Session organisers / Chairpersons:
Robert Collins, Newcastle University, UK (E-mail: robert.collins@newcastle.ac.uk)
Historiographic tradition insists that the frontiers of the Roman Empire either collapsed in the face of barbarian invaders, or were abandoned in the wake of civil wars. For the Western Empire, this occurred in the 5th century AD, while abandonment or collapse of the Eastern frontiers was a far more drawn out process starting in some places in the later 6th century. As the Empire declined and fell, so too did the frontiers.
Yet, archaeological excavation has contested this narrative. Some forts have confirmed the narrative of abandonment or destruction, but other sites have revealed continued occupation beyond the traditional ‘end date’ given for a particular province or diocese.
This session will explore the traditional narrative of the collapse and/or abandonment of the Roman frontiers in late antiquity. Papers will explore the diverse data – occupation, mortuary, artefactual, and scientific – to contest or support collapse narratives. Papers will specifically address the following questions:
• What is the evidence for abandonment or destruction at individual sites?
• Does mortuary data support different conclusions than building/site-occupation data?
• To what extent can evidence of abandonment or continued / transformed occupation indicate the history of an entire frontier sector?
• Despite varying chronologies, it is possible to identify common patterns and trends across different frontier sectors?
Confirmed participants for this session:
- Simone Mayer: “Who lies there? Late antique inhumation graves at Augusta Raurica.”
- Anna Flückiger: Coins, Chronology, Continuity, and the Castrum Rauracense: New research on the Castrum and its ‘suburbium’ during Late Antiquity
- Dan Matei: The post-Roman life in the former castra of Dacia – an overview
- Alexandru Rațiu, Ioan Caol Opriș: New research concerning the first phase of the Capidava roman fort (Moesia Inferior)
- Piotr Jaworski, Radosław Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski, Shota Mamuladze: Rise and Fall of Apsaros (Gonio, Georgia). Latest Findings on the Chronology of a Roman Fort on the Eastern Edge of the Empire
- Berber van der Meulen: The Late Roman limes in the Low Countries: (dis)continuity in a frontier zone (presented by Robert Collins)