探花直播 of Cambridge - Roman

Extreme drought contributed to barbarian invasion of late Roman Britain, tree-ring study reveals

ta385 — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 06:00:00 +0000

探花直播鈥楤arbarian Conspiracy鈥� of 367 CE was one of the most severe threats to Rome鈥檚 hold on Britain since the Boudiccan revolt three centuries earlier. Contemporary sources indicate that components of the garrison on Hadrian鈥檚 wall rebelled and allowed the Picts to attack the Roman province by land and sea. Simultaneously, the Scotti from modern-day Ireland invaded broadly in the west, and Saxons from the continent landed in the south.

Senior Roman commanders were captured or killed, and some soldiers reportedly deserted and joined the invaders. Throughout the spring and summer, small groups roamed and plundered the countryside. Britain鈥檚 descent into anarchy was disastrous for Rome and it took two years for generals dispatched by Valentian I, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, to restore order. 探花直播final remnants of official Roman administration left Britain some 40 years later around 410 CE.

探花直播探花直播 of Cambridge-led study, published today in Climatic Change, used oak tree-ring records to reconstruct temperature and precipitation levels in southern Britain during and after the 鈥楤arbarian Conspiracy鈥� in 367 CE. Combining this data with surviving Roman accounts, the researchers argue that severe summer droughts in 364, 365 and 366 CE were a driving force in these pivotal events.

First author Charles Norman, from Cambridge鈥檚 Department of Geography, said: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have much archaeological evidence for the 鈥楤arbarian Conspiracy鈥�. Written accounts from the period give some background, but our findings provide an explanation for the catalyst of this major event.鈥�

探花直播researchers found that southern Britain experienced an exceptional sequence of remarkably dry summers from 364 to 366 CE. In the period 350 to 500 CE, average monthly reconstructed rainfall in the main growing season (April鈥揓uly) was 51 mm. But in 364 CE, it fell to just 29mm. 365 CE was even worse with 28mm, and 37mm the following year kept the area in crisis.

Professor Ulf B眉ntgen, from Cambridge鈥檚 Department of Geography, said: 鈥淭hree consecutive droughts would have had a devastating impact on the productivity of Roman Britain鈥檚 most important agricultural region. As Roman writers tell us, this resulted in food shortages with all of the destabilising societal effects this brings.鈥�

Between 1836 and 2024 CE, southern Britain only experienced droughts of a similar magnitude seven times 鈥� mostly in recent decades, and none of these were consecutive, emphasising how exceptional these droughts were in Roman times. 探花直播researchers identified no other major droughts in southern Britain in the period 350鈥�500 CE and found that other parts of northwestern Europe escaped these conditions.

Roman Britain鈥檚 main produce were crops like spelt wheat and six-row barley. Because the province had a wet climate, sowing these crops in spring was more viable than in winter, but this made them vulnerable to late spring and early summer moisture deficits, and early summer droughts could lead to total crop failure.

探花直播researchers point to surviving accounts written by Roman chroniclers to corroborate these drought-driven grain deficits. By 367 CE, Ammianus Marcellinus described the population of Britain as in the 鈥榰tmost conditions of famine鈥�.

鈥淒rought from 364 to 366 CE would have impacted spring-sown crop growth substantially, triggering poor harvests,鈥� Charles Norman said. 鈥淭his would have reduced the grain supply to Hadrian鈥檚 Wall, providing a plausible motive for the rebellion there which allowed the Picts into northern Britain.鈥�

探花直播study suggests that given the crucial role of grain in the contract between soldiers and the army, grain deficits may have contributed to other desertions in this period, and therefore a general weakening of the Roman army in Britain. In addition, the geographic isolation of Roman Britain likely combined with the severity of the prolonged drought to reduce the ability of Rome to alleviate the deficits.

Ultimately the researchers argue that military and societal breakdown in Roman Britain provided an ideal opportunity for peripheral tribes, including the Picts, Scotti and Saxons, to invade the province en masse with the intention of raiding rather than conquest. Their finding that the most severe conditions were restricted to southern Britain undermines the idea that famines in other provinces might have forced these tribes to invade.

