(2014) The Economic Development of the Rhine River Basin in the Roman Period (30 BC - AD 406) (original) (raw)
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Economic Life on the Fringes of the Roman Empire
Journal of Ancient Civilizations 35/2, 2020
The present paper aims at making some observations on trade between the inhabitants of the Roman Empire and those dwelling outside its frontiers, but nevertheless living in the vicinity of Roman frontier zones. Using three examples – the Rhine frontier, the Middle Euphrates, and the Eastern Desert of Egypt – it highlights the importance of every-day economic interactions at the frontier zones of the Roman Empire. Furthermore, the paper offers some remarks on the different concepts of frontiers and borders in the Roman world.
This is the first of a series of three papers synthesising the results of an interdisciplinary study of the chain of small forts built c. AD 40 on the southern bank of the Rhine between Vechten (prov. Utrecht / NL ) and the North Sea coast. The project focused on the reasons for the establishment of these military installations and on the efforts required to build and maintain them. These questions were addressed by a team of researchers from diverse backgrounds: archaeology, geomorphology, palaeobotany and zooarchaeology. Whereas the project was formally restricted to the period c. AD 40-140 this first paper discusses the preceding era: the transition from the Late Iron Age into the early principate. The events from AD 40 onwards cannot be properly assessed without a basic understanding of what preceded: the pre-Roman landscape and habitation of the lower Rhine delta, Rome’s conquest of Gaul and its struggles with the Germanic peoples from the right bank of the Rhine. The narrative is embedded in the historical sources and therefore essentially chronological, but there are several digressions on the landscape and its use, with the Rhine and its delta as a prominent element, and on military supply, which is of vital importance in a period of conquest. It appears that the political rivalry of the late Roman Republic was the key factor in the expansion to the Northwest, but once set off there was no way back. Each conquest induced new threats demanding further actions, as far as the natural landscape and the military supply network allowed. Eventually the Roman troops advanced to the Elbe, and there remains little doubt that Augustus intended to turn most of the annexed territory between the Rhine and Elbe into a Roman province. Although this goal came within reach once Tiberius subjected all Germanic peoples between Rhine and Elbe in 8 BC , its full achievement was time and again frustrated. It is generally assumed that the abortion of the Roman military campaigns after AD 16 marks the definite abandonment of the imperial dream of a German provincial territory east of the Rhine, but the continuing tributary status of the transrhenane Frisii and the potential of the area for military supply – including cereals, meat, leather, metal ore, stone and army recruits – shed doubt on that conclusion. At the death of emperor Tiberius in AD 37 Germania was not necessarily considered lost, and it may not be a coincidence that his successor Caligula crossed the Rhine when he needed a quick military success to secure his grip on the imperial throne.
Rivers and Waterways in the Roman World, 2023
The Rhine, Danube, Euphrates, and Nile, along with many other, smaller rivers, played important roles in shaping Roman frontier policy. Rivers could both divide and unite, functioning simultaneously as frontier obstacle that separated Roman from non-Roman territory as well as connective highways for the transportation of people, goods, and ideas. While the riverine frontiers of the Roman Empire are generally well known today for incorporating both elements, the opportunities and obstacles posed by the dynamic nature of flowing water have yet to be fully assessed. Rivers, of course, changed constantly throughout the year and over longer time periods; high water levels in spring and autumn alternated with low flows in summer and possible freezing in winter across temperate Europe. The semi-arid and arid landscapes of the Nile and Euphrates rivers presented different patterns, wherein dramatic seasonal flooding had shaped human experience for millennia. Over longer periods, rivers could also move, especially in flood plains and deltaic regions where channel dynamism was especially pronounced. These changes could be driven by climatic and anthropogenic factors, often at the same time. How did Roman frontier policy adapt to and incorporate these dynamic environments? Since these rivers were not static entities, local knowledge of hydrological regimes was critical to successfully managing military policy along their banks. This paper examines multiple case studies from the edges of the Roman Empire, examining how the ever-changing nature of riverways was successfully incorporated into frontier strategy, or not. Particular attention will be paid to (geo)archaeological evidence for hydrological change, as well as written attestations of episodic flooding, drought, and winter freezes. The resulting picture of regional and chronological diversity reveals an important truth: rivers could make good frontiers, but often did not, and Roman policy had to account for this variability or, ultimately, fail.
