TY - BOOK AU - Mitford,Timothy Bruce TI - East of Asia Minor: Rome's hidden frontier SN - 9780198725176 AV - DS155 .M58 2018 U1 - 939/.2 23 PY - 2018/// CY - Oxford PB - Oxford University Press KW - Romans KW - Euphrates River Valley KW - Boundaries KW - fast KW - Classical antiquities KW - Grenze KW - gnd KW - Grenzgebiet KW - Turkey KW - Antiquities, Roman KW - Rome KW - Middle East KW - Rome (Empire) KW - Anatolien KW - Römisches Reich KW - Ostprovinzen N1 - Includes bibliographical references (pages 621-639) and indexes N2 - "The north-eastern frontier of the Roman Empire--one of the great gaps in modern knowledge of the ancient world--has long eluded research. It has defied systematic exploration and been insulated against all but passing survey by wars, instability, political sensitivities, language, and the region's wild, remote mountains, mostly accessible only on horseback or on foot. Its path lay across eastern Turkey, following the Euphrates valley northwards from Syria, through gorges and across great ranges, and passing over the Pontic Alps to reach the further shores of the Black Sea. Vespasian established Rome's frontier against Armenia half a century before Hadrian's Wall. Five times as long, and climbing seven times as high, it was garrisoned ultimately by four legions and a large auxiliary army, stationed in intermediate forts linked by military roads. The two volumes of East of Asia Minor: Rome's Hidden Frontier--based on research, field work conducted largely on foot, and new discoveries--document the topography, monuments, inscriptions, and sighted coins of the frontier, looking in detail at strategic roads, bridges, forts, watch and signalling systems, and navigation of the Euphrates itself. Study of the terrain provides a foundation for interpreting the literary and epigraphic evidence for the frontier and its garrisons. Military activity, which extended to the Caucasus and the Caspian, is placed in the context of climate, geography, and inter-regional trade routes."-- ER -