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Roman Empire (roman + empire)
Selected AbstractsDEEPLY COLOURED AND BLACK GLASS IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE: DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES IN CHEMICAL COMPOSITION BEFORE AND AFTER ad 150*ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 5 2009V. VAN DER LINDEN In this work we attempt to elucidate the chronological and geographical origin of deeply coloured and black glass dating between 100 bc and ad 300 on the basis of their major and trace element compositions. Samples from the western and eastern parts of the Roman Empire were analysed. Analytical data were obtained by means of a scanning electron microscope , energy-dispersive system (SEM,EDS, 63 samples analysed) and laser ablation , inductively coupled plasma , mass spectrometry (LA,ICP,MS, 41 samples analysed). Among the glass fragments analysed, dark brown, dark purple and dark green hues could be distinguished. Only among the dark green fragments could a clear compositional distinction be observed between fragments dated to the periods before and after ad 150. In the early samples (first century bc to first century ad), iron, responsible for the green hue, was introduced by using impure sand containing relatively high amounts of Ti. In contrast, a Ti-poor source of iron was employed, containing Sb, Co and Pb in trace quantities, in order to obtain the dark green colour in the later glass samples. The analytical results obtained by combining SEM,EDS and LA,ICP,MS are therefore consistent with a differentiation of glassmaking recipes, detectable in glass composition, occurring in the period around ad 150. [source] The Mirror of the Self: Sexuality, Self-Knowledge and the Gaze in the Early Roman Empire,by Shadi BartschGENDER & HISTORY, Issue 1 2010HELEN LOVATT No abstract is available for this article. [source] James I, Gondomar and the Dissolution of the Parliament of 1621HISTORY, Issue 279 2000Brennan C. Pursell Letters written by Count Gondomar reveal that King James I devised a secret plan to dissolve the parliament of 1621 before it was recalled for a second session. Because of the escalating war in the Holy Roman Empire, James faced a belligerent parliament in England which pressured him to mount an effective defence of the Lower Palatinate against Spanish and imperial forces. James resisted and decided instead to maintain his rapport with Spain, and therefore it became necessary to sacrifice the parliament of 1621. Motivated by a genuine desire for peace, the king provoked a confrontation with the House of Commons in order to give him a pretext for dissolving parliament. [source] Sails from the Roman port at Berenike, EgyptINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 2 2001Felicity C. Wild A 1st-century AD midden deposit at Berenike, a major port on the trade route between the Roman Empire and India, has produced cotton textile fragments reinforced with a rectangular grid-pattern of cotton strips, interpreted as the remains of sails. Webbing fragments of cotton and linen, in some cases attached to stout cotton or linen cloth, may also have come from sails. The only published example of a Roman-Period sail is a linen sail of 1st-century BC-AD date from Thebes in Egypt, to which the Berenike fragments bear a close resemblance. The S-spun linen sails were presumably manufactured in Egypt. Most of the Berenike material, however, was of Z-spun cotton: an import, it is argued, of Indian origin. The construction of Mediterranean-type sails entirely from Indian materials has implications for the presence of Westerners on the Indian sub-continent. [source] Life history of a mule (c. 160 AD) from the Roman fort Biriciana/Weißenburg (Upper Bavaria) as revealed by serial stable isotope analysis of dental tissuesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 2 2010T. E. Berger Abstract The presence of the osseous remains of at least four mules in a garbage dump at the Roman fort of Biriciana near the town of Weißenburg, Upper Bavaria, dating to c. 160 AD, raised the question as to whether mule breeding was already performed to the north of the Alps during the Middle Roman Empire, or whether these animals still had to be imported from the Mediterranean. Serial analyses of the dental enamel and dentine of a lower fourth premolar and the surrounding alveolar bone of a mandible of a mule in terms of stable strontium isotopic ratios of the apatite, and stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of the structural carbonate, were carried out to test whether this individual moved long distances during its lifetime. Since isotopic ratios obtained by serial analysis can be correlated with consecutive ontogenetic stages, it can be assumed that this particular individual experienced significant changes in terms of diet and environmental parameters after its eighth year of life. These changes included a period of residence in a region of high altitude, most likely the Alps considering the location of the Roman fort where the mule was found. The isotopic data obtained do not contradict the assumption that this animal was bred and raised in northern Italy, to frequent later in its adult life the Alps and finally perish at Biriciana/Weißenburg. