The Roman Eastern Provinces
by Marcus Mincius-Tiberius Audens

For the most part in these areas the language was Greek, and deep beneath the thin veneer of the Greek culture still lay the older traditions, beliefs and ideas of a wide variety of peoples and their ancient and deep-seated native cultures.  This deep set of ideas was still well known and followed as Rome came to these areas.  There was the sun-worshiping culture of Heliopolis (Baalbeck) and the stern uncompromising Jewish culture that rested on the solid base of a monotheistic religious belief, and the stern unbending priesthood which administered to it. There were also major cities whose culture had been established over the centuries such as Ephesus , Alexandria and Antioch . Add to the above the pharonic religion and beliefs of the Egyptians.

From Alexandria to Ephaesus, Rome tied her Eastern world in a network of roads.  Originally built for military purposes, the roads also carried trade and commerce.  There were some 50,000 miles of military highway (primary roads) and about 200,000 miles of secondary roads within the empire.  Large portions of these roadways were built within the Eastern Provinces. Silk and spice caravans left their marks on the stone roads between Aleppo and Antioch the capitol of Syria .  Horse carts could average 5 to 6 miles per hour -- a rate unsurpassed until the 19^th century.

When in Rome 's orbit distant cities such as Palmyra , a Syrian oasis grew into a large city as the biblical Tadmor, both names meaning "the city of palms."  Under Rome , it raised triumphal arches and colonnaded streets.

Under the rule of the emperor Vespasian, outside of the annexation of Commagene, little disturbed the general tranquility and trade flourished in the East. The provinces were wisely governed and the roads previously mentioned opened the way to the center of Asia Minor and to the influences of the Roman civilization.  Commerce with foreign countries, India especially, was greatly increased.

Populations in urban centers numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and even in the smaller cities such as Gerasa (Jerash -- Levant) and Aphrodisias ( Asia Minor ) showed to the world their Roman designed theatres, fountains, and other architectural wonders of the Roman builders.

The province of Egypt has a special place among the provinces of the East.  So important was the province that emperors often made it their personal area of concern, and special individuals were selected to govern it.  The capacity of the lands watered by the Nile River for growing surplus agricultural products was vital to Rome .  Grain Fleets were established to bring the surplus grain to Rome each year by sea, during the months when the Mediterranean weather favored such sailings. The grain shipments were depended upon to feed the vast urban populace.

The rise of the Persian Empire was a real threat to Rome during the 3^rd century, but when the Roman Capitol was shifted to Constantinople in the first part of that century, the Eastern provinces continued in their growth and wealth while the Western provinces ceased to flourish and went into an economic decline.

References:
--Chris Scarre, "The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome ," Penguin Books, 1995;
--Melville Bell Grosvenor (Ed. in Chief), " Greece and Rome , Builders of Our World, "National Geographic Society, 1968;
--Marcel Dunan (Gen. Ed.), "LaRousse Encyclopedia of Ancient & Medieval History," Harper & Row, New York and Evanston , 1963.

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The turrets as far as we are able to tell were designed only for temporary residence and it is unknown just how many men were stationed at the turret at any given time.  If we allow that the ground  floor of the Turret was used for cooking and storage, and the first floor was reserved for sleeping, we can see that from 10 to15 men based on a rough estimate of the sleeping area available. That would have provided for two watches of sentries of four to seven men on each watch, with one man in each watch doing the cooking.  We don't know just how that was arranged but obviously the need for a sentry relief of some kind was necessary.

The ground floor plan indicates an outside width of the turret was 20 feet and an inside width of 17' with a length of 14'.  The stair landing which was found in all the turrets as a later innovation took an additional 2 1/2' x 8' of the ground floor plan. The ground floor chamber was 15' high, the same as the parapet walk along the wall.  On the ground floor was a hearth where the cooking was done, and there was also a small water tank set into the ground floor.  Since there was no chimney, windows were necessary to rid the turret of the cooking fire smoke and fumes.  The two ground floor windows were unglazed.  The window glass found in the turrets was probably used in the first floor windows

Access to the first floor was by trap door and a ladder set upon the stair landing..  Originally, the ladders stood on the ground floor and were fixed ladders.  Later, as previously indicated, a stair landing was added and the ladders were replaced by removable ladders.  It is presumed that this was done for security reasons.  The original ladder would have had to have been 15 ft/ long.  This would have been difficult to raise and store in the confined space of the first floor. The stair landing allowed the use of a 11' to 12' ladder which would have been much easier to handle and store.

Considering the climate in England it is likely that the turret had a gabled roof rather than a flat crenellated roof.  In the drawing of the turret interior the wooden supposed partition is left out in order for the two North windows to be clearly drawn.  It was further supposed that there might be a small window high up in the gabled roof looking North which might provide a much higher and wider view to the North than the lower windows could provide.  This also cannot be seen in the drawing since the roof timbers are in the way.

