers can focus on new discoveries, as well as on the re-evaluation of material already studied, which dates, for most of it, from the 4th to 7th centuries AD.
This session is the second part of a first one on the same topic, organised in September 2019, at the 24. International Limes Congress (Belgrade/Viminacium, Serbia).
Keywords:
Christianity, Roman army, "Limes" / Frontier, Christian topography, Christian artefacts, Christian epigraphy
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:
The DANUBIUS Project of the HALMA-UMR 8164 research centre, University of Lille, France (mainly funded by the French National Research Agency and the I-SITE ULNE Foundation ; website: https://danubius.huma-num.fr).
Main organiser:
Dominic Moreau (France) 1,2
Co-organisers:
Radu Petcu (Romania) 3
Affiliations:
1. Université de Lille
2. HALMA-UMR 8164 research centre
3. Muzeul de Istorie Națională și Arheologie din Constanța
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