Conference: Ruling an Empire in a Changing World

20/11/2020

It is already one year ago that our conference "Ruling an Empire in a Changing World: Studies on Origin, Impact, and Reception of the Notitia Dignitatum" took place in Freiburg. With over 100 participants and 26 speakers, it was the first major event dedicated to this extremely important topic since a conference in Oxford in 1974. While the Oxford meeting had a more internal character, we welcomed participants from 14 countries in Freiburg. During the last few weeks we have already received the first manuscripts for our conference proceedings and we hope that we will be able to complete most of the editorial work for these by the end of 2021.

Stay healthy and see you soon!

The organisation team

15/06/2020

We proudly present ...

IM BAHNHOFSBUCHHANDEL UND IM NEUEN ONLINE-SHOP ERHÄLTLICH
Das neue Heft der ANTIKEN WELT mit dem Titelthema „Rom im Umbruch“ ist im Handel erhältlich. Anhand der spätantiken Notitia Dignitatum wird die Umbruchszeit betrachtet. Behandelte Themen sind unter anderen das Militär in verschiedenen Grenzprovinzen des römischen Reiches und die Tradition der römischen Kartographie, aber auch weitere Aufsätze wie zum Beispiel über die Restaurierungsgeschichte von Pompeji.
https://wbg-zeitschriften.de/produkt/rom-im-umbruch/

20/11/2019

The organisers and supporting crew are ready and Marko gives the system a final test. 👍🏼

20/11/2019

Peter Brennan‘s lecture on the hidden history and the riddles of the Notitia Dignitatum opens our conference.
To join us, follow the arrows at the Haus zur Lieben Hand.

08/11/2019

Less then 2 weeks 🙈 After 2 years of organisation 🤓 Our personal late Roman highlight this year!!!

10/10/2019

Paweł Filipczak
The „map” of Dux Syriae et Euphratensis. Imaginations and reality in Notitia Dignitatum

The goal of the paper is to analyze the “map” depicting the area, governed by dux Syriae et Euphratensis. Does it reflect historical reality? If so, to what extent? Does it show exact or only schematic location of the military units? How to interpret the image of the fortified places (castella)? What is the meaning of coloring and other graphic details? Is the “map”, showing dux territory, the source of knowledge about civil, provincial administration in Syria? Last but not least, what are the differences between this “map” and the other drawings of this type, founded in Notitia Dignitatum. Constantly developing studies on historical geography, as well as new archaeological evidences, mainly inscriptions, founded again and again in the Middle East, allow us to take suggested topic. In turn, due to abundant modern literature, concerning, among others, illustrations in Notitia Dignitatum, there is a need to summarize the current state of research, for polemics with the views present in science.

04/10/2019

Maxime Emion
Sub dispositione : à propos d’une formule dans la Notitia Dignitatum

Les historiens ont été prompts à débusquer les erreurs, les incohérences et les oublis de la Notitia Dignitatum, mais ont porté peu d’attention à la formule sub dispositione qui, dans la plupart des chapitres, introduit la liste des unités, hommes ou services sous l’autorité d’un officier ou d’un fonctionnaire. Cependant, l’expression n’est pas invariable, comme en témoigne la Notitia d’Occident. En effet, dans cette partie de l’Empire, le primicier des notaires n’a pas la Notitia Dignitatum sous sa dispositio, comme son homologue oriental, mais sous sa cura (sub cura). De même, les chapitres consacrés aux correctores et praesides privilégient la formule sub iurisdictione. Enfin, la distributio numerorum permet d’établir une distinction entre les unités placées sub dispositione d’un officier, et celles qui servent « avec » (cum) cet officier. À la lumière de la documentation épigraphique et juridique, nous chercherons à comprendre les nuances qui séparent ces différentes formules, impliquant différents degrés d’autorité. Derrière le formulaire rigide du document, on peut ainsi distinguer des aspects méconnus d’histoire administrative. On peut aussi se demander si cette terminologie, plus précise qu’il n’y paraît au premier abord, ne pourrait expliquer certains « oublis » de la Notitia Dignitatum, en particulier au niveau des services du palais.

25/09/2019

Rob Collins
Archaeology and the Command of the dux Britanniarum (ND Oc. XL)

It is generally agreed that Roman imperial governance of Britain ceased c 409-411, so the inclusion of the Britains in the Notitia Dignitatum is often questioned, not least in the disposition of army units. Why retain lists of units for a diocese that no longer existed when the document was updated? However, Britain’s divorce from the Roman Empire allows for a number of questions to be asked of the Notitia, not least of which is the accuracy of the information in the Notitia.
This paper will consider the command of the dux Britanniarum (ND Oc. XL) and examine it relative to the current state of archaeological knowledge of the sites within the command. It is notable, for example, that military occupation in the final years of Roman Britain is more extensive than is suggested by the Notitia, and there is reasonable evidence to indicated continued military occupation of sites beyond the formal divorce of Britain from the Roman Empire c 410. The paper will highlight the implications that the archaeological evidence has on interpretation of the Notitia, acknowledging the advantages and limitations of both the archaeological and textual data.

