Imperia sine fine? The Roman-Parthian frontier zone as conflict and contact area from the late 1st to the early 3rd c. A.D.
Final Report Abstract
The project was designed to study the Roman-Parthian frontier in the Near East from Vespasian and Vologaeses I to Severus Alexander and the fall of the Arsacid Dynasty. In a clear paradigm shift, the development of the borderlands on both sides of the frontier as a whole, rather than just Roman frontier defence and imperial strategy, became the focus of attention. From a decidedly local or regional perspective, the project analyses not only the military aspects of the empires' border defences, but also and above all the political, cultural and socio-economic changes that took place in the area between the Taurus Mountains and the Syrian steppe. This area had become a border region as a result of the clash between two empires. From today's point of view, it can be said that the breadth of the subject matter and the questions posed set limits. In the end, it was not possible to have the overall view that was originally the aim of the work programme. However, we are convinced that the analysis of different case studies from different regions in relation to the overarching question does provide something of an overall picture. The research shows that peaceful contacts between empires rather than conflicts between them characterised the region under consideration. The border region to the south of the Taurus Mountains was above all a zone of exchange, of trade, of cultural contacts and of relations between the political actors of the region. Two contrasting aspects can be highlighted from the points examined in the project: On the one hand, through their powerpolitical, economic and military parameters, the two great empires had a lasting influence on their peripheries during the period under study. On the other hand, the Fertile Crescent, characterised by ancient oriental, Aramaic and Hellenistic cultural influences, and the Syrian steppe, dominated by Arab nomadic tribes, each formed an entity with a unique character during this period, regardless of the border. Operating between the two great empires offered far more opportunities than risks. This was a fact that was of particular interest to the local elite.
Publications
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Das Epitaph für den iberischen Prinzen Amazaspos, in: Udo Hartmann/Frank Schleicher/Timo Stickler (Hgg.), Imperia sine fine. Der römischparthische Grenzraum als Kontakt- und Konfliktzone, Stuttgart 2022, 289–312.
Timo Stickler
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Die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung der nabatäischen Gebiete als Phänomen des Grenzraumes, in: Udo Hartmann/Frank Schleicher/Timo Stickler (Hgg.), Imperia sine fine. Der römisch-parthische Grenzraum als Kontakt- und Konfliktzone, Stuttgart 2022, 13–42.
Frank Schleicher
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Imperia sine fine?. W. Kohlhammer GmbH.
Hoffmann-Salz, Julia; Facella, Margherita; Brüggemann, Thomas; Ruffing, Kai; Ugulava, Giorgi; Gadjiev, Murtazali; Baltrusch, Ernst; Raja, Rubina; Wilker, Julia; Klingenberg, Andreas; Hauser, Stefan; Olbrycht, Marek Jan; Marciak, Michal; Kümmel, Martin Joachim; Konrad, Michaela; Sommer, Michael; Stickler, Timo; Hartmann, Udo; Schleicher, Frank & Dirven, Lucinda
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The Stele of Śargas. Edition and Commentary of a Caucasian-Aramaic Inscription, Epigraphica 85, 2023, 341–381.
Nicolas Preud’homme & Frank Schleicher
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Zum palmyrenischen Handelsnetz im Westen, Anabasis 12, 2023
Frank Schleicher
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Armenien und der Südkaukasus in severischer Zeit – historiographische Tradition und politische Bedeutung. The Eastern Roman Empire under the Severans, 279-308. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Schleicher, Frank
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Patria und imperium sine fine im fünften Jahrhundert? Orosius und der Geist der Zeit, in: Timo Stickler/Umberto Roberto (Hgg.), Das Weströmische Reich und seine Erforschung. Neue Perspektiven, Stuttgart 2024, 67–91.
Frank Schleicher