Andreas Rzepecki, from the Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz, said: 鈥淥ur findings align with the accounts of Roman chroniclers and the seemingly coordinated nature of the 鈥楥onspiracy鈥� suggests an organised movement of strong onto weak, rather than a more chaotic assault had the invaders been in a state of desperation.鈥�

鈥� 探花直播prolonged and extreme drought seems to have occurred during a particularly poor period for Roman Britain, in which food and military resources were being stripped for the Rhine frontier, while immigratory pressures increased.鈥�

鈥淭hese factors limited resilience, and meant a drought induced, partial-military rebellion and subsequent external invasion were able to overwhelm the weakened defences.鈥�

探花直播researchers expanded their climate-conflict analysis to the entire Roman Empire for the period 350鈥�476 CE. They reconstructed the climate conditions immediately before and after 106 battles and found that a statistically significant number of battles were fought following dry years.

Tatiana Bebchuk, from Cambridge鈥檚 Department of Geography, said: 鈥� 探花直播relationship between climate and conflict is becoming increasingly clear in our own time so these findings aren鈥檛 just important for historians. Extreme climate conditions lead to hunger, which can lead to societal challenges, which eventually lead to outright conflict.鈥�

Charles聽Norman, Ulf聽B眉ntgen, Paul聽Krusic and Tatiana聽Bebchuk are based at the Department of Geography, 探花直播 of Cambridge; Lothar聽Schwinden and Andreas聽Rzepecki are from the Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz in Trier. Ulf聽B眉ntgen is also affiliated with the Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences and the Department of Geography, Masaryk 探花直播 in Brno.

Reference

C Norman, L Schwinden, P Krusic, A Rzepecki, T Bebchuk, U B眉ntgen, 鈥�Droughts and conflicts during the late Roman period鈥�, Climatic Change (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s10584-025-03925-4

Funding

Charles Norman was supported by Wolfson College, 探花直播 of Cambridge (John Hughes PhD Studentship). Ulf B眉ntgen received funding from the Czech Science Foundation (# 23-08049S; Hydro8), the ERC Advanced Grant (# 882727; Monostar), and the ERC Synergy Grant (# 101118880; Synergy-Plague).

Three consecutive years of drought contributed to the 鈥楤arbarian Conspiracy鈥�, a pivotal moment in the history of Roman Britain, a new Cambridge-led study reveals. Researchers argue that Picts, Scotti and Saxons took advantage of famine and societal breakdown caused by an extreme period of drought to inflict crushing blows on weakened Roman defences in 367 CE. While Rome eventually restored order, some historians argue that the province never fully recovered.

Our findings provide an explanation for the catalyst of this major event.

Charles Norman

Adam Cuerden

Milecastle 39 on Hadrian's Wall

探花直播text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright 漏探花直播 of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways 鈥� on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Drought encouraged Attila鈥檚 Huns to attack the Roman empire, tree rings suggest

ta385 — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Hungary has just experienced its driest summer since meteorological measurements began, devastating the country鈥檚 usually productive farmland. Archaeologists now suggest that similar conditions in the 5th century may have encouraged animal herders to become raiders, with devastating consequences for the Roman empire.

探花直播study, published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology, argues that extreme drought spells from the 430s 鈥� 450s CE disrupted ways of life in the Danube frontier provinces of the eastern Roman empire, forcing Hunnic peoples to adopt new strategies to 鈥榖uffer against severe economic challenges鈥�.

探花直播authors, Associate Professor Susanne Hakenbeck from Cambridge鈥檚 Department of Archaeology and Professor Ulf B眉ntgen from the 探花直播鈥檚 Department of Geography, came to their conclusions after assessing a new tree ring-based hydroclimate reconstruction, as well as archaeological and historical evidence.

探花直播Hunnic incursions into eastern and central Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries CE have long been viewed as the initial crisis that triggered the so-called 鈥楪reat Migrations鈥� of 鈥楤arbarian Tribes鈥�, leading to the fall of the Roman empire. But where the Huns came from and what their impact on the late Roman provinces actually was unclear.

New climate data reconstructed from tree rings by Prof B眉ntgen and colleagues provides information about yearly changes in climate over the last 2000 years. It shows that Hungary experienced episodes of unusually dry summers in the 4th and 5th centuries. Hakenbeck and B眉ntgen point out that climatic fluctuations, in particular drought spells from 420 to 450 CE, would have reduced crop yields and pasture for animals beyond the floodplains of the Danube and Tisza.

