The present study takes into discussion the trade relationships between the Roman Empire and India, reflected both in literary contemporary sources and in archaeological finds. Among the different material categories (pottery, bronze objects, coins), there are many glass vessels. The majority seems to come from Alexandria or Levant, but the high number glass vessels manufactured in western or Italian style, found in the western side of the Indian Ocean, reflects the amplitude and in the meantime the specific features of these trade connexions.
Articles
La mortalité des légionnaires en Mésie Inférieure
The author tries to answer some questions regarding the demography of the legions’ soldiers in the Roman province Moesia Inferior: how reliable are the epigraphic sources? How high is the mortality rate among the legions’ soldiers? Can we speak about a pattern for recruitment age? Which are the mortality’s causes?
Age Rounding and Social Status in Noricum
This survey concerns the age rounding process in the Latin epitaphs of Noricum. In the first part of the study we analysed the age rounding process differentiated by gender, the data obtained being compared with the existing ones from the other Danubian provinces. The second part concerns the age rounding process differentiated in terms of legal status by using Whipple’s Index. The proportion of rounded ages–unrounded ages is overwhelming for both female and male population in Noricum. In terms of legal status, the peregrini/ae features the category with the highest tendency towards rounded digits followed by citizens (male and female) and soldiers.
L’aigle en argent de Micia
The subject of this paper is a base of statue (CIL III 1343) found in 1862 under unknown conditions in the auxiliary camp of Micia and unfortunately lost. Several scholars, among them Th. Mommsen, N. Gostar and I. I. Russu, have dealt with CIL III 1343. The monument was dedicated for the health of the two Augusti, Septimius Severus and Caracalla and of Geta Caesar. The a. thinks that in l. 6 must be read [a]quil[am arg]en[t(eam)]; the dedication was made by the prefect of the ala Campagonum and the vexillations of other units further mentioned found themselves in Micia after returning from the war against Clodius Albinus or before leaving for the Parthian war. This brings us to about the beginning of 198.
Occupations of Private Slaves in Roman Dacia
This paper focuses on the inscriptions from Dacia, which mention, by various terms, the occupations of private slaves. The epigraphic texts of Dacia mention slaves used by their masters for various administrative, financial or domestic duties, like actores, villici, dispensatores, vikarii and others. Three different ways of their involvement in different economic activities can be observed: they worked directly for their masters, they were assigned to actio institoria and they could hold a peculium. All these functions demonstrate that the servi privati were involved in public services as representatives of their masters.
Reconstructions of Three Bridges in the 4th Century Rome. Historical Perspective
This study aims to present an historical perspective on utilitarian architecture in late antique Rome and focuses in particular on the reconstructions of three bridges in the 4th century Rome, namely the pons Aurelius/Valentinianus, pons Cestius/Gratianus, and pons Probi/Theodosius pons. I examine the narrative and epigraphic sources to assess the social aspects and communicative potential of bridges. The study considers the literary allusions to the three ancient bridges in order to achieve an historical evaluation of the bridges as social objects and as a suitable medium for messages of power in the period of Late antiquity.
Late Roman–Early Byzantine Kitchenware from Ibida–Curtain G and Tower 8
The aim of this article is to draw attention to the kitchenware found at Ibida (Slava Rusă), the sector Curtain G–Tower 8. In the same time, I will propose a typology of the artefacts meant to serve as a model of publishing for the entire pottery discovered through the whole territory of the city. This typology can be subjected to future changes, but, for the moment, this represents a starting point in classifying the pottery from this area.
Considerations on Tableware Pottery of (L)Ibida III. X Research Area
From the analyses of the table pottery sample found in the X research area on the archaeological site Slava Rusă, it result that the pottery centre with the most vessels (23 fragments of pottery) is represented by the Phocaean workshops from western Asia Minor. This situation is not surprising, being encountered on the other research areas in Ibida but also in other Roman-Byzantine sites in Dobrudja. Noteworthy in the X research area is that all the Phocaean pottery can be framed in a time interval not exceeding a century (second half of the 5th century and first half of the 6th century). The identified forms are only two: Hayes Form 3 with some of the versions and Hayes Form 8. We can notice that the first forms of Phocaean workshops are absent (Hayes Form 1, 2 and the A version of the 3rd Hayes Form); that would be covered the second half of the 4th century and the first half of the 5th century. The Phocaean bowls (Hayes 10 Form); specific to the second half of the 6th and the beginning of the next century are absent, too. The African workshops are certified by the presence of five pieces, each belonging to a different form. Beside the forms already attested in Dobrudja (Hayes 82, 87, 91 and 104), this research area offered another two forms: Hayes 70 and 71, for which there are no analogies in the West-Pontic area. These forms date from the late 4th century and the first half of the 6th century (Hayes 104 Form, version C). In terms of quantity, North-African tableware ranges within the limits already known for the contemporary sites within the region. As for the pottery produced in the Black Sea basin—identified by four ceramic fragments—it also ranges within the limits known at Ibida from the analyses of the Extra Muros Vest III research area. The identified forms have analogies in settlements in both the North Black Sea basin and the North of modern Turkey. Unidentified pottery, probably belonging to other subsequent ages (like the medieval ceramic fragment), may mean that the existing archaeological situation was disrupted by other subsequent interventions after the abandonment of the fortification system at Slava Rusă. Besides the modern intervention, a medieval settlement may have also existed, also certified in the Curtina G research area. Further analysis of other material categories from the X research Area, plus comparing data with those obtained by studying the table ware sample, will provide more complete information about the chronology and functionality of the archaeological complex identified in the mentioned research area from (L) Ibida.