Archaeology of the Roman Army in Egypt. With special reference to the military installations

The Roman army in Egypt is not much presented in the archaeology. The study of ancient Egypt is mainly done by Egyptologists who are more concerned with the Pharaonic era than the Roman era. Furthermore the history of research in Egypt is mostly about the papyri that are found. The papyri of Egypt are a major source for our knowledge of the Roman army. This phenomenon produces problems when it comes to the archaeology of Roman Egypt. However in this thesis I try to focus on the known archaeological sites in Egypt which can tell something about the Roman military presence and its function. The popularity of Pharaonic Egypt is fairly reasonable because it was a long prosperous period for Egypt. The Egyptian pharaohs ruled approximately from 3000 B.C. till the Persian conquest in the seventh century B.C.1 which is long compared to the Roman occupation which lasted roughly 300 years when Byzantine rule is not counted. This different approach to the history of Egypt is clearly seen in...Show moreThe Roman army in Egypt is not much presented in the archaeology. The study of ancient Egypt is mainly done by Egyptologists who are more concerned with the Pharaonic era than the Roman era. Furthermore the history of research in Egypt is mostly about the papyri that are found. The papyri of Egypt are a major source for our knowledge of the Roman army. This phenomenon produces problems when it comes to the archaeology of Roman Egypt. However in this thesis I try to focus on the known archaeological sites in Egypt which can tell something about the Roman military presence and its function. The popularity of Pharaonic Egypt is fairly reasonable because it was a long prosperous period for Egypt. The Egyptian pharaohs ruled approximately from 3000 B.C. till the Persian conquest in the seventh century B.C.1 which is long compared to the Roman occupation which lasted roughly 300 years when Byzantine rule is not counted. This different approach to the history of Egypt is clearly seen in books which introduce the reader or give an overview of ancient Egypt, for example An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt by Katherine Bard.2 Only one chapter is about the Roman rule. The length of the Pharaonic period demands this but it steals a lot of focus from the Roman period. Strangely enough because of the papyri, which only survive in Egypt, there is a lot of knowledge about the Roman army. R.O. Fink describes many aspects of the Roman army in Roman Military Records on Papyrus published in 1971.3 More recent books describe the Roman army in a historical sense. However in this thesis I want to focus on the archaeological side of the Roman army and compare its function to other provinces. Obviously I will also use some written sources but I will try to give mainly the archaeological point of view in order to get a different perspective. This thesis focuses on three issues: What was the function of the Roman army in Egypt? Is the function of the Roman army unique in Egypt or can it be recognized in other provinces? What can the archaeology of the Roman army in Egypt tells us of the Roman army in general? In order to give answers to these problems I have to give an overview of the archaeology of the Roman army in Egypt. Due to the reasons mentioned above this forms a problem on its own. The literature of Roman archaeology in Egypt is very limited. Most specific research is carried out in the Eastern Desert where some quarry sites are excavated. However other sites throughout Egypt are scarcely researched and often without archaeological methods.4 So the available literature is scattered and the goal of this thesis is also to make an overview of all this data. The first chapter gives an overview of the Roman army in general. The army is the most important feature on which the Roman Empire is build on. This feature shall be elaborated in the first chapter. The next chapter gives an overview of the Roman army in Egypt. This history will show the background of the Roman army and its location within Egypt. In the third chapter I will discuss the recruitment and function of the Roman soldiers. In the final two chapters I will discuss the various military installations. In the conclusion the contents of these chapters fall together in order to answer the above-mentioned issues.Show less

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Archaeology of the Roman Army in Egypt. With special reference to the military installations