Historical Archaeology in the Ancient Mediterranean

Roman Imperial Military Authors

Today I met with Dr. Stephen Wheeler to outline an independent graduate study on Roman military authors of the Imperial period.  Each week I will meet with professor Wheeler to work through a translation of a selected work.  This semester we agreed to work through Vegetius Book I, Vitruvius Books X-XIII, Ammianus Marcellinus Books XXIV and selections of XXV, and Caesar's BG VII.7.68-VII.7.88 (all in Latin).  It will be a heavy dose of Latin but preparing the translations will serve as excellent preparation for my Roman military authors comp exam, which includes a translation test. 

Spring 2009 Courses

Tomorrow marks my last "official" day of coursework.  I have completed all the course requirements for my PhD program.  Next semester I will take courses to prepare for comps and have an opportunity to take a class outside of history and languages.  I will continue to take German and will take an independent study where I will read a selection of Greek and Latin military authors of the Imperial period.  Last but not least I will take a GIS course.  It should be a fun semester.

Glandes Perusinae Final Post

It has been two weeks since I submitted my Glandes Perusinae paper.  Since then I have had time to reflect on the topic.  Below I have provided my introduction and conclusions.  As always thoughts, insights, and constructive criticism is always welcome.

 

Condensed Introduction

 

Throughout antiquity the sling proved an efficient weapon, particularly during sieges.  One interesting phenomenon regarding the use of the sling in antiquity concerns the presence of inscriptions on sling-bullets.  These inscriptions, in relief rather than incised, offer a unique vantage point into ancient warfare and history.  The inscriptions take many forms and range from a single letter to multi-word inscriptions.  One of the many functions of inscribed sling-bullets was to incite violence.  An examination of the available evidence demonstrates a traditional discourse of violence where the central themes to promote violence were personal injury and pain.  The glandes Perusinae represent a unique assemblage that greatly diverges from the traditional discourse.  Rather than inciting violence through personal pain and injury, the inscribed sling-bullets from Perusia incite violence through sex.  

 

Conclusions

 

Based on an examination of sling-bullet inscriptions from the Greek and Roman worlds five categories emerge: names of cities or peoples, personal names, deities, symbols, and commands and exclamations.  Commands and exclamations are particularly interesting because they have the ability to incite violence.  The Greek and Latin evidence outlined above employ a specific set of vocabulary (δέχομαι, λαμβάνω, πάπαι,

 evomo, pereo, and ferio) where the central themes to incite violence are personal injury and pain.  The insults were not directed towards a specific individual but towards whoever encountered the bullet.  

The glandes Perusinae represent an assemblage far different from the traditional discourse of violence.  The inscriptions incite violence with a different set of vocabulary (landica and culus combined with peto, laxo or its adjectival equivalent, sedeo with a phallic image, and culus combined with pando) where the central theme shifts from personal injury and pain to sex.  The insults were directed to specific individuals.  If indeed peto is an accurate rendering for CIL XI.6721.5 and CIL XI.6721.7, the two sling-bullets represent the only evidence, as far as I am aware, of speaking inscriptions on sling-bullets.  The specific targets, use of first person verbs, and the continuous nature of the exchange evidenced by hastily inscribed forms (CIL XI.6721.14) demonstrate Octavian’s attempt to implicate Lucius and Fulvia as the instigators and aggressors of the Perusine War.  Both Octavian and Antony found in Lucius and even more so Fulvia a convenient scapegoat for the Perusine affair.  

The Mopsos Survey at ASOR

This weekend Ben, Amanda, and I will present our poster "The Mopsos Survey: Archaeology in the Cilician Plain."  The poster will consist of three parts: Ben's section showing the spatial distribution of sites in the survey area within three time periods (Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Classical), Amanda's section explaining how we use modern historical sources, and my section arguing how we will determine where the Battle of Issus took place.  The themes of the poster are essentially site distribution and research.  If you have a chance stop by the lobby on Saturday between 12:00-2:00 for the Projects on Parade Poster Session. 

Coursework Update

With the Fall 2008 semester coming to an end I thought I would give a quick update on my remaining coursework.  I have completed the commentary for my sling-bullet paper.  I need another day or two to write up the introduction and conclusion.  I have a commentary and translation for Plato's Symposium, one quiz, and a final for my Greek course and two quizzes, a portfolio, a final, and an oral exam for German.  With the ASOR conference looming Ben, Amanda, and I will spend the next few days finalizing our poster.  I will provide a poster update on Monday.