B眉ntgen said: 鈥淭ree ring data gives us an amazing opportunity to link climatic conditions to human activity on a year-by-year basis. We found that periods of drought recorded in biochemical signals in tree-rings coincided with an intensification of raiding activity in the region.鈥�

Recent isotopic analysis of skeletons from the region, including by Dr Hakenbeck, suggests that Hunnic peoples responded to climate stress by migrating and by mixing agricultural and pastoral diets.

Hakenbeck said: 鈥淚f resource scarcity became too extreme, settled populations may have been forced to move, diversify their subsistence practices and switch between farming and mobile animal herding. These could have been important insurance strategies during a climatic downturn.鈥�

But the study also argues that some Hunnic peoples dramatically changed their social and political organization to become violent raiders.

From herders to raiders

Hunnic attacks on the Roman frontier intensified after Attila came to power in the late 430s. 探花直播Huns increasingly demanded gold payments and eventually a strip of Roman territory along the Danube. In 451 CE, the Huns invaded Gaul and a year later they invaded northern Italy.

Traditionally, the Huns have been cast as violent barbarians driven by an 鈥渋nfinite thirst for gold鈥�. But, as this study points out, the historical sources documenting these events were primary written by elite Romans who had little direct experience of the peoples and events they described.

鈥淗istorical sources tell us that Roman and Hun diplomacy was extremely complex,鈥� Dr Hakenbeck said. 鈥淚nitially it involved mutually beneficial arrangements, resulting in Hun elites gaining access to vast amounts of gold. This system of collaboration broke down in the 440s, leading to regular raids of Roman lands and increasing demands for gold.鈥�

探花直播study argues that if current dating of events is correct, the most devastating Hunnic incursions of 447, 451 and 452 CE coincided with extremely dry summers in the Carpathian Basin.

Hakenbeck said: 鈥淐limate-induced economic disruption may have required Attila and others of high rank to extract gold from the Roman provinces to keep war bands and maintain inter-elite loyalties. Former horse-riding animal herders appear to have become raiders.鈥�

Historical sources describe the Huns at this time as a highly stratified group with a military organization that was difficult to counter, even for the Roman armies.

探花直播study suggests that one reason why the Huns attacked the provinces of Thrace and Illyricum in 422, 442, and 447 CE was to acquire food and livestock, rather than gold, but accepts that concrete evidence is needed to confirm this. 探花直播authors also suggest that Attila demanded a strip of land 鈥榝ive days鈥� journey wide鈥� along the Danube because this could have offered better grazing in a time of drought.

鈥淐limate alters what environments can provide and this can lead people to make decisions that affect their economy, and their social and political organization,"聽Hakenbeck said.聽"Such decisions are not straightforwardly rational, nor are their consequences necessarily successful in the long term.鈥�

鈥淭his example from history shows that people respond to climate stress in complex and unpredictable ways, and that short-term solutions can have negative consequences in the long term.鈥�

By the 450s CE, just a few decades of their appearance in central Europe, the Huns had disappeared. Attila himself died in 453 CE.

聽

Reference

S.E. Hakenbeck & U. B眉ntgen, 鈥� 探花直播role of drought during the Hunnic incursions into central-east Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries CE鈥�, Journal of Roman Archaeology (2022). DOI: 10.1017/S1047759422000332

Hunnic peoples migrated westward across Eurasia, switched between farming and herding, and became violent raiders in response to severe drought in the Danube frontier provinces of the Roman empire, a new study argues.

People respond to climate stress in complex and unpredictable ways

Susanne Hakenbeck

Stefan Lefnaer

Dev铆nska Kobyla Forest steppe in Slovakia

探花直播text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright 漏探花直播 of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified.聽 All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways 鈥� as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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New Cambridge Latin course reflects diversity of the Roman world

ta385 — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 10:41:49 +0000

Breaking news from 79 CE: Caecilius has a daughter. Barbillus is a Greco-Syrian man of colour. Enslaved people aren鈥檛 always happy. Metella is reading in the atrium.

These statements may read like indecipherable babble to some, but for students of Latin, they are among the most notable changes in the new edition of the Cambridge Latin Course: the leading textbook in the ancient language.