19/09/2019

Michael Zerjadtke
Der dux im 4. und 5. Jahrhundert und in der Notitia Dignitatum

Die Notitia Dignitatum liefert uns die einzige vollständige Übersicht der Grenzarmee und damit auch der „duces“ genannten Abschnittskommandeure in der Spätantike. Den Listen der Notitia Dignitatum lassen sich Aufstellungen ihrer Einheiten, ihrer officia und der ihnen unterstellten Kastelle und Städte entnehmen. Doch diese Auflistungen spiegeln eine Vollständigkeit der Informationen vor, die in Wahrheit nicht besteht. Einerseits sind die Listen der Notitia Dignitatum unvollständig, teilweise veraltet und insgesamt diachron, andererseits sind ihnen die Kompetenzen der duces nicht zu entnehmen.
Aus weiteren Quellen, vor allem Inschriften, geht hervor, dass im Laufe des vierten und fünften Jahrhunderts die Bezeichnungen der duces wechselten und in manchen Grenzabschnitten weitere duces eingesetzt wurden oder wegfielen. In den Rechtsquellen wird deutlich, dass das Kompetenzengeflecht zwischen den zivilen und militärischen Statthaltern sowie zwischen den Offizieren der comitatenses und der limitanei komplexer war als die Listen der Notitia Dignitatum andeuten. Einzelfallanalysen bestimmter Dukate zeigen zudem, dass die Truppenkontingente der duces von den in der Notitia Dignitatum genannten Stärken abweichen konnten.
In meinem Beitrag werde ich den dux exemplarisch unter den hohen Offizieren des Heeres auswählen und die Eigenschaften seines Amtes nach der Notitia Dignitatum vorstellen. Diese wiederum werde ich mit den Informationen aus den übrigen Quellen vergleichen und die Ergebnisse in ausgewählten Punkten wie Bezeichnungen der duces, Lokalisierung an den Grenzen, Umfang der Truppen, Kompetenzen und Beziehungen zu den höheren Rängen gegenüberstellen. Auf diese Weise sollen die Angaben der Notitia Dignitatum zu diesem hohen Amt ergänzt werden, wodurch ein umfassendes Bild des dux im vierten und fünften Jahrhundert gezeichnet wird. Doch zugleich wird deutlich werden, wie begrenzt der Ausschnitt ist, den die Notitia Dignitatum für die Organisation des Militärs liefert.

15/09/2019

Daniëlle Slootjes
Hierarchy and administrative geography in the Notitia Dignitatum

This paper offers an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the use of hierarchy and administrative geography in the Notitia Dignitatum. First, the paper examines the particular order of presentation of the offices and seeks to understand the hierarchy and relation between the administrative and military offices as these are listed in the Notitia Dignitatum. The notable mixed and hierarchical presentation of offices that had mainly administrative duties and those that were mainly military can provide us with insights into the general functioning of the late antique elite, the imperial administration and the appreciation of the offices. Second, the paper analyzes the way in which the administrative units (such as the prefectures, dioceses and provinces) and their officials are presented in connection to their geographical location. For instance, when listing the various provinces within a diocese a choice was made in the specific geographical orientation of presentation, such as from east to west or north to south. Can we obtain an understanding of the reasoning behind the orientation? Was this a purely geographical orientation or can we detect a connection to the status of the provinces and their governors? Ultimately, the paper hopes to advance our modern scholarly insights into the meaning and potential use of the Notitia Dignitatum, both as a source that symbolized the unity of the empire but that also represented the reality of the functioning of the imperial administration.

09/09/2019

Alan Rushworth
The North African Military Commands in the Notitia (ND Occ. XXV-XXVI, ###-###I)

This paper examines the arrangements in the African diocese and Mauretania Tingitania during the late 4th and early 5th centuries, as portrayed in the Notitia. Its principal focus is the four military commands listed therein, the comitivae Africae and Tingitaniae and the ducates of Mauretania Caesariensis and Tripolitana. The Notitia represents our principal source regarding to the composition of the two regional field armies and the local frontier garrisons, or limitanei. In the African diocese, the latter were, uniquely, organised into district commands or limites, each with its own praepositus, whereas Tingitania, by contrast, retained a more conventional garrison structure composed of identifiable cohorts and alae. The Notitia’s evidence may be set alongside the information derived from historical accounts such as those of Ammianus Marcellinus and the rather limited epigraphic record to gain an understanding of the development of the region’s military forces over the course of the 4th and early 5th centuries. Finally, the way the information is set out in the various chapters, notably those relating to the field armies (ND Occ V-VII), but also the detailed inconsistencies and duplications contained in the separate lists of limites in Chapters XXV, ### and ###I, can be used to illuminate how these chapters, and the commands they represent, fit into the Notitia’s broader stratigraphic development as a document.

03/09/2019

Vujadin Ivanišević & Ivan Bugarski
Notitia Dignitatum and the Limes of Moesia Prima: Strategic Relevance and Landscape

The Notitia Dignitatum is often used merely to pinpoint particular fortifications or military units; we will confront it against the former landscape of the limes of Moesia Prima to observe regularities between geographical settings of forts, their size and the category of units garrisoned in them. According to the Notitia Dignitatum, this section was defended by two legions, eight Cunei equitum, eight auxiliares, two classes and five milites. The IV Flavia and VII Claudia legions were stationed at Singidunum, i.e. Viminacium and Cuppae. Evenly spread out, they covered a wide open space towards the Pannonian Plain, internal communication routes and the limes. The mounted troops were detached along the border, facing the plain north of the Danube, but also in Flaviana, a bridgehead on its left bank. The auxiliares garrisoned in forts in the Djerdap Gorge, and the reconnaissance units only in the sections of the gorge surrounded by high mountains – in Novae, Smorna and Taliata. Naturally protecteed and hardly accessible, this part of the limes was controlled only by infantry and reconnaisance units. Two classes were located at Margum and Viminacium, on the confluences of the Morava and Mlava with the Danube. The fleet was to control this big river, its crossings, troop supply routes, and internal waterways. The analysis of the disposition of military units on the limes of Moesia Prima, as evidenced in the Notitia Dignitatum, reveals that they were arranged in accordance with the strategic relevance and landscape pattern.