Bread and Circuses

Latrines at Largo Argentina in Rome

The return of the series on Roman toilets. The latrines at Largo Argentina in Rome.

#52 Constans: Emperors of Rome

Emperors of Rome continues with Constans, the third and youngest of the sons of Constantine who managed to alienate both his brothers and the army.

 

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Where was Constantine II and when?

Precise dating for Constantine II's movements as emperor is virtually impossible. What we have has been analysed by Tim Barnes in "Imperial Chronology, A. D. 337-350," Phoenix 34 (1980), pp 160-166. To give some idea, this is all we have for certain:

c September 337    In Pannonia

?338                       German campaign

8 January 339        At Trier

Spring 340             Invades territory of Constans and is killed near Aquileia

The sources for those are: Julian, Or 1.19a; ILS 724; Theodosian Code 12.1.27 and Chron Min 1.236.

#51 Constantine II: Emperors of Rome

Emperors of Rome continues with Constantine II, who never lived up to the promise expected of him.

  

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Battlefield archaeology at Kalefeld

Following on from my posts last week (here and here) about new discoveries at the third century Roman battlefield at Kalefeld, Germany, the press conference yesterday has had a fair amount of coverage today. Best of all is Welt Online which has some splendid pictures of the dolabra with the inscription LEGIIII. It is also worth having a look at Kreiszeitung.de and HNA.de. It remains both surprising and depressing that a find of this importance has had pretty much no coverage at all in the English-speaking press.

Photo copyright dpa

#50 Constantine: Emperors of Rome

Emperors of Rome continues with Constantine, the best known and arguably the most important emperor of late antiquity.

  

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Legion IIII present at battlefield at Kalefeld redux

In the post yesterday on the inscription found at Kalefeld that mentions LEGIIII, I wrote that the legion, Legio IIII Flavia Felix was attested in the region thanks to an inscription: CIL XIII 6104/ILS2310. I couldn't lay my hands on it then. For those interested, here it is:

d. m. Aur. Vitali | mil. leg. IIII Fl, | stip. VII, vlxit | ann. XXV, agens | expeditione | Germaniae, Fl|avius Proc|lus mil. leg. s. s.,| secundus he|res contuber|nali bene mere[nti] f. c.

Also another piece on the discovery at NDR.de.

Legion IIII present at battlefield at Kalefeld

The inscription LEGIIII on a dolabra found at the third century battlefield of Kalefeld in Germany is the first positive indication of a unit that took part in the battle, likely in c235AD. There were of course several Legio IIII at the time, but it is likely that it was Legio IIII Flavia Felix. The legion is attested in the region around this time (CIL XIII 6104/ILS2310), though it could have been the Legio IIII Italica.

Die Welt has the story in some detail today:

Archäologen haben einen Beweis für die Beteiligung der vierten Legion des römischen Heeres an der Schlacht am Harzhorn (bei Kalefeld, Landkreis Northeim) gefunden. Auf einer Streitaxt seien deutlich die Lettern LEG IIII zu erkennen, teilte das Niedersächsische Landesamt für Denkmalpflege mit. Die Schreibweise IIII statt IV sei in der Spätantike durchaus üblich gewesen, hieß es.

Die Lettern waren auf der Axt, einer sogenannten Dolabra, eingehämmert. Die Inschrift sei länger, in den folgenden Teilen nur schwer zu entziffern, sagte ein Sprecher. Diese und eine weitere Axt sowie ein ebenfalls aufgefundener vollständiger römischen Wurfspeer seien „Relikte eines heftigen Kampfes Mann gegen Mann“.

There is going to be a fuller press conference on January 11 with more details hopefully emerging. The press release from the Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege on the axe is here. For background to the battle and previous posts see here.

Arminius and the Forest

The way that Arminius and the Battle of Teutoburg Forest remains a drumbeat throughout Germany even today still manages to take me by surprise. Few other battles have had such a resonance. See this review at Sueddeutsche.de of the new exhibition "Unter Bäumen" at the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin.

In the second par of his review, Christopher Pramstaller writes:

Es war in den Wäldern, in denen die deutsche Nation ihren Anfang nahm. Vernichtend schlug - der Legende nach - Hermann der Cherusker im Jahr neun nach Christus den römischen Feldherrn Publius Quinctilius Varus im Teutoburger Wald. In der Schlacht geeint, entstiegen die Germanen dem Blutbad. Die Wilden hatten die Zivilisation besiegt - und die Deutschen ihren Ur-Mythos gefunden.

#46 Maximinus Daia: Emperors of Rome

Emperors of Rome continues with Maximinus Daia who opposed the Christian church and lost a civil war.

  

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