Armis et litteris : the military equipment of Early Roman Palestine, in light of the archaeological and historical sources
To date, no systematic study of the military equipment from the celebrated conflict sites of the Bella Judaica has been offered. Based on a large assemblage of military equipment that originated from over 70 sites throughout Palestine a typological database of the equipment was formed, the majority of which is hitherto unpublished. The arid conditions of the eastern sectors of Palestine have contributed to an excellent preservation of equipment made of perishable materials. Additionally, rare discoveries like the panoply of a Roman legionary enabled us to illustrate the images of the Roman soldiers and their opponents in the Early Roman east. But this study draws beyond the narrow typological approach. The militaria of Roman Palestine is examined against its contextual background. This corpus enriches the archaeology of conflict, as the analysis of the material yielded indications for the tactics and types of weapons employ ed, among which are remnants of unique siege tools. The exploration of the spatial distribution of the militaria provided new data concerning the course of battles and revealed the identity of the participating forces and provides a platform for critical discussion about the credibility
Stiebel, Guy Daniel
Armis et litteris : the military equipment of Early Roman Palestine, in light of the archaeological and historical sources. To date, no systematic study of the military equipment from the celebrated conflict sites of the Bella Judaica has been offered. Based on a large assemblage of military equipment that originated from over 70 sites throughout Palestine a typological database of the equipment was formed, the majority of which is hitherto unpublished. The arid conditions of the eastern sectors of Palestine have contributed to an excellent preservation of equipment made of perishable materials. Additionally, rare discoveries like the panoply of a Roman legionary enabled us to illustrate the images of the Roman soldiers and their opponents in the Early Roman east. But this study draws beyond the narrow typological approach. The militaria of Roman Palestine is examined against its contextual background. This corpus enriches the archaeology of conflict, as the analysis of the material yielded indications for the tactics and types of weapons employ ed, among which are remnants of unique siege tools. The exploration of the spatial distribution of the militaria provided new data concerning the course of battles and revealed the identity of the participating forces and provides a platform for critical discussion about the credibility
military equipment early roman palestine light archaeological_historical source date systematic_study military equipment celebrate conflict site offer based large_assemblage military equipment originate site throughout palestine typological database equipment form majority hitherto unpublished arid condition eastern sector palestine contribute excellent preservation equipment make material additionally rare discovery like roman enable illustrate image roman soldier opponent early_roman east study_draw beyond narrow typological approach roman palestine examine contextual background corpus archaeology conflict analysis material yield indication tactic type weapon employ among remnant unique siege tool exploration spatial_distribution provide_new data concern course battle reveal identity participate force provide platform critical discussion credibility