探花直播course, a mainstay of Latin learning in British schools since the 1970s, has something nearing cult status with its fans. Its vivid stories, beginning in Book One with the adventures of a Pompeiian family featuring Caecilius, his wife, Metella, son, Quintus, and cook, Grumio, have inspired fan fiction, artistic tributes and even a cameo on Doctor Who.

探花直播newly-published fifth edition represents one of the most significant new editions in its 50-year history. It draws on a wider range of sources and on new scholarship to give a more accurate, evidence-based picture of the classical world. In doing so, it better prepares students to engage with classical works and to think critically about the past, while addressing concerns raised by teachers, academics and students about the representation of women, enslaved people, and minorities in the Roman world.

While the original cast are as central as ever, new characters have been introduced, stories rewritten and features updated. Women have greater prominence (Caecilius has a new daughter called Lucia, for example), readers learn more about the lives of enslaved people, and the multicultural reality of Rome鈥檚 vast, intercontinental empire is represented in greater detail.

探花直播course, written by the Cambridge Schools Classics Project at the 探花直播 of Cambridge,聽has been informed by a fact-finding exercise in 2018 which involved school visits, surveys and interviews with hundreds of teachers and pupils, confirmed other long-held doubts about representation in the course books, prompting a more thorough reassessment.

Caroline Bristow, director of the Cambridge School Classics Project, said: 鈥� 探花直播aim has always been to introduce students to the complexity of the Roman world and get them to think critically about it while learning Latin. That prepares them to engage more thoroughly with authentic classical sources. 探花直播feedback we got told us we weren鈥檛 doing enough in that regard.鈥�

Girls were especially keen to see more of the female characters 鈥� many had already started inventing their own backstories for them.

探花直播stories in the new edition are, as ever, rooted in historical research, but expand women鈥檚 roles and devote more attention to their lived experiences. Lucia, for example, is being pushed into an arranged marriage in Book One. Caecilius also hires a female painter, Clara, to introduce students to the fact that poorer Roman women had to work as well as men.

Bristow said: 鈥淲e wanted to provide students with a more rounded picture of people and events, while ensure the stories remain historically grounded. We鈥檝e done that by drawing from that wider range of sources and events.鈥�

This also helps to address the challenges that inclusion, access and minority representation can present for Classics educators. In particular, research highlights the imposter syndrome that people of colour feel when encountering the inaccurate, but standard, depiction of Rome as predominantly white. Other studies have shown that without being prompted to see diversity, even students of colour automatically make this assumption about the Roman world 鈥� a finding backed up by teachers鈥� experiences in the classroom.

Responding to this, greater attention was given to cultural diversity in the new edition. For example, Barbillus, a wealthy Greco-Syrian merchant character, features more prominently and is clearly presented as a person of colour. His early presence in the stories is partly intended to challenge another general misconception, that such people were always enslaved.

Jasmine Elmer, a Classics educator and media personality whose work focuses on trying to broaden access to, and understanding of, the ancient past, was one of several experts who reviewed the new edition. 鈥淲e鈥檝e tended to take an all-white view of an empire that clearly wasn鈥檛,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a person of colour, it鈥檚 natural to wonder whether people like you were even there. 探花直播new course seems to be braver about those issues. It doesn鈥檛 run away from complicated subject matter; it turns it into teaching points.鈥�

Enslaved characters were, in earlier editions, sometimes depicted in simplistic terms: as 鈥渉appy鈥�, 鈥渉ard-working鈥� or 鈥渓azy鈥�. In the new edition, slavery is now depicted through the eyes of its victims, focusing on their anxieties and gruelling lives.

Other changes reflect developments in historical scholarship since the series was last updated. Ingo Gildenhard, a Professor of Classics at Cambridge, advised the production team on a section on gladiators in Book One. Traditionally, gladiatorial combat has been presented as a strange, bloodthirsty aspect of Roman culture. Without ignoring its horrors, modern research nonetheless shows the reality was more complex: arena combat also stirred Roman audiences because it reinforced key contemporary values, such as martial prowess.