References:

--Parker Brewis, "Archaeolgia Aeliana -- Article, Reconstruction of a Turret," 1932;

--Embleton and Graham, "Hadrian's Wall in the Time of The Romans," Frank Graham, Newcastle Upon Tyne , 1984.

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Some Ideas Regarding Saturnalia
by Marcus Minucius-Tiberius Audens

Macrobius
Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius lived c. 400, possibly in North Afria . Little is known of his life.  He was a prose writer, philosopher , and grammarian whose extant works include a seven volume work, "Saturnalia", a miscellany of historical, philological, scientific and critical information, presented as a conversation at a banquet during the Saturnalia of 384 between a number of eminent Romans.  The central topic is a criticism of Virgil.  The work has survived virtually complete"

I'm afraid that I am not much on the aspect of Saturnalia since my family normally celebrates the season as a Christmas Holiday, but there are a few ideas that may serve:

--A small personal present to special friends on each day of Saturnalia;

--Baked or broiled fish fillets decorated with olives, and garden vegetables of color, even flower petals and blossoms as a salad;

--Serve simple soups: onion, vegetable, chicken, etc as preliminary to the main courses laced with wine.  If you do not care for the prepared Roman dishes, stay with the simpler roast meats, boiled or roasted vegetables, fowl and fish.

--Serve honey cakes for desert covered with a honey-sweetened wine sauce;

--Use your best glassware and pewter as a centerpiece displays on your main dining table, mantle or side tables;

--The God Bacchus is a good choice for any and all celebrations;

--Wine was a great favorite as a holiday drink with sweet dark wine heated and savored with similar herbs to those we use with cider;

--Roasted fat doormice stuffed with pine nuts and smothered in honey is a delicious sweet meat served prior to the main meal.

--Fried Ostrich Sausage, broiled sea food (shrimp, oysters, lobsters, etc.) cherries, oranges, apples, plums, and various other fruits used for table decorations as well as deserts;

--Set up a table on which you have your favorite gambling games, and schedule a "Play Night" for friends, perhaps more than one if you have a number of friends;

--Fruit ice, deviled eggs, Roast pork, beef or fowl, sliced and served with a fruit compote and a wine flavoring;

--Colored hangings in the rooms of your house decorated with flowers, in the colors silver, gold, red, and green.

--Decorate your altar and make it a centerpiece for the holiday with a floral wreath and laid on a layer of pine boughs with colored ribbons and flanking oil lamps;

--Distribute bowls of fruit, dates, raisins and nuts arranged in colorful ways throughout your home.

--Make an offering at your home altar to Saturn each day of bread, oil and wine;

--Fill your house / apartment with the sounds of your favorite music;

--Burn incense to fill your home with your favorite scents, boil on the stove apple peelings and cider spices for a variety;

--Place a lighted floral wreath in your front yard with the words Happy Saturnalia;

--Make up honeyed sweetmeats covered with crushed nuts and place them at the entrance to your home for guests.

--Make up Saturnalia Cards for all you friends and mail them with an enclosed invitation to drop by for a glass of spiced wine and some sweet meats.  This will give you a chance to distribute your planned gifts.

17-23 December – Saturnalia

Saturnalia was originally celebrated on 17 December, but by the late republic the festival was extended from the 17th to the 23rd of the month.  It was a winter solstice festival to honor Saturn as the god of seed sowing.  -------The festival began with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn , followed by a public feast open to everyone.  All business ceased, there was a general holiday and on this one occasion of the year people were allowed to play gambling games in public.  Everyone wore holiday clothes and a soft cap (pilleus), slaves were let off their duties and might even be served by their masters.  Each household chose a mock king to preside over the festivities.  (Note : many of the specialties of this holiday: being a time of enjoyment, cheerfulness, and goodwill, lighting of candles, and giving of gifts were later absorbed into the Christmas Holiday which replaced the old Roman Holiday Period).

Reference:
--L. and R. Adkins, "Handbook To Life In Ancient Rome ."

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Salvete, omnes--
Lollia Velia Britannia

Marcus Minucius Auden, thank you for that very interesting article [on Hadrian’s Wall ]. 

This answers a question that has long exercised my mind--did the buildings of the garrison forts at Hadrian's Wall have glass in their windows?  You have answered it with this excerpt.  However, I am still interested in the question of how the Army could afford it.  I thought glass in Roman times was prohibitively expensive.  I can understand that rich senators in Rome could afford glass in their houses, and even the rich Romano-British inhabitants of such places as Fishbourne Villa in Britannia, but I didn't realize that the Army could afford glass windows.  And was it transparent glass, or would it have been more of that bottle-green mottled type one sometimes sees in old buildings?

