Bread & Circuses

Latest Archaeological News from Germany

A couple of fascinating bits of news from Germany in the past few days. First off in the Augsburger Allgemeine a great piece on Tunisian pottery found in fifth century Augsburg. It suggests that the collapse of communication and trade across the empire was not as complete as previously imagined.

Die edle Keramik aus Tunesien, die im gesamten Mittelmeerraum so gefragt war, erreichte noch bis Mitte des 5. Jahrhunderts Augsburg. Das heißt: Man erfuhr hier noch, was in Italien in war, der Kontakt war intakt. Es gab Transportrouten und Menschen, die sich römischen Luxus leisten konnten.

Full article here.

Also - and huge thanks to MB for passing over - a wonderful film about the discovery of Roman supply depot along the River Lippe. Only in German, but you can watch it here.

...
Ein Lämpchen schreibt Geschichte - weiter lesen auf Augsburger-Allgemeine: http://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/augsburg/Ein-Laempchen-schreibt-Geschichte-id28139647.html

 

Marble Statue of one of the Muses

Today from  the J Paul Getty Museum this incredibly beautiful marble statue of one of the Muses. It was originally coloured and you can still just about make out traces of colour and gold. It dates to around AD200. Provenance is unknown.

Torso of a Man Wearing Armour

Today from the J Paul Getty Museum, this wonderful Flavian torso. Made in marble, it can be dated fairly specifically to around AD83-85. Prevenance is unknown.

Fresco Depicting a Woman Holding a Dish

Today from the J Paul Getty Museum, a fresco of a woman, possibly a maenad, holding an empty dish. Below her are a peacock and a bunch of grapes. It dates to the second century AD.

Portrait of a Woman as Cybele

Today from the J Paul Getty Museum,  a large statue of a seated woman as Cybele. Found in Rome in the 1500s, this statue's most unusual feature is its face, which belongs to that of an older Roman matron, rather than an idealised goddess.

Rome's Forgotten Campaign: the Battle on the Harzhorn

For those gripped by the Battle on the Harzhorn, the battle in AD238 between the Romans under Maximinus Thrax and the Germans, Roms vergessener Feldzug: Die Schlacht am Harzhorn is essential. The book connected with the exhibition currently on in Brauschweig is wonderful:

Die Legionäre und ihre Hilfstruppen waren offenkundig auf dem Rückweg von der "Schlacht im Moor" gewesen, die in Schriftquellen wie der "Historia Augusta" erwähnt wird. Bis ins Jahr 2008 schenkte man diesem Ereignis kaum Beachtung; die Forscher glaubten, es sei ein unbedeutendes Scharmützel zwischen Truppen des Thrax und Germanen gewesen. Zwar schrieben die antiken Historiker, Thrax sei bei diesem Unternehmen 300 bis 400 römische Meilen weit in germanisches Gebiet vorgedrungen, allerdings hielt man das für übertrieben. Deshalb verkürzte der französische Philologe Claude de Saumaise (1588-1653), der 1620 die "Historia Augusta" erstmals drucken ließ, die ursprüngliche Entfernungsangabe auf 30 bis 40 Meilen.

Das hatte zur Folge, dass man den Ort der Schlacht nahe Mainz vermutete. Befördert wurde diese Annahme von der im 19. Jahrhundert aufkeimenden Vorstellung, die Germanen hätten die Römer in der Varusschlacht (9 n. Chr.) aus den "deutschen Landen" vertrieben – wonach ein späteres raumgreifendes Vordringen der Römer auf germanisches Gebiet unplausibel erschien. Inzwischen aber beweisen die Funde vom Harzhorn, dass die "Schlacht im Moor" nicht bei Mainz stattfand, sondern viel weiter im Norden: wenigstens 250 Kilometer von der Grenze des römischen Reichs entfernt. Auf dem Rückmarsch von dort wurden die Römer offensichtlich am Harzhorn in weitere Kämpfe mit den Germanen verwickelt.

A good review of the volume at Spektrum.de.

Head of Antonia Minor

Today from the J Paul Getty Museum, a chalcedony head of Antonia Minor, daughter of Marc Antony and mother to Emperor Claudius. It was probably carved after her death in AD47. She is wearing a veil and a diadem, dressed as a priestess of the cult of her uncle, the deified Augustus.

Roman Fort of Saalburg and the Bridgeness Slab

An easy trap when looking at Roman Scotland, or indeed the history of any single part of the Roman empire, is to see history as vertical rather than horizontal. Here, by that I mean that a direct line is often drawn from Mons Graupius and the Antonine Wall, to Braveheart and the Battle of Bannockburn, all the way along to Alex Salmond. It is easy to forget that while the Romans were in Scotland, they were pursuing similar aims in the rest of Europe.

This was brought home to me 10 days ago by this memorial to Quintus Carminius Ingenuus in the Saalburg Roman Fort near Bad Homburg in Germany (the original is in Worms). A signifer in the Ala 1 Hispanorum, Quintus served for 25 years.

What brought me up short was that the image of the cavalryman trampling barbarians is the same as the much-lauded cavalry imagery on the Bridgeness Slab, the distance marker stone on the Antonine Wall, found in Bo'ness and erected by the Legio II Augusta. Art doesn't exist in a vacuum.

 

Katastrophen, die Geschichte machten: Die Varusschlacht

For those in Germany, Katastrophen, die Geschichte machten: Die Varusschlacht, a documentary I was lucky enough to work on, is on tonight at 2100 on ZDFinfo:

Aus heiterem Himmel Menschen machen die Geschichte, so heißt es. Doch das ist nur die halbe Wahrheit. Vulkanausbrüche, Erdbeben oder Super-Stürme haben die Geschicke der Menschheit oft mehr beeinflusst als Feldherren und Visionäre. In dieser Serie geht es um die größten und folgenreichsten Katastrophen aller Zeiten, Kollisionen von Mensch und Natur, die die Welt für immer veränderten. Vor gut 2000 Jahren löste die Varusschlacht in der damaligen Welt eine tiefe Erschütterung aus.

Definitely worth a watch. You can watch it online here.

Five-year Plan for Antonine Wall Published

Historic Scotland published its new five year plan for the Antonine Wall yesterday. I shall not go into it in too much detail. I posted extensively on the plan back in October and the problems I highlighted then still remain. In brief, while the plan itself is fine, as long as no money is allocated to the project, it plays at an amateur level.

Page 20/6.17 gets to the heart of the issue: "Collaborative working/partnership delivery of projects is likely to become increasingly important to seek and secure external funding, perhaps in some instances from more creative than traditional sources."

The only thing that the plan can deliver is a new website and better signs.

The press release is here (though it really is utter bollocks). The full pdf report is here. Culture24 summarises the report here.