Teaching materials in the new edition draw attention to that more nuanced perspective. 鈥淚t鈥檚 essential that instead of brushing aspects of Roman culture under the carpet, we look at it in the round,鈥� Gildenhard said. 鈥淧art of this is about empowering teachers with new scholarship they might not have encountered. It鈥檚 also about inviting students to think critically about the past and its relationship to the present. That鈥檚 a valuable skill whether or not you end up doing Latin long term.鈥�

Pupils and teachers have tested the new edition and responded positively. One young reviewer told the team: 鈥淚 like that Lucia is educated, but I would like to know whether she actually wants to marry or not.鈥� Of Clara, another commented: 鈥淚t鈥檚 good that Caecilius is hiring women鈥�.

Bristow said: 鈥淲e sometimes get told that children just want to learn the language, study the amazing things Romans did and dress up as gladiators,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 lots that was inspiring, but this was a complex world. We鈥檙e teaching children to be Classicists. We鈥檙e not teaching them to be Romans.鈥�

聽

This story was first published by Cambridge's Faculty of Education.
聽

探花直播latest edition of the leading Latin course has been designed to more accurately depict the roles of women, minorities and enslaved people in the Roman world.

It鈥檚 essential that instead of brushing aspects of Roman culture under the carpet, we look at it in the round

Ingo Gildenhard

Characters from the Cambridge Latin Course, Book One

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Road radar to reveal York's Roman secrets

ta385 — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Did the Romans alter their legionary fortress at Eboracum in聽the late Antique period?聽What was the settlement around it like and聽how did this change? Did Eboracum聽receive a makeover when emperors came to town?

These are just some of the questions which Cambridge archaeologist聽Professor Martin Millett聽and his colleagues hope to answer without lifting a single spade or trowel.

Over summer 2022, a vehicle equipped with specialist radar equipment will survey 20km of streets around York 鈥� the first time a project on this scale has been undertaken in the UK. 探花直播team behind the scheme are working with City of York Council to access as much of the city centre road network as possible, including some pedestrianised streets, during the survey, with minimal disruption to the public.

Alongside the road surveys, a different radar system will scan the green spaces in the city centre, particularly around the Yorkshire Museum and York Minster.

探花直播initiative is a joint project between Universities of Cambridge and Reading, York Archaeology and the York Museums Trust funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC). 探花直播30-month-long project aims to collate everything archaeologists and historians know about the whole of Roman York into a single database which will then be made freely available to the public.

Among many other things, the team will be looking for evidence of聽Eboracum's architecture and infrastructure being enhanced聽during periods of imperial residence (AD 208鈥�11 and AD 305-06), or following York鈥檚 promotion to colonial status in the early 3rd century. They are also hoping to find evidence for changes in the organization and use of land in the immediate environs of York through the Roman period.

Alongside the research there will be a series of public engagement projects including volunteer-run research projects, an art initiative and a project for schools around the country linking research findings to geography, physics, geology and archaeology.

探花直播radar mapping exercise will start in the summer, with dry weather being crucial to the success of the scanning, as the radar can only penetrate down to the water table, which is notoriously high for much of the year in York.

Project leader Martin Millett, Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology at Cambridge and a trustee of York Archaeological Trust, said:聽鈥淭his is a key initiative where we hope to learn much more about the layout of the Roman city without having to dig a single trench.鈥�

Co-investigator Dr John Creighton of the 探花直播 of Reading said: 鈥淥ver many years, various investigations have opened small windows into different parts of the Roman city, but we hope that this scanning will reveal far more about the city including details where the roads and significant buildings in the city were located, particularly around Micklegate.鈥�

探花直播wider research will bring together not only the results of archaeological excavations over the last 50 years, but also other less formal sources of information, including historic press reports of Roman finds, notebooks and published reports from the 18th century onwards. It is hoped that volunteers from across the community will be involved.

Cllr Darryl Smalley, Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Communities at City of York Council, said: 鈥淭his exciting new project will provide a new basis for understanding of Roman York and will enhance the ways in which the City can assess the impact of planning and future development on this valuable but hidden heritage.鈥�

Updates on the project will be posted on yorkarchaeology.co.uk/romanyork

Professor Millett recently led the team which聽successfully mapped a complete Roman city, Falerii Novi, in Italy, using the same technology. This research received global media coverage. Find out more here.