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Questio? and Io!
by Carolus Laurentius Vitus

Many people are unaware that both the question mark and exclamation point are Roman in origin, and that they represent abbreviations of Latin words. To express joy, the Romans used the word “IO.” When this was appended to the end of a sentence to indicate the tone of the exclamation, the first letter “I” was placed above the following “O” and both were written half-sized. Over time, the “O” shrank to a simple dot and became our familiar “!” Similarly “QUESTIO” (“I ask”) was abbreviated to “QO” much the way we used to shorten words to just enough opening and closing letters to make them understandable: “Mass’tts” for “Massachusetts” or “vs” for “versus” for example. Written with the “Q” above the “O,” and shrinking over time, the “Q” became a mere squiggle and the “O” a dot—hence “?”

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Decimation
by Jona Lendering
http://www.livius.org/de-dh/decimation/decimation.html

Decimation was never a common punishment: it was too harsh and would no longer inspire terror if it were applied too often. Our sources only rarely refer to it, but every reader knew what was meant. After a very serious offense, (e.g., mutiny or having panicked), the commander of the commander of a legion would take the decision, and an officer would go to the subunit that was to be punished. By lot, he chose one in ten men for capital punishment. The surviving nine men were ordered to club the man to death. The Greek historian Polybius of Megalopolis describes the procedure:

The tribune assembles the legion, and brings up those guilty of leaving the ranks, reproaches them sharply, and finally chooses by lots sometimes five, sometimes eight, sometimes twenty of the offenders, so adjusting the number thus chosen that they form as near as possible the tenth part of those guilty of cowardice. Those on whom the lot falls are bastinadoed mercilessly [...]; the rest receive rations of barley instead of wheat and are ordered to encamp outside the camp on an unprotected spot. As therefore the danger and dread of drawing the fatal lot affects all equally, as it is uncertain on whom it will fall; and as the public disgrace of receiving barley rations falls on all alike, this practice is that best calculated both the inspire fear and to correct the mischief.

[World History 6.38.2-4; tr. H. J. Edwards]

Probably, decimation was not usual in Polybius' days. It is recorded for the fifth century BCE, and is called "an ancestral punishment" by the Greek-Roman author Dionysius of Halicarnassus, but there are only a few known cases. However, the Roman commander Crassus (the future triumvir), who was fighting against Spartacus in 71 BCE, is said to have revived the punishment, which had fallen into disuse.

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The Romans now understood that the Cilician pirates were not an isolated group of desperadoes, but a powerful ally of Mithradates of Pontus. One of the consuls of 69, Quintus Caecilius, and three legions were sent to Crete , which was treated cruelly and declared a Roman province (67).

In the same year, a tribune named Gabinius proposed a law that the Roman general Cnaeus Pompey should be given extraordinary powers to fight against the pirates, who were by now threatening the food supply of Rome . Pompey was to receive enormous quantities of money, 20 legions, 500 ships, and authority equal to that of provincial governors for 75 kilometers inland. It was a drastic but necessary measure, and although the Senate tried to prevent that one man became so influential, the People's Assembly accepted the Lex Gabinia.

Immediately, the price of wheat at Rome , which had risen to unprecedented levels, returned to normal levels: Pompey was expected to put an end to the pirates' activities. He did not disappoint the people. He appointed thirteen legates (assistants) and divided the Mediterranean sea in thirteen sections; with a mobile force of sixty ships, he drove the pirates into the arms of the legates. Later, he claimed that he had liberated the western Mediterranean in only forty days, and this is probably true: most pirates had decided to return to the east.

Now, Pompey could turn his attention to Cilicia proper. He defeated the pirates near their capital Coracesium and took this mountain fortress, after which he could launch mopping-up operations. After three months, he was master of the situation.

Pompey's victory was less spectacular than he presented it. The secret of his success was, of course, that the Cilician pirates had already been defeated by Publius Servilius Vatia. Their actions along the Italian shores were caused by the fact that they could no longer safely use Cilicia as their base. They were adrift. Pompey understood this, and offered the defeated pirates a new life: he settled them in towns far from the sea, where they could become farmers.

Pompey's extraordinary powers were to last three years, but the war was already over. In Rome , the tribune Manilius proposed that the war against Mithradates, the ally of the pirates, should now be entrusted to Pompey. The successful general took over the army of general Lucullus and put an end to the Third Mithradatic war. Later, he invaded Judaea ; after all, among the Cilician pirates had been Jews. Pompey captured Jerusalem (63 BCE) and on his way back to Italy , he visited Crete , where he settled the situation.

This was the end of piracy in the Mediterranean . The Cilician pirates would have been a footnote in the history of the Roman empire , were it not that the expedition against them marked the rise of Pompey. For almost twenty years, he was unchallenged as the first man in Rome . Moreover, his extraordinary command had shown the road to the future: Julius Caesar was to use legates during the war in Gaul, and Octavian was to do the same when he organized the Roman empire .

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Gaius Arcanus Caligula, Caius Livius Varus Germanicus, Gaius Equitius Renatus

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