The Rural Foundations of The Roman Economy. New Approaches to Rome’s Ancient Countryside from the Archaic to the Early Imperial Period, 2022
This paper is the introduction to the Open Access edited volume "The Rural Foundations of The Roman Economy. New Approaches to Rome’s Ancient Countryside from the Archaic to the Early Imperial Period" published in Open Access as part of the proceedings of the Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Classical Archaeology on the Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World. The book, contains the following papers: José Ernesto Moura Knust Far from the Walls. Explaining Rural Settlement Dispersal within Roman, Mediterranean and Global Frameworks Stephen A. Collins-Elliott Measuring Rural Economic Development through Categorical Data Analysis in Southern Etruria and Latium (400 BC – 50 AD) Peter Attema – Tymon de Haas – Gijs Tol – Jorn Seubers Towards an Integrated Database for the Study of Long-term Settlement Dynamics, Economic Performance and Demography in the Pontine Region and the Hinterland of Rome Alessandro Launaro A View from the Margins: Interamna Lirenas and its Territory in the Long Term Günther Schörner – Veronika Schreck Production and Trade in Late Republican and Imperial Inland Etruria: Integrating Archaeological and Archaeometric Results of the Val di Pesa and Val Orme-Project Anna Maria Mercuri – Eleonora Rattighieri – Rossella Rinaldi – Assunta Florenzano The Archaeobotanical Study of Agriculture of Roman Peasants: Skilled Farmers of the 1st BC – 5th AD in Tuscany, Central Italy Willem M. Jongman The Voice of the Silent Majority: Archaeological Surveys and the History of the Roman Countryside abstract: Since the 1960s, excavations, survey and environmental studies have generated a wealth of data on the countryside around Rome north and south of the Tiber. Data pertain to rural settlement types ranging from the small farmstead to the large villa, and regard nonurban burial grounds, production facilities, such as pottery kilns, smithies and quarries, as well as infrastructure and field systems. Also, a growing interest can be noted in such important issues as crop choice, manuring, land reclamation and land degradation. In combination, this wealth of information, often still unconnected, can inform us on the functioning and performance of the Roman economy in a crucial period of Rome's rise to power during the Archaic and mid-Republican periods. It can also be used to investigate its subsequent development during the Late Republican and Early Imperial period within the expanding Mediterranean economic network of that period. The aim of the session "The Rural Foundations of The Roman Economy. New Approaches to Rome's Ancient Countryside from the Archaic to the Early Imperial Period" was to bring together methodologically informed, data-driven studies that shed light on the drivers and performance of the Central Italian rural economy during the Archaic to Imperial period.1 The session was accepted as part of the theme "Methodology: Survey archaeology, natural sciences, quantification", one of the overarching themes defined by the organizers of the 19 th International Congress of Classical Archaeology on Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World. The original session was split up chronologically with a set of papers reflecting on the Archaic and Mid-Republican period first and then followed by a set of papers focusing on the Late Republican and Imperial periods. However, for the publication we have chosen to start with papers offering a broad synthetic perspective and to zoom in afterwards on case studies of regional and local relevance. The first paper by José Ernesto Moura Knust (Instituto Federal Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro) entitled "Far from the Walls. Explaining Rural Settlement Dispersal within Roman, Mediterranean and Global Frameworks" advocates to view Roman rural settlement not as a unique phenomenon but rather as part of a Mediterranean-wide historical process that requires a Mediterranean or even global historical framework for explanation. According to Knust, factors that should be taken into account are climate, connectivity leading to exchange of agricultural technology (including tools and crops), commercialization, and demographic pressure. In such an explanatory framework he sees agricultural intensification as the main driver leading to dispersed rural settlement in the ancient world, although in world history nucleated scenarios (as in the medieval period) occur as well.
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