Strata Diocletiana

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Access to the Principia in the Diocletian fortress of Palmyra

The Strata Diocletiana ( Latin for Diocletian street was) a fortified trade and military road that runs along the eastern Roman Empire border - the Limes Arabicus - from the late antique military camp Sura on the Euphrates ran through the desert steppe and important border cities like Resafa , Palmyra , Damascus and Bosra with connected to his legionary camp. South of Bostra, the road can be followed via the Diocletian legionary camp of Betthorus to northeast Arabia.

The road, which is now in Syria and Jordan , was laid out during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284–305). At that time, the emperor had a dense network of fortifications built in the provinces of Mesopotamia ( Mesopotamia ) and Syria . The road system was also repaired or supplemented by new military roads. The Roman engineers also used existing routes on some sections. The erection of large water cisterns and milestones for easier orientation enabled the border troops stationed in the new forts to be deployed more effectively against the Bedouin tribes . At the same time, small forts of mostly similar construction , which usually embodied the so-called Quadriburgia type , as well as many walled encircled camp villages ( Vici ) were built along the route at water-rich places at a daily march - around 20 Roman miles . In the southern section in particular, older small forts were added to the system, such as the Deir el-Kahf complex founded by the Severan . Many ancient border fortifications are epigraphically attested by the milestones set up along the road, including their names . In addition, the name Strata Diocletiana was mentioned several times in inscriptions. In addition to the milestones, the late antique historian Prokop also passed on the name. In addition to a dense chain of small forts and watchtowers, the surveillance system had other legion camps and advanced outposts.

Thanks to the work of Thomas Bauzou , the term Strata Diocletiana was reassessed . Bauzou not only restricted it to the Palmyrenian area, but speculated that it could only have served as a name for the troops from Palmyra entrusted with the surveillance of a stretch of road. The word strata would have been a well-defined military term for a paved border road. On the other hand, in the Itinerarium Burdigalense , which was created between 333 and 334, the connecting road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem is also spoken of as a strata , although for the ancient historian Heinz E. Herzig it is not yet clear what structural quality a strata may have had at this time.

literature

  • 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 .
  • Thomas Bauzou: Les routes romaines de Syrie. In: Jean-Marie Dentzer , Winfried Orthmann (eds.): Archeologie et histoire de la Syrie. Volume 2: La Syrie de l'Époque Achéménide à l'Avènement de l'Islam (= writings on Near Eastern Archeology. Vol. 1). SDV, Saarbrücken 1989, ISBN 3-925036-34-2 , pp. 205-221.
  • Thomas Bauzou: Activité de la mission archéologique Strata diocletiana en 1990 et 1992. In: Chronique archéologique en Syrie. Vol. 1, 1992 (1997), ZDB -ID 2021453-4 , pp. 136-140.
  • Jörg Wagner: The Romans on the Euphrates and Tigris. In: Ancient World , Special Edition No. 16, Mainz 1985.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Legionslager Sura at 35 ° 53 '55.7 "  N , 38 ° 46' 46.99"  O .
  2. ↑ Resafa at 35 ° 37 '44.96 "  N , 38 ° 45' 28.45"  O .
  3. ↑ Legionslager Palmyra at 34 ° 33 '17.69 "  N , 38 ° 15' 39.05"  O .
  4. ↑ Damascus at 33 ° 30 '35 "  N , 36 ° 18' 33"  O .
  5. ↑ Legionslager Bostra at 32 ° 31 '28.35 "  N , 36 ° 29' 0.08"  O .
  6. ↑ Legionslager bed Horus at 31 ° 14 '14.14 "  N , 35 ° 52' 6.25"  O .
  7. ↑ Jörg Wagner: The Romans on the Euphrates and Tigris. In: Ancient World , Special Edition No. 16, 1985, p. 68.
  8. ↑ For example, the well-preserved fortlet Qasr Bushir at 31 ° 20 '14.12 "  N , 35 ° 58' 52.06"  O .
  9. ↑ fortlet Deir el-Kahf at 32 ° 16 '51.84 "  N , 36 ° 50' 16.79"  O .
  10. ↑ Michael Sommer : Rome's oriental steppe border. Palmyra - Edessa - Dura-Europos - Hatra. a cultural history from Pompey to Diocletian (= Oriens et occidens. Vol. 9). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-515-08724-9 , p. 77.
  11. ↑ For example: CIL 3, 6719 ; AE 1931.85 ; AE 1931, 108 ; AE 1993, 1602 .
  12. ↑ Prokop, War History 2, 1, 6.
  13. ↑ Michaela Konrad: The late Roman Limes in Syria. Archaeological investigations at the border forts of Sura, Tetrapyrgium, Cholle and in Resafa. 2001, p. 97.
  14. ↑ Heinz E. Herzig: The ancient foundations of the European road system. In: Thomas Szabó (ed.): The world of European roads. From antiquity to early modern times. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-412-20336-8 , pp. 5-18; here: p. 8.