探花直播biggest investigation ever undertaken into Eboracum, the Roman city buried beneath York, is set to begin this summer. Ground penetrating radar will be used to map as much of the influential ancient settlement as possible in a bid to learn more about its evolving layout and use.

We hope to learn much more about the layout of the Roman city

Martin Millett

View of the city of York in England including walls and cathedral

Yes

Evidence of a Roman crucifixion found in Cambridgeshire

fpjl2 — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 13:42:02 +0000

探花直播finding in the village of Fenstanton is the only known example of a Roman crucifixion anywhere in the British Isles, and perhaps the best preserved in the world.

探花直播city rises: Cambridge archaeologists reveal an entire Roman city without digging

ta385 — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 05:30:00 +0000

For the first time, a team of archaeologists聽has succeeded in mapping a complete Roman city, Falerii Novi in Italy, using advanced ground penetrating radar.聽Their approach could revolutionise the study of ancient settlements.

Epic issues: epic poetry from the dawn of modernity

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 10:00:42 +0000

Maybe it was the language, architecture, codified legal system, regulated economy, military discipline 鈥� or maybe it really was public safety and aqueducts. Whatever the Romans did for us, their reputation as a civilising force who brought order to the western world has, in the public imagination, stood the test of time remarkably well. It is especially strong for an Empire that has been battered by close historical scrutiny for almost 2,000 years.聽

探花直播reputation, of course, has more than a grain of truth to it 鈥� but the real story is also more complex. Not only did the Empire frequently endure assorted forms of severely uncultured political disarray, but for the kaleidoscope of peoples under its dominion, Roman rule was a varied experience that often represented an unsettling rupture with the past. As Professor Mary Beard put it in her book SPQR: 鈥渢here is no single story of Rome, especially when the Roman world had expanded far outside Italy.鈥澛�

So perhaps another way to characterise the Roman Empire is as one of cultures colliding 鈥� a swirling melting pot of ideas and beliefs from which concepts that would define western civilisation took form. This is certainly closer to the view of Tim Whitmarsh, the A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge, who is the principal investigator on a project that has examined Greek epic poetry during this period.

鈥淭his is perhaps the most important period for thinking about where European culture comes from,鈥� says Whitmarsh. 鈥淲e really are at the dawn of modernity. To tell the story of an Empire which remains the model for so many forms of international power is to tell the story of what we became, and what we are.鈥�

His interest in the Greek experience stems partly from the fact that few cultures under Roman rule can have felt more keenly the fissure it wrought between present and past. In political terms, Ancient Greek history arguably climaxed with the empires established in the aftermath of the conquests of Alexander the Great (356鈥�323 BCE). In the period when this poetry was written, from the first to the sixth centuries CE, the Greek world had been annexed by the Romans.

Yet the relationship between the two cultures was ambiguous. Greek-speaking peoples were subordinate in one sense, but their language continued to dominate the eastern Empire 鈥� increasingly so as it became a separate entity centred on Byzantium, as Christianity emerged and as the Latin-speaking west declined. Greek remained the primary medium of cultural transmission through which these changes were expressed. Greek communities therefore found themselves linked closely to their past, while also coming to terms with a fast-metamorphosing future.

Epic poetry, which many associate with Homer鈥檚 tales of heroic adventure, seems an odd choice of lens through which to examine the transformation. Whitmarsh thinks its purpose has been misunderstood.

鈥淚n the modern West, we often get Greek epic wrong by thinking about it as a repository for ripping yarns,鈥� he says. 鈥淎ctually, it was central to their sense of how the world operated. This wasn鈥檛 a world of scripture; it wasn鈥檛 primarily one of the written word at all. 探花直播vitality of the spoken word, in the very distinctive hexametrical pattern of the poems, was the single way they had of indicating authoritative utterance.鈥�

It is perhaps the most important tool available for understanding how the Greeks navigated their loss of autonomy under the Romans and during the subsequent rise of Christianity. In recent years, such questions have provoked a surge of interest in Greek literature during that time, but epic poetry itself has largely been overlooked, perhaps because it involved large, complex texts around which it is difficult to construct a narrative.

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Whitmarsh and his collaborators set out to systematically analyse the poetry and its cultural history for the first time. 鈥淲e would argue it鈥檚 the greatest gap in ancient cultural studies 鈥� one of the last uncharted territories of Greek literature,鈥� he adds.