Big Epigraphy Test

Today we had our big epigraphy test.  Each student had to pick one inscription, of five, and create a transcription with standardized conventions, a translation, and a commentary.  The inscription did not have any glossed words, description, or context.  I found it a good exercise because we were forced to discuss the inscription from the Latin without context.  On a side note I will be out of town for the next week but I will be back next Thursday. 

Epigraphy Seminar

I have provided posts concerning my epigraphy seminar paper but I have yet to discuss the class.  The graduate seminar is not designed to teach one to be an epigrapher but rather surveys the ways in which scholars use epigraphic evidence to discuss the past.  During the first few weeks we learned what resources are available (CIL, ILLRP, etc) and basic epigraphic conventions.  The last few weeks we have examined topics such as onomastics, statistical approaches, and the epigraphic habit.  All in all the course has proved to be very useful for my research. 

Epigraphy Seminar Paper: An Update

On Tuesday I have to present my research project in the epigraphy seminar.  In a previous post I briefly introduced the topic.  Essentially I will argue that the glandes Perusinae represent a unique discourse of violence when compared to inscribed sling-bullets from Asculum and the Greek world.  The examples concerning violence from Asculum preserve inscriptions such as EM TIBE/MALUM/MALO (the / represents a line break) "Here is evil for an evil one."  One may also translate malum as "apple" or "sweet fruit" and possibly take malo as adverbial or as an ablative of manner.  Another sling-bullet from Asculum reads FVGITIVI/PERISTIS "You fugitives have died."  Peristis is a syncopated perfect (perivistis) and may better be translated as an imperative "Die fugitives!"  By taking the evidence promoting violence from Asculum with evidence from the Greek world (verbs in the imperative translated as "take this" and "ouch") a traditional discourse of violence emerges.  The glandes Perusinae represent a unique discourse of violence.  For example, below I have posted scanned images of CIL XI.6721.11 and ILLRP.1109. 

I transcribed the inscription as LAXE/OCTAVI (obverse) "Octavian is loose" and phallic image/SEDE (reverse).  I took sede as referring to the phallic image, which would read "sit on this" ("this" being the phallus).  Note that the ILLRP entry has not mention of the phallic image presented with SEDE.  Thus, the importance of scrutinizing all the sources.  Other sexually charged words from the glandes Perusinae include culus, landica, fello, and pando.  Since I would like to keep this blog G-rated I will let the readers translate these words!  Here we see a different method of promoting violence.  The use of sexual language to promote violence is unique to inscribed sling-bullets but can be found in the literary traditions of Catullus and Martial.  More on this later.         

Epigraphy Seminar Paper

Over the last week I have searched the Corpus Inscriptionem Latinarum for inscribed sling-bullets from Perusia.  Having found several examples, I then asked myself what am I going to do with them.  They will certainly serve as primary evidence in my dissertation but I need to come up with an argument suitable for a 25-30 page seminar paper.  Rather than write a mini-dissertation using the bullets as evidence for literacy in the Roman military, I have decided to examine the use of language to promote violence as evidenced on inscribed leaden sling-bullets.  I will compare the glandes Perusinae with Greek examples to examine how each tradition used language to promote violence.  For example, several Greek bullets survive with sayings such as: "Take this," "Ouch," and "Blood."  The examples from Perusia promote violence in a totally different way.  The insults are sexually oriented.  The use of sexual references to promote violence and anger can be found in other literary works contemporary with the bullets such as Catullus.  If indeed this pseudo-thesis pans out, I will provide specific examples in subsequent posts.  We will see how it goes...

Yet Another Sling-Bullet Paper

As with all graduate seminars, my Latin epigraphy course requires a sizable research paper.  The one requirement for the paper is that it must deal with inscriptions in Latin.  I have tossed ideas back and forth and decided to examine lead sling-bullets inscribed in Latin.  I will use the Latin evidence with the Greek examples to do a comparative piece on the two traditions.  Apparently the besiegers of Asculum and Perugia during the Republican period both employed inscribed lead sling-bullets during their sieges.  Now I have to mine the CIL and secondary sources to find specific inscribed bullets to compare to the Greek forms from Cyprus, Olynthus, and Stymphalos.  I have decided to examine Latin inscribed sling-bullets because they will be one of my datasets for my dissertation on literacy in the Greek and Roman armies.