Limes Arabicus

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Army leaders of the Comitatenses and Limitanei in the 4th century AD.

The Limes Arabicus or Limes Orientalis was an approx. 1500 km long line of defense ( Limes ) of the Roman Empire . It ran from northern Syria to southern Palestine , where it was also called Limes Palaestiniae . Unlike Hadrian's Wall , for example, it did not consist of a continuous fortification, but of a series of fortifications. Today these are in the territory of the modern states of Jordan , Syria and Iraq .

meaning

Forerunners of Limes Arabicus were established during the conquest of Syria by Rome in the 1st century BC. A systematic expansion did not begin until the 2nd century AD. For centuries it marked the eastern border of the rich Roman province of Syria . Seminomadic desert peoples often resided east of the Limes Arabicus . At that time the Limes Arabicus represented the limit of the area of ​​productive agriculture and thus also the limit of the area that was economically interesting for Rome and could supply soldiers. Today the Limes Arabicus is largely in a pure desert area. To the north joined the Mesopotamian border zone between the Roman and the Parthian-Persian sphere of influence (the actual Limes Orientalis ). Numerous fortresses were built here, especially in late antiquity .

history

The beginning of the Syrian conquests was marked by a campaign by the general Pompey in 64 BC. Chr. In imperial times the province was Syria one of the wealthiest of the Empire, which desires on the part of nomads, Parthians woke and Persians and therefore made it necessary defenses. Especially in late antiquity , when the Romans in this region faced the Persian Sassanids and the Arab associations dependent on them (especially the Lachmids ), the number of fortifications was increased and the existing structures reinforced several times, especially under the emperors Anastasius I and Justinian I. The Limes Orientalis only lost its importance with the Islamic expansion of the 7th century .

course

There were fortifications of different sizes, including legionnaires' camps, forts and several hundred watchtowers, which were connected by the Strata Diocletiana , which was partly laid out in the Flavian era, and a secondary network of paths. In the desert these were twelve meter wide earth roads. The smaller camps were preferably set up on small hills at intervals of about 30 Roman miles (1 mile corresponds to about 1482 meters).

The Limes section began in the northernmost fortress Singara (south of the Jabal Sinjar in present-day Iraq). From Sura , the late antique legion camp on the Euphrates (25 km west of Ar-Raqqa near the river near the village of al-Mansura), the Limes Arabicus temporarily followed the Strata Diocletiana , which, among other things, via the small fort Tetrapyrgium (west of the road from Euphrates towards Resafa ), Resafa , Palmyra and other military stations to the Oriza / Oresa legionary camp ( Tayyibe ). In the further southern course the legionary camp of Bostra (in Hauran ) followed, as well as other small forts, water points and watchtowers. Some small forts in present-day Jordan were Qasr Hallabat (50 km east of Amman ), Praetorium Mobeni (15 km north of el-Lejjun) as well as the legionary camp Betthorus (el-Lejjun, 20 km east of Kerak ), the fort Daganiya (about 45 km north) from Maʿan ) and Odruh (22 km east of Wadi Musa ).

In the Roman area west of the Limes Arabicus was the Decapolis with cities like Gadara that were known at the time . The city ​​of Dura Europos on the banks of the Euphrates was probably conquered by the Romans in 165 (according to other researchers, not until around 200); in the 250s the city was conquered and destroyed by the Sassanids .

literature

  • Geoffrey Greatrex , Samuel Lieu (eds.): The Roman Eastern frontier and the Persian wars. Volume 2: AD 363-630. A narrative sourcebook. Routledge, London et al. 2002, ISBN 0-415-14687-9 .
  • David Kennedy, Derrick Riley: Rome's desert frontier. From the air. Batsford, London 1990, ISBN 0-7134-6262-0 .
  • Michaela Konrad : The late Roman Limes in Syria. Archaeological investigations at the border forts of Sura, Tetrapyrgium, Cholle and in Resafa (= Resafa. Vol. 5). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2001, ISBN 3-8053-2600-9 .
  • Hans-Peter Kuhnen: Desert border of the Roman Empire. The Roman Limes in Israel and Jordan . Nünnerich-Asmus, Mainz 2018, ISBN 978-396-176010-7 .

Web links