探花直播final outputs will include books and an edited collection of the poems themselves, but the team started simply by establishing 鈥渨hat was out there鈥�. Astonishingly, they uncovered evidence of about a thousand texts. Some remain only as names, others exist in fragments; yet more are vast epics that survive intact. Together, they show how the Greeks were rethinking their identity, both in the context of the time, and that of their own past and its cultural legacy.

A case in point is Quintus of Smyrna, author of the Posthomerica 鈥� a deceptive title since chronologically it fills the gap between Homer鈥檚 Iliad and Odyssey, even though it was written later. Quintus鈥� style was almost uber-Homeric, elaborately crafted to create an almost seamless connection with the past. Yet there is evidence that, having done so, he also deliberately disrupted it. 鈥淗is use of similes is quite outrageous by Homer鈥檚 standards, for example,鈥� Whitmarsh says. 探花直播reason could be Quintus鈥� painful awareness of a tension between the Homeric past and his own present. Conflicted identity is a theme that connects many poems of the period. 探花直播poet Oppian, for instance, who wrote an epic on fish and fishing, provides us with an excellent example of how his generation was seeking to reconceive Greek selfhood in the shadow of Rome.

探花直播work ostensibly praises the Emperor as master over land and sea 鈥� a very Roman formula. Oppian then sabotages his own proclamation by questioning whether anyone truly can command the sea鈥檚 depths, a feat that must surely be a journey of the intellect and imagination. Having acknowledged the Emperor鈥檚 political power, he was, in effect, implying that the Greeks were perhaps greater masters of knowledge.聽

探花直播researchers expected to find that this tension gave way to a clearer, moralistic tone, with the rise of Christianity. Instead, they found it persisted. Nonnus of Panopolis, for example, wrote 21 books paraphrasing the Gospel of St John, but not, it would seem, from pure devotion, since he also wrote 48 freewheeling stories about the Greek god Dionysus. Collectively, this vast assemblage evokes parallels between the two, not least because resurrection themes emerge from both. Nonnus also made much of the son of God鈥檚 knack for turning water into wine 鈥� a subject that similarly links him to Dionysus, god of winemaking.

Beyond Greek identity itself, the poetry hints at shifting ideas about knowledge and human nature. Oppian鈥檚 poetic guide to fishing, for instance, is in fact much more. 鈥淚 suspect most fishermen and fisherwomen know how to catch fish without reading a Greek epic poem,鈥� Whitmarsh observes. In fact, the poem was as much about deliberately stretching the language conventionally used to describe aquaculture, and through it blurring the boundaries between the human and non-human worlds.

Far from just telling stories, then, these epic poems show how, in an era of deeply conflicted identities, Greek communities tried to reorganise their sense of themselves and their place in the world, and give this sense a basis for future generations. Thanks to Whitmarsh and his team, they can now be read, as they were meant to be, on such terms.聽

鈥� 探花直播poetry represents a cultural statement from the time, but it is also trying to be timeless,鈥� he adds. 鈥淓ach poem was trying to say something about its topic for eternity. 探花直播fact that we are still reading them today, and finding new things to say about them, is a token of their success.鈥�

Inset image:聽Wine jar made in Athens around 535 BC. 漏探花直播Trustees of the British Museum.

Epic poems telling of cultures colliding, deeply conflicted identities and a fast-changing world were written by the Greeks under Roman rule in the first to the sixth centuries CE. Now, the first comprehensive study of these vast, complex texts is casting new light on the era that saw the dawn of Western modernity.聽聽

Each poem was trying to say something about its topic for eternity. 探花直播fact that we are still reading them today, and finding new things to say about them, is a token of their success

Tim Whitmarsh

漏探花直播Trustees of the British Museum

Achilles killing Penthesilea, as described in the epic poem Posthomerica written by Quintus of Smyrna in the 3rd century CE; detail from a wine jar made in Athens around 535 BC

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Archaeologists uncover rare 2,000-year-old sundial during Roman theatre excavation

sjr81 — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 11:56:09 +0000

Not only has the sundial survived largely undamaged for more than two millennia, but the presence of two Latin texts means researchers from the 探花直播 of Cambridge have been able to glean precise information about the man who commissioned it.