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Sulfur isotope analysis of cinnabar from Roman wall paintings by elemental analysis/isotope ratio mass spectrometry , tracking the origin of archaeological red pigments and their authenticityRAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 19 2010Jorge E. Spangenberg The most valuable pigment of the Roman wall paintings was the red color obtained from powdered cinnabar (Minium Cinnabaris pigment), the red mercury sulfide (HgS), which was brought from mercury (Hg) deposits in the Roman Empire. To address the question of whether sulfur isotope signatures can serve as a rapid method to establish the provenance of the red pigment in Roman frescoes, we have measured the sulfur isotope composition (,34S value in , VCDT) in samples of wall painting from the Roman city Aventicum (Avenches, Vaud, Switzerland) and compared them with values from cinnabar from European mercury deposits (Almadén in Spain, Idria in Slovenia, Monte Amiata in Italy, Moschellandsberg in Germany, and Genepy in France). Our study shows that the ,34S values of cinnabar from the studied Roman wall paintings fall within or near to the composition of Almadén cinnabar; thus, the provenance of the raw material may be deduced. This approach may provide information on provenance and authenticity in archaeological, restoration and forensic studies of Roman and Greek frescoes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Early Christianity and the Discourse of Empire in the First Three Centuries CERELIGION COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2010Chris Frilingos Did the setting of the Roman Empire make a difference to the way that early Christian texts defined or, more precisely, invented the religion of Christianity? If so, are traces of this difference perceptible in the writings of early Christians? The scholarship assembled here, generally speaking, answers both questions affirmatively: the context of empire affected the way that early Christians talked about themselves, others, and the world they inhabited. The study of the self-definition of early Christians, this research contends, cannot be undertaken without recognizing the distinctive kinds of knowledge (of Self and Other) engendered by the ascendancy of the Roman Empire. The work is separated out under three rubrics: spectacle, borderlines, and mimicry. These categories reflect patterns that have emerged in the study of early Christian texts as they contributed to, appropriated, refracted, and resisted the discourse of empire in the first three centuries of the Common Era. [source] Popular Morality in the Early Roman Empire , By Teresa MorganRELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Shannon N. Bryne No abstract is available for this article. [source] The Matter of the Gods: Religion and the Roman Empire , By Clifford AndoRELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Dennis P. Quinn No abstract is available for this article. [source] Ruling the Later Roman Empire , By Christopher KellyTHE HISTORIAN, Issue 1 2009Bernard S. Bachrach No abstract is available for this article. [source] The ironic detachment of Edward GibbonTHE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOANALYSIS, Issue 3 2009Harry Trosman Edward Gibbon, the author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, has been widely recognized as a master of irony. The historian's early life with parents he found self-serving and unreliable, his reaction to the events surrounding the death of his mother at the age of 9 and the decline of his father, left an impact on his personality and played a role in determining his choice of his life work. Irony has been approached from a psychoanalytic perspective as a mode of communication, as a stylistic device, as a modality through which one might view reality and as a way of uncovering the linkage between pretense and aspiration, between the apparent and the real. Gibbon's ironic detachment can be understood as rooted in his life history. He felt detached from his family of origin, in need of a protective device which would enable him to deal with passion. Sexual and aggressive impulses mobilized defensive postures that were later transformed into an attitude of skepticism and an interest in undercutting false beliefs and irrational authority, positions he attributes to religious ideation which served to instigate historical decline. [source] Geophysical prospection of the frontiers of the Roman Empire in southern Germany, UNESCO World Heritage SiteARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 3 2010Jorg W. E. Fassbinder Abstract The Roman Limes with a length of 550,km is the largest archaeological site of Europe as well as the largest monument of the Roman period. In July 2005 it was decided that the Limes and its interrelated archaeological sites, together with Hadrian's Wall in England, would be a component of a ,Trans-National World Heritage Site' taking the name ,Frontiers of the Roman Empire'. From that point it was necessary to minimize and/or to avoid archaeological excavation. Further research on such sites is mainly limited to the application of non-destructive techniques. Among other geophysical tools, magnetometry, based on the rock magnetic knowledge turned out to be a highly suitable method. Two examples that allowed verification and completion of old maps of the Reichs-Limes-Kommission will be shown here; these projects exemplify geophysical work on the Bavarian Limes. At the site of Oberhochstatt we discovered the exact location and determined information on the size and orientation of the fort that previous searches for a long time had failed to find. At Theilenhofen we were able to complete the map of the whole fort with all fortification ditches and the water supply, to verify the troop level and to confirm the former fort on which is superimposed the traces of the Roman vicus. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] SCIENTIFIC CHARACTERIZATION OF THE POHORJE MARBLES, SLOVENIAARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 2 2010S. JARC As a former part of the great Roman Empire, Slovenia has many archaeological sites featuring buildings and objects entirely or partly constructed from marble whose provenance is doubtful. In Slovenia, the most probable source of such marble is the Pohorje Mountains. For the purpose of supporting further provenance studies, these marbles are fully scientifically characterized. The techniques used are petrographic and geochemical analysis, stable isotope ratio analysis and EPR spectroscopy. The results show that the Pohorje marbles are highly heterogeneous in both their isotopic and geochemical parameters as well as grain sizes. The parameters of the different Pohorje marble outcrops are compared between themselves and with the parameters of known ancient quarries in the Mediterranean and Austria. The use of a multi-technique approach with combined parameters allows the best possible discrimination. [source] DEEPLY COLOURED AND BLACK GLASS IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE: DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES IN CHEMICAL COMPOSITION BEFORE AND AFTER ad 150*ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 5 2009V. VAN DER LINDEN In this work we attempt to elucidate the chronological and geographical origin of deeply coloured and black glass dating between 100 bc and ad 300 on the basis of their major and trace element compositions. Samples from the western and eastern parts of the Roman Empire were analysed. Analytical data were obtained by means of a scanning electron microscope , energy-dispersive system (SEM,EDS, 63 samples analysed) and laser ablation , inductively coupled plasma , mass spectrometry (LA,ICP,MS, 41 samples analysed). Among the glass fragments analysed, dark brown, dark purple and dark green hues could be distinguished. Only among the dark green fragments could a clear compositional distinction be observed between fragments dated to the periods before and after ad 150. In the early samples (first century bc to first century ad), iron, responsible for the green hue, was introduced by using impure sand containing relatively high amounts of Ti. In contrast, a Ti-poor source of iron was employed, containing Sb, Co and Pb in trace quantities, in order to obtain the dark green colour in the later glass samples. The analytical results obtained by combining SEM,EDS and LA,ICP,MS are therefore consistent with a differentiation of glassmaking recipes, detectable in glass composition, occurring in the period around ad 150. [source] Rhone River flood deposits in Lake Le Bourget: a proxy for Holocene environmental changes in the NW Alps, FranceBOREAS, Issue 4 2005Emmanuel Chapron The Holocene evolution of Rhone River clastic sediment supply in Lake Le Bourget is documented by sub-bottom seismic profiling and multidisciplinary analysis of well-dated sediment cores. Six high-amplitude reflectors within the lacustrine drape can be correlated to periods of enhanced inter- and underflow deposition in sediment cores. Based on the synthesis of major environmental changes in the NW Alps and on the age-depth model covering the past 7500 years in Lake Le Bourget, periods of enhanced Rhone River flood events in the lake can be related to abrupt climate changes and/or to increasing land use since c. 2700 cal. yr BP. For example, significant land use under rather stable climate conditions during the Roman Empire may be responsible for large flood deposits in the northern part of Lake Le Bourget between AD 966 and 1093. However, during the Little Ice Age (LIA), well-documented major environmental changes in the catchment area essentially resulted from climate change and formed basin-wide major flood deposits in Lake Le Bourget. Up to five ,LIA-like' Holocene cold periods developing enhanced Rhone River flooding activity in Lake Le Bourget are documented at c. 7200, 5200, 2800, 1600 and 200 cal. yr BP. These abrupt climate changes were associated in the NW Alps with Mont Blanc glacier advances, enhanced glaciofluvial regimes and high lake levels. Correlations with European lake level fluctuations and winter precipitation regimes inferred from glacier fluctuations in western Norway suggest that these five Holocene cooling events at 45°N were associated with enhanced westerlies, possibly resulting from a persistent negative mode of the North Atlantic Oscillation. [source] Geophysical prospection of the frontiers of the Roman Empire in southern Germany, UNESCO World Heritage SiteARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 3 2010Jorg W. E. Fassbinder Abstract The Roman Limes with a length of 550,km is the largest archaeological site of Europe as well as the largest monument of the Roman period. In July 2005 it was decided that the Limes and its interrelated archaeological sites, together with Hadrian's Wall in England, would be a component of a ,Trans-National World Heritage Site' taking the name ,Frontiers of the Roman Empire'. From that point it was necessary to minimize and/or to avoid archaeological excavation. Further research on such sites is mainly limited to the application of non-destructive techniques. Among other geophysical tools, magnetometry, based on the rock magnetic knowledge turned out to be a highly suitable method. Two examples that allowed verification and completion of old maps of the Reichs-Limes-Kommission will be shown here; these projects exemplify geophysical work on the Bavarian Limes. At the site of Oberhochstatt we discovered the exact location and determined information on the size and orientation of the fort that previous searches for a long time had failed to find. At Theilenhofen we were able to complete the map of the whole fort with all fortification ditches and the water supply, to verify the troop level and to confirm the former fort on which is superimposed the traces of the Roman vicus. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The packaging technology and science of ancient transport amphoras,PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Issue 4 2002Diana Twede Abstract Commercial transport amphoras are large ceramic vessels that were used from 1500 BC to 500 AD to ship wine and other products throughout the Mediterranean. The most large-scale use was to serve the ancient Greek and Roman empires. Although their form is much different from our own packages, the shape and design were clearly the result of the same reasoning that we use to design successful packaging today. They were designed to be economical to produce and ship. The unusual shapes, and especially the pointed base, facilitated handling, storage, transport and use in logistical systems that were very differently shaped from those that we use today. This paper investigates amphoras as a packaging system from a functional approach. It describes their protective physical properties, manufacturing process and industry structure, logistical and marketing advantages, and illustrates the value of such packaging artifacts in documenting the history of trade. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||