探花直播sundial was found lying face down by students of the Faculty of Classics as they were excavating the front of one of the theatre鈥檚 entrances along a secondary street. It was probably left behind at a time when the theatre and town was being scavenged for building materials during the Medieval to post-Medieval period. In all likelihood it did not belong to the theatre, but was removed from a prominent spot, possibly on top of a pillar in the nearby forum.

鈥淟ess than a hundred examples of this specific type of sundial have survived and of those, only a handful bear any kind of inscription at all 鈥� so this really is a special find,鈥� said Dr Alessandro Launaro, a lecturer at the Faculty of Classics at Cambridge and a Fellow of Gonville聽&聽Caius College.

鈥淣ot only have we been able to identify the individual who commissioned the sundial, we have also been able to determine the specific public office he held in relation to the likely date of the inscription.鈥�

探花直播base prominently features the name of M(arcus) NOVIUS M(arci) F(ilius) TUBULA [Marcus Novius Tubula, son of Marcus], whilst the engraving on the curved rim of the dial surface records that he held the office of TR(ibunus) PL(ebis) [Plebeian Tribune] and paid for the sundial D(e) S(ua) PEC(unia) (with his own money).

探花直播nomen Novius was quite common in Central Italy. On the other hand, the cognomen Tubula (literally 鈥榮mall trumpet鈥�) is only attested at Interamna Lirenas.

But even more striking is the specific public office Tubula held in relation to the likely date of the inscription. Various considerations about the name of the individual and the lettering style comfortably place the sundial鈥檚 inscription at a time (mid 1st c. BC onwards) by which the inhabitants of Interamna had already been granted full Roman citizenship.

鈥淭hat being the case, Marcus Novius Tubula, hailing from Interamna Lirenas, would be a hitherto unknown Plebeian Tribune of Rome,鈥� added Launaro. 鈥� 探花直播sundial would have represented his way of celebrating his election in his own hometown.鈥�

Carved out from a limestone block (54 x 35 x 25 cm), the sundial features a concave face, engraved with 11 hour lines (demarcating the twelve horae of daylight) intersecting three day curves (giving an indication of the season with respect to the time of the winter solstice, equinox and summer solstice). Although the iron gnomon (the needle casting the shadow) is essentially lost, part of it is still preserved under the surviving lead fixing. This type of 鈥榮pherical鈥� sundial was relatively common in the Roman period and was known as hemicyclium.

鈥淓ven though the recent archaeological fieldwork has profoundly affected our understanding of Interamna Lirenas, dispelling long-held views about its precocious decline and considerable marginality, this was not a town of remarkable prestige or notable influence,鈥� added Launaro. 鈥淚t remained an average, middle-sized settlement, and this is exactly what makes it a potentially very informative case-study about conditions in the majority of Roman cities in Italy at the time鈥�.

鈥淚n this sense, the discovery of the inscribed sundial not only casts new light on the place Interamna Lirenas occupied within a broader network of political relationships across Roman Italy, but it is also a more general indicator of the level of involvement in Rome鈥檚 own affairs that individuals hailing from this and other relatively secondary communities could aspire to.鈥�

探花直播ongoing archaeological project at Interamna Lirenas continues to add new evidence about important aspects of the Roman civilization, stressing the high levels of connectivity and integration (political, social, economic and cultural) which it featured.

探花直播2017 excavation, directed by Dr Launaro (Gonville聽&聽Caius College) and Professor Martin Millett (Fitzwilliam College), both from the Faculty of Classics, in partnership with Dr Giovanna Rita Bellini of the Italian Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Frosinone, Latina e Rieti, is part of a long-standing collaboration with the British School at Rome and the Comune of Pignataro Interamna and has benefitted from the generous support of the Isaac Newton Trust and Mr Antonio Silvestro Evangelista.

Inset image:聽探花直播find spot near the former roofed theatre in Interamna Lirenas

A 2,000-year-old intact and inscribed sundial 鈥� one of only a handful known to have survived 鈥� has been recovered during the excavation of a roofed聽theatre聽in the Roman town of聽Interamna聽Lirenas, near Monte Cassino, in Italy.

Alessandro Launaro

探花直播sundial pictured after excavation

探花直播text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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